The Terms of Service
Introduction: Reading the Fine Print
We live in an age of cheap grace, an age that wants a Christianity without cost, a crown without a cross, and a savior without lordship. We want the benefits of the kingdom without the terms of service. But when Jesus Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. And in this passage, as He sends out His disciples into a hostile world, He lays out the terms of service with breathtaking clarity. This is the fine print, and it is written in blood.
Jesus is not a marketing guru trying to make the offer as attractive as possible. He is not a politician trying to build a coalition by watering down the platform. He is a king, and He is recruiting soldiers for a war. He tells them plainly that discipleship is not a path to popularity, but a path to persecution. It is not a way to gain the world, but a way to lose it. And in losing it, to find a life that is truly life.
The modern church, particularly in the comfortable West, has done its level best to obscure, ignore, or explain away these words. We want a Jesus who affirms our choices, blesses our ambitions, and fits neatly into our suburban lives. But the Jesus of Matthew 10 is a disruptive force. He is a sword. He demands an allegiance that supersedes all other loyalties, even the most sacred ties of family. He calls for a fearless confession in the face of lethal threats. He demands that we take up an instrument of execution and follow Him.
These are not suggestions. They are the non-negotiable terms of what it means to be a Christian. If we find these words hard, it is because they are. They are meant to be. They are a filter, designed to separate the true followers from the mere admirers. As we walk through this text, we must ask ourselves if we have signed up for the Christianity of the New Testament, or for a cheap, counterfeit version that costs nothing and is worth even less.
The Text
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 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 Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. And 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 hell. Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. 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 has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
(Matthew 10:24-39 LSB)
The Logic of Persecution (vv. 24-25)
Jesus begins by setting a crucial expectation. If you follow Him, you will be treated like Him.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 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 Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!” (Matthew 10:24-25)
This is simple, airtight logic. The world hated Christ, so if you look like Christ, the world will hate you. If you find yourself beloved and celebrated by a world that despises your Master, you should be very concerned about your family resemblance. The goal of discipleship is to become like the teacher. The world looked at the perfect, sinless, loving Son of God and called Him the prince of demons, Beelzebul. They attributed the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil himself. This is the ultimate slander.
So, Jesus asks, if they say this about the green wood, what will they say about the dry? If they call the master of the house Satan, what names will they have for his children? We should not be surprised when the world slanders us, cancels us, and calls us every evil name in the book. It is a sign that we are on the right track. It is a family trait. To expect the world to love us when it hated Him is to want to be above our Master. It is a demand for a crown of glory where He had a crown of thorns.
The Right Fear (vv. 26-31)
The natural human response to this threat of persecution is fear. Jesus addresses this head-on, not by promising to remove the threat, but by reorienting our fear.
“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known... And 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 hell.” (Matthew 10:26, 28)
Jesus commands us three times in this short section, "Do not fear." The antidote to the fear of man is the fear of God. We are all governed by fear. The question is not whether you will fear, but who you will fear. You will either fear man, who can kill your body, or you will fear God, who can cast both body and soul into Hell. You have to choose your dread.
The fear of man is a snare. It makes you a coward. It makes you trim your convictions. It makes you shut your mouth when you ought to speak. But Jesus says their power is temporary and limited. They can bruise your heel, but they cannot touch your life. The worst they can do is kill you, which for the believer is just a rough form of transportation into the presence of God.
But God's authority is ultimate. He is the one to be feared. This is not a cowering, servile terror, but a holy, reverential awe that understands His absolute sovereignty over life, death, and eternity. When you have this right fear, all lesser fears are put in their proper, diminished perspective. A man who fears God need fear nothing and no one else.
And this fear is coupled with an incredible assurance of God's intimate, sovereign care. Not a single sparrow, worth half a penny, falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge and decree. And you, He says, are worth more than many sparrows. He has numbered the very hairs of your head. This is not just a statement of His omniscience, that He knows how many there are. It means He has ordained the number. Your life is not in the hands of your enemies; it is in the hands of your Father. They cannot touch a hair on your head outside of His sovereign will. This is the foundation of Christian courage.
Public Allegiance (vv. 32-33)
This courage must manifest itself in a bold, public confession of Christ.
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)
There is no such thing as a secret disciple. Faith is not a private affair. It is a public allegiance. Jesus demands that our loyalty to Him be out in the open, before men. The word for "confess" here means to say the same thing, to agree with. To confess Jesus is to publicly agree with who He is and what He has done. It is to stand with Him, to be identified with Him, no matter the cost.
And the stakes could not be higher. This is a reciprocal arrangement. Our confession of Him on earth determines His confession of us in heaven. If we publicly own Him as our Lord, He will publicly own us as His own before the Father. He will be our advocate on the day of judgment. But if we are ashamed of Him, if we deny Him before our colleagues, our friends, or a hostile committee, He will deny us before the Father. This is one of the most sobering warnings in all of Scripture. A faith that is not worth confessing is a faith that cannot save.
The Great Divide (vv. 34-39)
Jesus concludes this section by making it clear that His arrival in the world, and in a life, is not a pacifying event. It is a declaration of war.
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER... and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.” (Matthew 10:34-36)
This is shocking. Isn't He the Prince of Peace? Yes, but the peace He brings is first peace with God, which necessarily brings conflict with a world at war with God. The gospel is a sword. It is a sharp, two-edged instrument of division. It divides truth from error, light from darkness, and the saved from the damned. And this division cuts right through the most fundamental human relationships.
When one member of a family bows the knee to Christ, and the others do not, a fault line is created. The new believer has a new ultimate loyalty, a new King. This is an offense to the old loyalties. The gospel reorders everything. Christ must be supreme. Therefore, if your love for your father, mother, son, or daughter is greater than your love for Christ, you are not worthy of Him. He is not saying we should not love our families; He is saying that our love for Him must be so absolute that all other loves look like hatred by comparison.
This leads to the final, stark demand:
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39)
The cross was not a piece of jewelry. It was an instrument of agonizing, shameful, public execution. To take up your cross means to consent to your own death. It is to die to your own ambitions, your own rights, your own reputation, and your own life. It is a daily crucifixion of the self.
And here is the great paradox of the Christian life. If you try to save your life, if you live for your own comfort, your own safety, your own agenda, you will lose everything that makes life worth living. You will lose your soul. But if you lose your life for His sake, if you pour yourself out in service to Him, if you abandon your life into His hands, you will find it. You will discover a life that is abundant, eternal, and indestructible. This is the gospel transaction. You give Him your broken, sin-sick, temporary life, and He gives you His glorious, righteous, eternal life in return. It is the best deal ever offered.
Conclusion: A Call to Costly Grace
These are the terms. They have not been amended. They have not expired. To be a disciple is to be like the teacher, which means being slandered. It means fearing God more than man. It means confessing Christ openly, whatever the consequences. It means loving Christ more than your own family. And it means taking up a cross and dying daily.
This is not a call to a miserable existence. It is a call to true life. The world offers a life that promises everything and delivers nothing. Christ offers a life that demands everything and gives everything. He is not calling us to a life of grim duty, but to a life of glorious freedom, freedom from the fear of man, freedom from the tyranny of self, freedom from the power of death.
The question this passage puts to each one of us is this: Have we accepted the terms? Have we counted the cost? Or are we trying to enjoy a cheap grace that has no cross, no sword, and no power to save? May God give us the grace to lose our lives for His sake, and in so doing, to truly find them.