who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age\u2014houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions\u2014and in the age to come eternal life.
\nMark 10.29-30<\/span><\/p>\nAnd he said to them, \u2018Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, <\/span>who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.\u2019
\nLuke 18.29-30<\/span><\/p>\nthe setting<\/h3>\n
This saying of Christ is clearly set in one vignette. Jesus states it after the encounter with the rich young ruler and after the inquiry by the Disciples. It is thus so in all three Synoptic Gospels.<\/p>\n
The rich young ruler has much. When he abandons it all, if he does\u2026 he will have the reward of Discipleship with Christ. This is nothing short of a calling to \u201cfollow me.\u201d For all intents and purposes, we see the rich young ruler grieve over the command and then leave.<\/p>\n
The Disciples have little. Yet nonetheless they have left all to follow Christ. Little or much does not matter when one has abandoned all for Him. What will be their reward?<\/p>\n
Their inquiry leads to Jesus\u2019 saying above.<\/p>\n
the nuances of this hard saying<\/h3>\n
The Synoptic Gospels have much in common. Many of the times the main point is verbatim in all three works.<\/p>\n
However, this time it\u2019s different. Although all three Gospels record the same saying, all three are different, slightly nuanced.<\/p>\n
Matthew is the most succinct. His saying offers nothing that can\u2019t be found in the other two accounts.<\/p>\n
Mark offers the longest saying and does include one striking difference. The rewards in this life will come, \u201cwith persecutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke offers one unspeakable difference to the list of sacrifices to be made, \u201cor wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
conjecture on persecution<\/h3>\n
First of all I have been reticent to speak about persecution. Or rather, I was trained to be reticent to speak of persecution. After all, what do we know of persecution in America? Christians are being slaughtered in some other countries for the sake of the Gospel. What do we have to add to the dialogue on persecution?<\/p>\n
Now my approach is shifting. This is due in part to the political climate of our era. I have said for years that we are being told to be tolerant of everyone, yet there is no tolerance for Bible believing Christians. In effect, Christians have been facing political persecution in recent years, unfortunately.<\/p>\n
Recently, the death of Charlie Kirk struck me, not as an assasination, but as a martyrdom. I believe we witnessed physical persecution in America, a real martyr. This is something the rest of the world sees on a more regular basis.<\/p>\n
There is a risk of persecution in the call to Discipleship.<\/p>\n
conjecture concerning the wife in this saying<\/h3>\n
Then there is the nuance of the wife in Luke\u2019s saying. To the list of close familial ties, Luke adds the wife.<\/p>\n
What does he mean? With the access I have to the Early Church Fathers, I can find no ancient commentary on the topic.<\/p>\n
At the best, Jesus is speaking of one who travels for the Gospel\u2019s sake. Peter has a wife who is not listed among the women who travel with Jesus. Peter\u2019s wife probably stays home. John Wesley doesn\u2019t have a stellar marriage by today\u2019s Christian standards. His wife prefers to stay home while he evangelizes all over England.<\/p>\n
What about the worst case scenario? Is Jesus elevating the calling over marriage? If one spouse rejects the call is the other spouse to leave anyway in pursuit of the call? Certainly this cannot be the case. Yet it is there in Scripture, for us to grapple with. I have no answer. I\u2019m merely raising the question.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/989\/2024\/09\/IMG_4067-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Is this not a hard saying of Christ?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a hard saying of Christ and a radical call to discipleship. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name\u2019s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19.29, NRSV Jesus said, \u2018Truly I tell you, there is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3509,"featured_media":22095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2413,349],"tags":[6086,2125,179,1122,2616,2632],"class_list":["post-22856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-writings","category-theology","tag-charlie-kirk","tag-jared","tag-jesus","tag-luke","tag-mark","tag-matthew"],"yoast_head":"\n
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