Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:37
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
37. The connection is this: there will be divisions in families; My disciples must not hesitate to side with Me rather than with father or mother, or son or daughter. The new life changes the old relationships: everything is viewed now in reference to Christ, to whom His followers are related as mother and sisters and brethren.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He that loveth father or mother … – The meaning of this is clear. Christ must be loved supremely, or he is not loved at all. If we are not willing to give up all earthly possessions, and forsake all earthly friends, and if we do not obey him rather than all others, we have no true attachment to him.
Is not worthy of me – Is not appropriate to be regarded as a follower of me, or is not a Christian.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 10:37
He that loveth father or mother more than Me.
The Saviours claims on our supreme affections
There are three sources from which love, considered as a sentiment, originates in the heart:-
1. The love of sympathy.
2. The love of gratitude.
3. The love of moral esteem.
In all these respects Christ is entitled to supreme affection. Is love valued in proportion as it is disinterested? Compared with Christs love mans is selfishness. Or does the greatness of sacrifice testify to the greatness of love? On this ground Christ claims our supreme love, as no human being has sacrificed so much for us as He, no earthly benefactor so great as He. (H. White, M. A.)
Christ worthy of our highest esteem
Our Saviour puts Himself and the world together as competitors for our best affections, challenging a transcendent affection on our part, because of a transcendent worthiness on His. By father or mother are to be understood whatever enjoyments are dear to us; and from the expression, he is not worthy of Me, the doctrine of merit must not be asserted.
I. What is included and comprehended in that love to Christ here mentioned?
1. An esteem and valuation of Christ above all worldly enjoyments.
2. A choosing Him before all other enjoyments.
3. Service and obedience to Him.
4. Acting for Him in opposition to all other things.
5. It imparts a full acquiescence in Him alone, even in the absence and want of all other felicities.
II. The reason and motives which may induce us to this love.
1. He is the best able to reward our love.
2. He has shown the greatest love to us.
III. The signs and characters whereby we may discern his love.
1. A frequent and, indeed, continual thinking of Him.
2. A willingness to leave the world, whenever God shall think fit, by death, to summon us to nearer converse with Christ.
3. A zeal for His honour, and impatience to hear or see any indignity offered Him. (R. South, D. D.)
No divided devotion
1. The audacity of the claim-seemingly opposed to natural affection.
2. Its naturalness on the lips of Christ-all of a piece with His other words and deeds.
3. Either, then, Jesus is God and deserves all He claims, or else an impostor and blasphemer.
4. The dilemma we must either crucify Him or acknowledge His pretensions. (Newman Smyth, D. D.)
Christ more than the nearest relatives
A striking illustration of the love to Christ, that proves so ardent as to supersede that felt for parent or child, is furnished by the history of Vivia Perpetua, the martyr of Carthage. This lady, who was a matron of high position, young (not being more than twenty-two at her death) beautiful, and with everything to make life desirable and attractive to her, met death with dauntless heroism. We are not told whether her husband was a Pagan or a Christian; but her aged, and still heathen, father, obtaining entrance into her prison, endeavoured by every possible argument to shake her constancy, and, as a last appeal, brought her infant son, and conjured her, by her love for himself and for her child, to abjure Christianity and live. But to all these entreaties Perpetua turned a deaf ear; Christ was dearer to her than either her parent or her son, and she bravely met death by being exposed to an infuriated animal in the arena. She suffered about A.D. 205. Even in these modern days instances might be brought forward, from the annals of missionary labour, of those who from love of Christ are willing to leave dearest earthly friends; but in some instances these close human ties become the great obstacles to the reception of the gospel. Speaking of a school at Chumdicully, Ceylon, the missionary, Mr. Fleming, says (quoted in the Church Missionary Societys report for 1881-82): There are secret believers in Christ who are not ready to give up all for Him. One of them has confessed that he would like to follow his sisters, who have come out, but his parents look to him to perform the funeral rites for them when they die, and he shrinks from causing them grief like the man whom Christ called, but who said, Suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Christian love triumphant over maternal
