The Shattering of Jars of Clay

The Shattering of Jars of Clay

Beginning on Tuesday, April 21st, Dan Haseltine, front-man for the popular Christian band Jars of Clay, took to Twitter to announce his apparent support for same-sex “marriage.” And for the life of him, he can’t figure out a single good reason to oppose it.

It is for reasons like this that we have been sounding the alarm these last 10 years.

In a series of tweets posted over a three-day period, and prompted by a movie he watched while in flight, he wrote: “The treatment of people as less than human based on the color of skin is crazy... Or gender, or sexual orientation for that matter.”

Of course, to compare skin color with “sexual orientation” is to compare apples with oranges, as has been demonstrated many times before.

But that was only the beginning. He added, “Not meaning to stir things up BUT... Is there a non-speculative or non ‘slippery slope’ reason why gays shouldn't marry? I don't hear one.”

This really boggles the mind.

When you’re sliding down a dangerous slippery slope, you don’t say, “Give me one good reason we’re in danger, other than the fact that we’re careening down this deadly slope.”

No. You grab hold of something to stop your fall and then figure out how to climb back to solid ground.

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Words for Today, Matthew 10 Disciples and Discipleship

Matthew 10

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service

10 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and ^[a]James the son of Zebedee, and ^[b]John his brother;³ Philip and ^[c]Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; ^[d]James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the ^[e]Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not ^[f]go ^[g]in the way of theGentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; ⁶ but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, ^[h]preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven ^[i]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹ Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,¹⁰ or a ^[j]bag for your journey, or even two ^[k]coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his ^[l]support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay ^[m]at his house until you leave that city. ¹² As you enter the^[n]house, give it your ^[o]greeting. ¹³ If the house is worthy, ^[p]give it your blessing ofpeace. But if it is not worthy, ^[q]take back your blessing of peace. ¹⁴ Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

A Hard Road before Them

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so ^[r]be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^[s]cause them to be put to death. ²² You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³ “But whenever they persecute you in ^[t]one city, flee to ^[u]the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

The Meaning of Discipleship

²⁴ “A ^[v]disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ^[w]Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

²⁶ “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. ²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[x]hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a ^[y]cent? Andyet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

³² “Therefore everyone who ^[z]confesses Me before men, I will also confess ^[aa]him before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever ^[ab]denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to ^[ac]bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came 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 a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

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. ³⁹ He who has found his ^[ad]life will lose it, and he who has lost his ^[ae]life for My sake will find it.

The Reward of Service

⁴⁰ “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ⁴¹ He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these ^[af]little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

"costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  The Cost of Discipleship

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM (10:1-42)

Matthew explains the ethics of the kingdom (Mt 5-7), relationships in the kingdom (13), and the presence (13) and future (23-25) of the kingdom; but he does so to disciples whom he expects to further propagate the message of the kingdom (10). Just as Jesus carries on John's message (3:2; 4:17), so will his disciples carry on his (10:7; 28:19). His followers must carry on his mission of healing (9:35) because the laborers are so few (9:37). Matthew records the words of Jesus in this chapter, like those in the Sermon on the Mount, not for merely historical interest but to encourage fellow disciples in the period between the first and second comings of Jesus.

Jesus Sends His Disciples (10:5)

When Jesus sent out his disciples, he literally "apostled" them. Thus he provides a relevant model for his appointed agents in subsequent generations (whether they are "apostles" in the narrower sense or not). The language used here for "sending" probably connotes commissioning agents with delegated authority. Ancient Israelite circles also used formal agents or messengers (as in Prov 10:26; 13:17; 26:6); agency eventually became a legal custom so pervasive that both Roman and Jewish law recognized the use of agents, or intermediary marriage brokers, in betrothals (Cohen 1966:295-96).

Agents did not always have high legal status; some were even slaves. Yet they carried delegated authority, acting on the authority of the one who sent them. Thus later teachers commonly remarked that a person's agent is "equivalent to the person himself" (t. Ta`anit3:2; m. Berakot 5:5). How one treats Jesus' messengers or heralds therefore represents how one treats Jesus himself (Mt 10:40-42).

Because the agent had to be trustworthy to carry out his mission, teachers sometimes debated the character the pious should require of such agents (m. Demai 4:5;t. Demai 2:20). This also implies, of course, that an agent's authority was entirely limited to the scope of his commission and the faithfulness with which he carried it out. The fact that Jesus authorizes us to do acts of compassion in his name (Mt 9:36) does not authorize us to use his power to get whatever we want (4:3).
Jesus' agents were not like just any legal agents: in biblical history, God's agents were the prophets. The connections in this text between Jesus' commissioned messengers and prophets should not be overlooked (10:41; compare Boring 1982:89).#

IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity ofInterVarsity Press.

Yours in His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Southport, Merseyside

20^th April 2014

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