Matthew 10:32-42

32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

While Jesus is indeed the Prince of Peace, we still must come to terms with His statement from Matthew 10, where He is quoted as saying “do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but rather a sword.” He then went on to describe as you'll find in this reading above that He would divide households and families. That is not His intended goal but it is a potential consequence we can expect when we choose to “deny ourselves, pick up our cross” and follow Jesus.

If we claim to love God and follow Jesus, but let our family, friends or other interests dictate the terms of our relationship and obedience to God, then we put ourselves in the category Jesus describes as “not worthy” of following Him. In fact, if you yourself try to dictate the terms of the relationship with God, you fall in the same “un-follow” category.

Ironically, we try to convince everyone to follow Jesus because God is so loving – which is true. But alongside that call to follow is a cost to follow. It is known – follower beware – to put other relationships at risk because it changes the dynamic of said relationships. Of course, the benefits outweigh the cost. But He still wants to know that there is a cost