Leelerc, says DAubigne, was led to the place of execution. The executioner prepared the fire, heated the iron which was to sear the flesh of the minister of the gospel, and, approaching him, branded him as a heretic on the forehead. Just then a shriek was uttered-but it came not from the martyr. His mother, a witness of the dreadful sight, wrung with anguish, endured a violent struggle between the enthusiasm of faith and maternal feelings; but her faith overcame, and she exclaimed, in a voice that made the adversaries tremble, Glory be to Jesus Christ, and His witnesses! Thus did this French woman of the sixteenth century have respect to the word of the Son of God-He that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. So daring a courage at such a moment might have seemed to demand instant punishment, but that Christian mother had struck powerless the hearts of priests and soldiers. Their fury was restrained by a mightier arm than theirs. The crowd failing back and making way for her, allowed the mother to regain, with faltering step, her humble dwelling. Monks, and even the town sergeants themselves, gazed on her without moving. Not one of her enemies, says Beza, dared put forth his hand against her.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 37. He that loveth father or mother more than me] He whom we love the most is he whom we study most to please, and whose will and interests we prefer in all cases. If, in order to please a father or mother who are opposed to vital godliness, we abandon God’s ordinances and followers, we are unworthy of any thing but hell.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Luke seemeth to speak higher, Luk 14:26, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. But the sense is the same, for by hatred there is only meant displacency, and a setting them in his esteem below Christ and his commands. Christ doth not command or encourage want of natural affection, but only by this saying he reduces it to order, and showeth that our first love and homage is due to God; and where we cannot show what love and affections our father, or mother, or son, or daughter call for, without failing in that duty which we owe unto God, or violating some Divine precept, we must acknowledge our heavenly Father, even by disobeying our earthly parents. Instead of
is not worthy of me, Luke saith, cannot be my disciple, which expounds this term. He is not worthy of my favour, of the name of my disciple, or the reward I intend my disciples.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
37. He that loveth father or mothermore than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughtermore than me, is not worthy of me(Compare De33:9). As the preference of the one would, in the case supposed,necessitate the abandonment of the other, our Lord here, with asublime, yet awful self-respect, asserts His own claims to supremeaffection.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that loveth father or mother more than me,…. The design of these words, is not at all to lessen the due affection of children to their parents; or to detract from the respect and esteem, in which they ought to be had by them: it is the duty of children, to love, honour, and, obey them; who have been the means of bringing them into the world, and of bringing them up in it; nor do any of the doctrines of Christ break in upon the ties and obligations of nature, or in the least set aside any of the duties of natural religion: but the intent of this passage is, to show, that as Christ is infinitely above all creatures, he is to be loved above the nearest and dearest relations and friends; being God over all blessed for ever, and also the Saviour and Redeemer; which itself, makes him more amiable and lovely than a common parent. That man therefore, that prefers father and mother to Christ, and their instructions, and orders, to the truths and ordinances of Christ: who, to please them, breaks the commands of Christ, rejects his Gospel, and either denies him, or does not confess him, our Lord says,
is not worthy of me; or, as in Munster’s Hebrew Gospel, he is not
, “fit for me”: it is not fit and proper, that such a person should name the name of Christ, or be called by his name, and should be reckoned one of his disciples; he is not fit to be a member of the church of Christ on earth, nor for the kingdom of heaven, but deserves to be rejected by him, and everlastingly banished his presence: for otherwise no man, let him behave ever so well, is worthy of relation to Christ, and interest in him; or of his grace, righteousness, presence, kingdom and glory. The same is the sense of the following clause,
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me: whoever, to gratify a child, drops the profession of Christ, renounces his Gospel, and neglects his commands, it is not proper and convenient that he should bear the name of Christ, be accounted one of his, or be treated as such, but all the reverse.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “He that loveth father or mother more than me,” (ho philon patera he metera huper eme) “The one who loves father or mother beyond (more than) he loves me,” The one who observes the worldly standards above the Lord’s rules and principles for the sake of peace or temporary tranquillity.
2) “Is not worthy of me:” (ouk estin mou aksios) “Is not worthy of (reputable enough for) me:” He can not have my sanctions, holding divided affections, Deu 33:9; Mat 22:37; Joh 5:23; Php_3:8; Luk 14:26.
