A Great Reward
Matthew 10:40-42
This morning’s New Testament text from the Lectionary has to be understood within the context of last week’s passage to which it presents a dramatic contrast. Jesus had charged His disciples before sending them out on a mentored mission tour to the villages of Galilee. From all accounts, the mission had gone well. It was recorded that demons were cast out. None of the persecutions which Jesus warned them did not seem to happen. No one is recorded as having been flogged and excommunicated in the synagogues. The disciples at this point probably wondered why Jesus was so concerned with persecution. But Jesus was preparing them beforehand for the much tougher conditions which would come after His death and resurrection when they would go out also to the Gentile areas. Then they would have been reminded of what Jesus had told them before in the preceding passage. They would not have to carry their crosses on this missionary journey, but they would.
The terrors which the disciples would soon face seemed overwhelming. Jesus had not yet told them that He would be rejected and crucified in Jerusalem. But here He commands them to take up their crosses and follow Him. This was a first hint. What was going to happen to Him would also happen to them. They would be rejected even as He was going to be rejected. Even Jesus’ own brothers did not believe. At one point his family came to take Him away. They thought Him insane and were embarrassed for Him. But Jesus replied by saying His mother and brothers would be those who heard His word and kept it. In like matter, the disciples would be rejected by their own families and their own nation. They too would stand before Roman governors in judgment even as Jesus would stand in judgment before Pilate. They, too would be put to death for following Jesus Christ. On a more positive note, they also would be resurrected.
This passage presents a little more positive tone. All the suffering and rejection they would someday face would also bear fruit. Not all would reject the Gospel. There would be those who believed as well. These would become part of a new family of those who heard the Word of God and kept it. This would replace their losses of their natural families. The disciples had received Jesus, and by doing this they received the Father. The same is true of those who would believe by their preaching of the Gospel. “Those who receive you, receive ME. And those who receive me receive the Father also.” These, too, would go out with the Gospel and suffer for Jesus. And so on, even to this day. But they did not go alone. The Holy Trinity would be with them, with the Holy Spirit being in them. And so with us. This is the power and presence of God in the midst of His people. They would remember the words Jesus would later tell them: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
In verses 41 and 42, Jesus talks about a tier of rewards for those who would accept the Gospel. The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet gets a prophet’s reward. The one who receives a righteous man gets a righteous man’s reward. The one who offers even the least of the brethren a cup of cold water will certainly not go unrewarded. This has caused a little difficulty in understanding as it is rewarding one’s works proportionally. In the Reformed faith, the emphasis of salvation by faith alone apart from works makes this difficult. But this is not a matter of earning salvation. But the New Testament talks about proportionate rewards. Revelation 14:13 reminds us that our works will follow us. Hebrews also says that God is not unjust to forget our labors. Paul talks about rewards and tells us to use precious materials in building our lives. Jesus also teaches about rewards, for good or ill in many places. Although, there is still plenty to speculate about, what is important that there are rewards to Christian service. Whether one hears from a prophet or a good man, the acceptance of the Gospel message means that these people are accepted by Christ unto eternal life, which is indeed the greatest of rewards. Even Jesus said that it was better to lose everything in this world to gain the Kingdom of Heaven. What good would it be to gain the world and lose one’s soul?
The reward for giving even a cold cup of water in the name of a disciple means that what seems to be the most trivial of service is noted by God. The providing of a cup of water to someone who has been out in the heat of the day is indeed a far greater gift than it seems. It could also be seen as offering hospitality for the Lord’s servants who had been put out of synagogues and homes and were left to wander. When we see how the prophets of the Lord were treated. We see what Jesus said would happen to the disciples for the sak of Jesus. Hebrews talks about this hospitality when he says that they should do so because they might be showing hospitality to angels. Perhaps these “angels” were their fellow believers who had lost all including family, employment, and hone for the Gospel. By showing hospitality, they could certainly be repaid by the Lord for this service.
We need to realize that what Jesus had said before to the disciples applies equally to us. Here in America, we have not, as Hebrews puts it, “resisted unto blood.” But in many places in this world, our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering horribly. In some places, Christians are still being crucified for their faith. They suffer in concentration camps and in jails. They are suffering the loss of their earthly possessions. They are being disowned by their earthly families. We here in America can re rejected by our families and can lose our jobs. We can feel intimidated at times. We feel the rising tide of persecution. The warnings of persecution which seemed so far off is coming to our doors too. We need to be bold, even as the disciples were bold. We need the encouragement of out Lord to be able to endure. We need to come together all the more as the day draws near. We need to show hospitality to those who are already suffering. We do this, knowing that the presence of the Lord is with us. It is the Spirit which fortifies us to the task.
We need to see what is happening in the places where Christians are under severe persecution. We would think that the church there would die from oppression. But it is the opposite which is happening. The fastest growing church is in Iran, and women are instrumental to her growth. We must remember that it is the death penalty for converting a Muslim to Christianity. And women are doubly cursed in this culture. Many have been imprisoned and some executed. In China, the house churches are growing again now that the persecution has resumed. And here in America, the church is lulled into a deep sleep which shall become the sleep of death. This is because we are being received into the wrong houses. We have modified our behavior to be received by the world rather than in the houses of the believers. The world pretends it can offer more than that cup of cold water that a poor disciple can offer.
The time has come for the church in America to reread the charge Jesus gives to his disciples in the 10th chapter of Matthew. This is because He is speaking to us too. Are we ready to take up our cross every day and follow Jesus. Are we worthy of Him? Are we willing to share the full Gospel in the public marketplace. There are people there already who are unashamed to proclaim their false utopias. They are willing to suffer arrest and even be jailed. But we have the only message that matters, and we remain in our houses silent. We are not called to burn and riot for the cause and intimidate people, but rather to patiently and boldly proclaim the message of salvation. Instead of causing untold suffering, we bear suffering. If we want the church to matter and our lives to matter, we need to change our attitude. Rewards will come later. Some of these rewards is seeing people receive Christ. Other rewards will have to wait on the Kingdom of God. Even in our suffering, God will always have someone to provide us with that cup of cold water. It will be worth it all.
