The Devil's Greatest Trick

Matthew 10:34-39 34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

These are the words of Jesus. But this is not the warm, cuddly (and suspiciously pale-skinned) Jesus, surrounded by fawning children, that we see in some paintings. It is not the mystical and otherworldly Jesus, non-threatening in his pose, giving strange hand signals from wooden icons. No, this is not a Jesus that I would walk up to and ask for a hug. You see, the Jesus I like to spend time with is all about peace and loving your neighbor. But this Jesus is edgy and confrontational, and that makes me fairly uncomfortable.

But my discomfort does not make this statement false. Peppered throughout the Gospels, Jesus makes it clear that the good news is anything but comfortable. To inherit eternal life, give away everything and follow Jesus. My mother and my brother and my sister is the one who does the will of God (rather than my blood relation). It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

This is a hard truth. As the disciples said in the Gospel of John, "This is a difficult teaching; who can accept it?"Can there be no compromise? No deal to cut? No bargain to strike where I can both follow the will of God and live life on my own terms? In short, no. Jesus calls us to a radical discipleship. One that is bigger than ourselves, one that is bigger than our blood relations, one that is the size of a cross.

Someone once wrote that "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." But maybe not. Maybe the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing us that God should play by our rules rather than vice versa.

Peace,
Kevin