3) “And he that loveth son or daughter more than me,” (kai ho philon huion e thugatera huper eme) “And the one who loves a son or a daughter beyond his love for me,” or more than he loves me, allowing them to indulge in sins and follies, rather than requiring them to obey the teachings of Jesus, Eph 6:1-4.
4) “Is not worthy of me.” (ouk estin mou aksios) “is not worthy of me,” does not merit having me or my commendation, Luk 14:26; 2Co 5:16. Giving assent to a pursuit of sin in the lives of one’s children renders a disciple unworthy of the name Christian, Luk 9:23; Mr 8:34-37.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Mat 10:37
. He who loveth father or mother As it is exceedingly harsh, and is contrary to natural feelings, to make enemies of those who ought to have been in closest alliance with us, so Christ now says that we cannot be his disciples on any other condition. He does not indeed enjoin us to lay aside human affections, or forbid us to discharge the duties of relationship, but only desires that all the mutual love which exists among men should be so regulated as to assign the highest rank to piety. Let the husband then love his wife, the father his son, and, on the other hand, let the son love his father, provided that the reverence which is due to Christ be not overpowered by human affection. For if even among men, in proportion to the closeness of the tie that mutually binds us, some have stronger claims than others, it is shameful that all should not be deemed inferior to Christ alone. And certainly we do not consider sufficiently, or with due gratitude, what it is to be a disciple of Christ, if the excellence of this rank be not sufficient to subdue all the affections of the flesh. The phrase employed by Luke is more harsh, if any man doth not hate his father and mother, but the meaning is the same, “If the love of ourselves hinder us from following Christ, we must resist it, courageously:” as Paul says,
what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, (Phi 3:7.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(37) He that loveth father or mother more than me.The words are important, partly in themselves, partly as explaining the stronger phrase of Luk. 14:26-27, which speaks of a man hating father or mother as a condition of discipleship. Where two affections come into collision, the weaker must give way; and though the man may not and ought not to cease to love, yet he must act as if he hateddisobey, and, it may be, desertthose to whom he is bound by natural ties, that he may obey the higher supernatural calling.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
37. He that loveth father or mother more than me Think not that the sacrifice of kindred ties is to be made by the wicked alone. Earthly affections, when they come in collision, must be postponed to divine obligations. Truth is more authoritative than a parent. The Redeemer hath done more for us than the nearest relative. Where the drawings of affection would seduce us to sin their power must be rejected.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me.
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.”
It is at this point that a disciple has to choose what he will do. If he would be ‘worthy’ of Christ (deserving of His interest and saving concern) then he must put his love for Christ before his love for his father or mother. He must put his love for Christ before his love for his son or daughter. Still filled with love for them He must go forward in love to obey Jesus’ words. He must take up his cross (dying to his old life) and follow Jesus. The taking up of the cross refers to the fact that when a man was sentenced to crucifixion he himself had to take up and carry the crosspiece of the cross on which he was to die. Thus to take up the crosspiece signified deliberately taking the way of death. In this case it is used to parallel the choice between Christ and relatives. So here he is choosing to die to his relatives and the ways in which they want him to walk rather than forsake Christ. This may result in actual death through martyrdom, but not necessarily. The emphasis is on a dying to the old life and its claims upon him, for now he is following Christ, and Christ alone.
At this point he is again confirming his choice of the narrow way. If he seeks to ‘find’ his old life again by turning his back on Christ and His truth, then he will undoubtedly lose it (or ‘destroy it’). He will lose all his hopes for this world and the next. He will destroy all that is good and right in his life. But if he loses his old life for Christ’s sake (whether by a life of obedience to Christ or by actual martyrdom) then he will find true life both in this world and the next (Mat 19:28-30). Note the emphasis on ‘for My Sake’. For that is the point. He is not doing it in order to gain eternal reward, he is doing it for Jesus’ sake, because of his love for Him, but it is that that is then the guarantee of eternal reward.
It must be considered possible that ‘taking up the cross’ had in Galilee become a way of speaking of total fidelity to God. In their recent past men had risen up against the Romans because of their love for God, and the result had been that they had been crucified. Jesus might well have seen such things as a child, as men were crucified on the main road that went through the valley below the mountain on which Nazareth was built. And each time it had happened the conspirators had been aware that they were, as it were, taking up their crosses, as they followed their leaders. They were committing themselves to a way that might end up in crucifixion. And as such things will it may thus have become a grim jest among them, with the result that conspirators began to describe their commitment in terms of ‘taking up their cross’. It is quite probable therefore that the cross had become a symbol of fidelity to God, and that ‘taking up the cross’ had come to mean choosing to face up to the enemy head on. The symbol does, of course, gain new meaning in the light of Jesus’ cross but that was not in mind here.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Perfect Consecration to Christ. v. 37. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
v. 38. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.
v. 39. He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it. The facts, as just stated by Christ, may, under circumstances, make a very painful choice necessary, that between relatives and truth. In case of dissension in a family, policy and expediency suggest compromises, and this is the form of settlement usually adopted at the present time. Too often this means yielding on the part of the believers amounting to a denial of Jesus. It implies that earthly ties, the love of parents, the affection between brothers and sisters, are stronger, have a firmer hold upon the heart, than the express command of Jesus. If there is any yielding of principle, of the reading of Scriptures, of praying in private, of attending church services, of resenting blasphemy, then there is an express or implied denial of Christ by one who is not worthy of Him. It is a peremptory demand for preference above all earthly interests. Of course, conscientious confessing of Christ will result in unpleasantness, will lay many a cross on the earnest Christian, just as the Romans forced those that were condemned to the accursed tree to carry their own cross. There is here also a prophetic reference. The Lord by expressions of this kind was preparing His disciples for the fate which was awaiting Him. He suffered all,. even death on the cross, in confessing us. Crucifixion, terrible death; but horrible though it be, it means salvation for us. Shall His disciples prove themselves unworthy by refusing to follow after Him on the way of suffering, when a few years’ tribulation will bring them eternal joy? The life of a disciple of Christ is not his to use for selfish ends. Jesus uses the word “life” here alternately for the bodily life and for eternal life, the salvation of the soul. He that seeks and apparently finds his life here in this world, in the pursuit of temporal interests, and forgets the care of his soul, will lose the salvation of. his soul. But if any one, for the sake of Christ and in staunch confession of Him, loses this earthly life with all it has to offer, he will find more than full and satisfying compensation in the reward of mercy at the hand of his Lord, the glories of eternal life.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 10:37. He that loveth father or mother, &c. See Deu 33:9 to which our Saviour manifestly alludes. “He who preferreth the friendship of his nearest relations, though the sweetest of all earthly satisfactions, to my religion; renouncing it, that he may enjoy their goodwill; is not worthy of being my disciple; does not deserve to be called a Christian.” Our Lord told them this with peculiar propriety, after having declared that their bitterest foes should be the members of their own families. Beausobre and Lenfant, and Macknight. See also the Reflections for a farther improvement of the subject.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 10:37 . Demeanour in the midst of this excitement: the love of the family on no account to take precedence of love to Christ, but quite the reverse! The inalienable rights of family affection remain intact, but in subordination to the love of Christ, which determines how far it is of a truly moral nature.
] worthy to belong to me as his Lord and Master. Comp. Luk 14:26 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Ver. 37. He that loveth father or mother ] Levi said unto his father and his mother, “I have not seen him;” neither did he acknowledge his brethren, in that cause of God, nor knew his own children, Deu 33:9 ; “If the Lord Christ call me to him,” saith Jerome, “although my father should lie in my way, my mother hang about my neck to hinder me, I would go over my father, shake off my mother,” &c. Nazianzen was glad that he had something of value (to wit, his Athenian learning) to part with for Christ. Nicholas Shetterden, martyr, in a letter to his mother, wrote thus: “Dear mother, embrace the counsel of God’s word with hearty affection, read it with obedience, &c. So shall we meet in joy at the last day; or else I bid you farewell for evermore.” “Away from me, Satan,” said Rebezies, a French martyr, when Satan set before him his parents, to stop him in his course. And I know not by what reason they so called them my friends (said Borthwick, a Scotch martyr), that so greatly laboured to convert (indeed to pervert) me, neither will I more esteem them than the Midianites, which in times past called the children of Israel to do sacrifice to their idols.
He that loveth son or daughter, &c. ] As did Eli, who honoured his sons above God, 1Sa 2:29 . This the Lord took so heinously, that he swore that this iniquity of Eli’s house should not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever,1Sa 3:141Sa 3:14 . Samuel, who brought the old priest this heavy tidings, was afterwards unhappy enough in his two sons; and succeeded Eli in his cross as well as his place. It can hardly be imagined that he succeeded him in his sin after so fair a warning. But good David was surely too fond a father, and therefore smarted in his children, whom he cockered. God will have us to hold him to be better to us than ten sons: and to bestow all our love upon him, as most worthy. What he gives us back again, we may bestow upon others; loving our friends in God, and our enemies for God. But the love of Christ must constrain us to part with all, though never so dear and near unto us, for his sake. Mr Bradford, while he was a prisoner, wrote earnestly to his mother to pray God to make him worthy to suffer, not only imprisonment, but even very death for his truth, religion, and gospel. Femella Amatriciana, a most godly woman, understanding that her son went heavily on to his death for Christ, met him and encouraged him, bidding him look up to heaven, and behold the sun in his glory. Which when he had done, “Knowest thou not, my son,” said she, “thou shalt shortly be in that heavenly palace, and there outshine the sun itself!” William Hunter the martyr’s mother, said unto him, standing at the stake, that she was glad that ever she was so happy as to bear such a child as could find in his heart to lose his life for Christ’s name’s sake. Then William said to his mother, “For my little pain which I shall suffer, which is but for a short braid, Christ hath promised me a crown of joy; may you not be glad of that, mother?” with that his mother kneeled down on her knees, saying, “I pray God strengthen thee, my son, to the end; yea, I think thee as well bestowed as any child that ever I bare.” John Clark, of Melden in France, being, for Christ’s sake, whipped three different days, and afterward having a mark set in his forehead as a note of infamy, his mother beholding it (though his father was an adversary) encouraged her son, crying with a loud voice, “Blessed be Christ, and welcome be these his prints and marks.” Vivat Christus, eiusque insignia. (Scultet. Annul.)
Is not worthy of me ] viz. Because he holdeth not me worthy of more love than his best friends. Eli, for seeking to please his sons, Moses his wife, had like to have lost a friend of God, who had much ado to forbear killing him, Exo 4:24 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
37. ] Compare Deu 33:9 , and Exo 32:26-29 , to which passages this verse is a reference. Stier well remarks, that under the words there lies an exceeding great reward which counterbalances all the seeming asperity of this saying.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 10:37 . uch a state of matters imposes the necessity of making a very painful choice between relatives and truth. : this verb denotes natural affection as distinct from , which points to love of an ethical kind. The distinction corresponds to that between amare and diligere. vide Trench, Synonyms , and Cremer, s. v., . . The Master is peremptory; absolutely demands preference of His cause to all claims of earthly relations.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 10:37-39
37″He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
Mat 10:37 “He who loves. . .more than Me” The key here is radical priority commitment. Discipleship, unlike decision, is a life-long commitment of followship and obedience!
“is not worthy of Me” See Luk 9:62.
Mat 10:38 “take his cross and follow after Me” This is a graphic metaphorical summons to total commitment to Christ for life. Jesus is demanding that possible followers count the cost (cf. Luk 14:25-35).
The cross was a Phoenician method of execution that was taken over by the Romans and developed into an ordeal involving several days of excruciating pain before death. Its purpose was to discourage non-Romans from criminal activity. There was a historical precedent of its use in Palestine:
1. Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” crucified eight hundred Pharisees
2. Varus, a Roman general, put down a revolt and crucified two thousand Jews along the highways of Palestine (cf. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 17:10:10)
3. Herod planned on crucifying many Pharisees at his death so that people would grieve
This metaphor does not refer to some particular problem in your life. It refers to death-death to self (cf. 2Co 5:14-15; Gal 2:20; 1Jn 3:16).
Mat 10:39 “life. . .life” This was the Greek term psuche. This term was often synonymous with “spirit” [pneuma]. In this context, however, it seems to refer to an individual person or self. This statement involved a radical crucifixion of self interest in light of Jesus’ interest (cf. Mat 10:39; Mat 16:25; Mar 8:35; Luk 9:24; Luk 17:33; Joh 12:25). Salvation involves far more than a decision or prayer. It demands one’s all (possessions, family, reputation, time, and energy)! Nothing less will do!
“lose” See Special Topic: Apollumi at Mat 2:13.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
loveth = is fonder of. See App-135.
more than = above. Greek. huper.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
37.] Compare Deu 33:9, and Exo 32:26-29, to which passages this verse is a reference. Stier well remarks, that under the words there lies an exceeding great reward which counterbalances all the seeming asperity of this saying.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 10:37. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
What a wonderful sight, then, the church is as it passes through this world. The head of it is Christ, the cross bearer, and, following in the train, are all his faithful disciples, all carrying crosses still the very picture of a church. You know how Simon carried the cross after Christ: he is the type of all his disciples.
Did Simon bear the cross alone,
And all the rest go free?
No, theres a cross for everyone,
And theres a cross for me.
Mat 10:38-39. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
You gain life by dying for Christ, but if you saved life by denying the faith, you would in the worst sense lose all that makes existence to be life. There is an existence which is nothing but eternal death, and this is the doom of those who depart from Christ. But blessed are they who can give up this temporary mortal life for the sake of an eternal one. I have heard of one who used often to boast of what he would do if it came to his being burnt; but just before the day on which he was to be burnt alive for the faith, he recanted. He was suffered to go home. In a few months it happened that he was burnt alive in his house. Unhappy man that could not burn for Christ, but had to burn after all. He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
Think of that, you that have received Christ. You have received God himself, and he has come to dwell and reign with your soul.
This exposition consisted of readings from 1Pe 1:1-16 and Mat 10:37-40.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Mat 10:37. , …, he that loveth, etc.) from aversion to the sword just mentioned. An ascending climax: to prefer Christ to parents, children, and, in the next verse, himself.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
that loveth father: Mat 22:37, Deu 33:9, Luk 14:26, Joh 5:23, Joh 21:15-17, 2Co 5:14, 2Co 5:15, Phi 3:7-9
not: Mat 22:8, Luk 20:35, Luk 21:36, 2Th 1:5-7, Rev 3:4
Reciprocal: Gen 21:11 – because Gen 22:3 – General Gen 22:12 – now Gen 29:30 – he loved Gen 29:31 – was hated Exo 32:29 – Moses Lev 10:3 – Aaron Num 18:30 – the best Deu 6:5 – God with all Deu 13:9 – But Jdg 6:25 – thy father Rth 1:14 – Orpah 1Sa 2:29 – and honourest 1Sa 3:13 – restrained them not 1Ki 15:13 – his mother 1Ki 17:13 – first 2Ch 22:3 – his counsellor 2Ch 29:6 – For our fathers Psa 45:10 – forget Psa 73:25 – none upon Pro 23:26 – give Son 1:7 – O thou Hag 1:9 – Because Zec 13:3 – and his Mat 4:20 – General Mat 4:22 – General Mat 12:48 – Who is Mat 13:21 – for Mat 19:29 – or brethren Mat 25:42 – General Mar 1:20 – they left Mar 9:47 – thine Mar 12:29 – Hear Luk 5:11 – they forsook Luk 7:4 – worthy Luk 7:47 – she Luk 9:61 – but Luk 18:29 – There Joh 14:15 – General Joh 16:27 – because Act 7:3 – Get Rom 1:25 – the creature Rom 9:13 – hated 1Co 16:22 – love 2Co 5:16 – know we no Heb 12:1 – let us lay 1Pe 1:8 – ye love Rev 3:15 – thou
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE AFFECTIONS DEMANDED
He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Mat 10:37
I. The consecration of the priests in the Old Testament had a symbol of the hearts affections being given to God.
II. The phrase of hating father and mother is explained by not loving father or mother more than Christ.
III. The Lords demand here, is that the first place in the hearts affections be given to Him.
IV. This implies that His love wants our love in return.
V. The Old Testament enjoined, and the conduct of the apostles illustrated, this condition.
VI. Every missionary is an example of its fulfilment.
VII. The calls of the mission-fields of the world are the strongest test of our obedience to this condition.
The Rev. Hubert Brooke.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
A TREMENDOUS CLAIM
It was a tremendous claim which Jesus of Nazareth made when He demanded love of all men. Such a claim must and could only have been made by One who was Divine. And we may notice for our purpose that there are three elements in this claim which our Blessed Lord makes.
I. To be loved by all.Our Lord demanded to be loved by all. What an enormous demand that is upon mankind! Man loves his father and mother; he becomes the head of a household, he loves his family. He may perhaps go a little bit beyond that and love his relations. Outside that, perhaps his friends, and a little farther than that, he may love his country. How impossible it seems to go beyond that, and to love with that universal love which our Lord demands.
II. To be loved above all.And not only so, but our Lord demands to be loved above all. Have you considered at all what that claim is? We think of the love of brother and sister, and know that it is indeed a great and binding tie. Or we think of the love of the child for its father, and we think that that is, perhaps, the very depth of love. Or we think of the love of the mother for her child, and perhaps of all beautiful things in this unlovely world, there is not a more beautiful or touching sight than the mother with her infant at her breast. And yet there is, perhaps, humanly speaking, one love that is even beyond that, which in this life is the tenderest, deepest of all love, the love of husband for wife and wife for husband. Yet our Lord demands a love deeper than all these.
III. But it was not till Pentecost that the claim was obeyed.We see, too, that our Lord said this great love would not be given Him during His life, but after His death. He was not loved much in His life. On that Day of Pentecost men came forth from their hiding-places where they feared the very sight of the soldiery, and the one who had denied Him preached that wonderful sermon when three thousand were baptized. On another occasion he preached, and thousands were added to the Church. Those men, timorous no more, were filled with the Holy Ghost, and went out to plant the Church in all lands, and willingly gave up their lives for Christ, and all suffered the martyrs death.
IV. Let it be obeyed to-day.There are many things in this world that you cannot control, but this is in your hands, to see that you profess your faith in Jesus Christ, amidst all the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil which crowd upon you, amidst all that tries to draw you away from God and from living that supernatural life which He calls you to live. Let the result of our meditations be to draw from you another act of faith, and a deeper act of love, so that when at the last day we stand before Him face to face, we may be able to say, Lord, I have loved, I have tried to answer to Thy call, perhaps not with great success, but I have tried in so far as in me lies to respond to Thy call, and to love Thee above all things.
The Rev. W. H. Bleaden.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
0:37
The only way to prevent the above difficulty is to reject the doctrine of Christ. If one does that it proves that he loves his earthly relatives more than he does Christ, in which case he becomes unworthy of his Lord. That will put him in the class mentioned in verse 33 and he will be rejected at the last day.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 10:37. He that loveth, etc. Not to love these less, but Christ more. Connection: Love to Christ may divide family ties, but is superior to family affection; because it is a love and devotion due only to a Divine being. This claim to supreme love, if made by others, would be extreme madness or intolerable presumption; from the God-man it seems natural.
Not worthy of me. No one is worthy of Christ; but the love Christ gives creates the love Christ claims, and is the reward for all the trials and self-sacrifices here spoken of. Hence the saying is not harsh, though deemed hard.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Note here, That by worthiness we are not to understand the meritoriousness of the action, but the qualification of the person. He that cometh to Chtist, (that is, will be his disciple,) must, by a deliberate act of the understanding, and well-advised choice of the will, prefer him before all the world, and his dearest relations whatsoever; not that our Saviour by these expressions doth condemn natural love and affection, either to our relations or our own lives, but only regulates and directs it; and shows that our first and chief love must be bestowed upon himself. We may have tender and relenting affections towards our dear relations; but them the consideration of Christ’s truth and religion must take place of these; yea, of life itself; nay, when these come in competition, we are to regard them no more than if they were the objects of our hatred. Luk 14:26 If any man hate not his father, &c.
Learn hence, That all the disciples of Christ should be ready and willing, whenever God calls them to it, to quit all their temporal interests and enjoyments, even life itself, and to submit to any temporal inconvenience, even death itself; and all this willingly, cheerfully, and patiently, rather than disown their relation to Christ, and quit the profession of his truth and religion.
2. That such as for secular interest, and the preservation of temporal life, do renounce their profession of Christ and his religion, they do not only greatly hazard their temporal life, but expose their eternal life to the greatest danger. He that findeth his life shall lose it, &c.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 10:37-38. He that loveth father or mother more than me He that is not ready to give up all these when they stand in competition with his duty; is not worthy of me Nor shall have any interest in my saving benefits. And he that taketh not his cross, &c. Every one condemned to crucifixion by the Romans was compelled to carry the cross, on which he was to be suspended, to the place of execution. Thus our Lord himself was treated. Now, as this was not a Jewish, but a Roman punishment, the allusion to it, on this occasion, may justly be looked on as the first hint given by Jesus of the kind of death he was to suffer. And the words express this sentiment with great energy, that no man is worthy of Christ, that is, worthy to bear his name, or be accounted a true Christian, unless he be willing to suffer whatever pain or inconvenience cannot be avoided but by doing some evil or omitting some good; yea, and to endure the greatest hardships, and all sorts of persecutions, even the most shameful and painful death, rather than renounce his religion and deny Christ.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 10:37-39. Conditions of Discipleship.Luk 14:25-27to the crowds; Mar 8:34to crowd and disciples; Mt. to disciples. The highest good must be clung to at all costs, though cases of its conflict with the fifth commandment are happily comparatively rare (Mat 15:4-6*). If we keep Mat 10:38 before Mat 16:21, there is here no prediction of Jesus death, but a general and only too well understood reference to agony and shame.
Mat 10:39 is found, with slight modifications, in five other passages; here = Luk 17:33 : Mat 16:25 = Mar 8:35 = Luk 9:24; and Joh 12:25.life (psuche) is (a) physical, (b) the higher life of the soul; lose = be deprived of loseth = sacrifices. The finding in the first clause is for the moment; in the second, for eternity.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
10:37 {9} He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
(9) Without exception, nothing is to be preferred before our duty to God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus taught that people must love one another, but they must love Him more. This is a remarkable claim that shows how important Jesus’ viewed the supreme allegiance of His disciples. Taking one’s cross does not mean tolerating some unpleasant situation in one’s life for Jesus’ sake. It means dying to self, namely, putting Jesus first. In this sense every disciple bears the same cross. Jesus’ reference to crucifixion, His first in Matthew, would have helped His disciples realize that their calling would involve pain and shame.
Those who find (i.e., preserve) their lives now will forfeit them later. Conversely the disciple who loses his or her life (Gr. psyche) by martyrdom or by self-denial now will find (preserve) it in the next stage of his or her existence. This is true in a twofold sense. The person who lives for the present loses the real purpose of life. [Note: William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, p. 477.] He or she also loses the reward for faithful living.
"There is an absolutism in the call to Jesus and the kingdom that can seem unattractive, if not unendurable. But this is only half the story, for the rewards are beyond calculation." [Note: Hagner, p. 293.]
This entire section (Mat 10:26-39) contrasts the present with the future. For the 12 Apostles their present ministry, self-denial, and consequent persecution involved identifying themselves publicly as Jesus’ disciples. It involved calling on the Jews to repent for the kingdom was at hand because the King had arrived. For modern disciples our present ministry, self-denial, and consequent persecution involve identifying ourselves publicly as Jesus’ disciples. They also involve urging people to believe in Him. In both groups those who are faithful to their calling will receive God’s commendation when we stand before Him. Old Testament saints will stand before God when He judges Israel at Jesus’ second coming (Dan 12:1-2). Modern Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2Co 5:10; 1Co 3:10-15). Those who are unfaithful will not receive some of the commendation, joy, and reward that could have been theirs had they remained faithful.
This discourse (ch. 10) covers the whole period during which disciples of Jesus will minister, from Jesus’ day until the establishment of the messianic kingdom. It begins with the duty of the 12 Apostles but then broadens to include all subsequent disciples before the establishment of the kingdom. The scope of the Mission Discourse and the Sermon on the Mount are the same, the interim between Jesus’ first and second advents.