The Cost of Following Christ / Matthew 10:24-42

I am so glad you’re hanging out with us today. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open to Matthew chapter 10. We’re going to cover verses 24 and following. A quick welcome to all of our guests who are here, and especially those who are joining us this weekend at our Fig Garden campus. We are so glad that you are worshiping with us. As a multi-site church, we have a few different places where we gather regularly, and having been at Fig Garden last week to see the grand opening of that facility, it was just incredible to see what God is doing there.

Sent Out as Sheep Among Wolves

Last week, you got to hear from Mike Sladen, who is a tremendous communicator. He walked through chapter 9, where Matthew observes that seeing the crowds, Jesus felt deep compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 9:36 (NASB)

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

That word “compassion” isn’t mere pity. It means feeling something so deeply in your gut that you are moved to action. Mike set up this reality: Jesus moves into action because the people He loves are vulnerable sheep without a shepherd to protect them. But notice what Jesus says to His disciples right after that. In chapter 10, He tells them He is sending them out like sheep in the midst of wolves.

Matthew 10:16 (NASB)

’Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

He warns them in verse 17 that they will be handed over to courts and scourged for their faith. In verse 18, they will be brought before governors and kings. In verse 21, families will be divided. And in verse 22, He says they will be hated by all because of His name.

Matthew 10:17-22 (NASB)

’But beware of men, for they will hand you over to [the] courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ’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. ’For it is not you who speak, but [it is] the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. ’Brother will betray brother to death, and a father [his] child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ’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.

These people who were called to be ambassadors of the King and His kingdom were not promised a peaceful, comfortable life in this world. Following Jesus is like oil in water—it is distinct, it separates, and it does not blend in. We represent something infinitely greater than this world.

Now, to a new believer, that doesn’t sound like a very encouraging sales pitch: “Hey, if you’re considering the things of God, just know that if you represent Him, things probably aren’t going to go smoothly. It’s going to be difficult. People might look at you like you have three heads.” And yet, following Jesus is still the greatest decision you will ever make in your life.

Following Jesus is not easy. Have you realized that? It’s not simple. It’s challenging, and it is becoming increasingly difficult. I’m not that old, but there are things happening today that I simply did not see ten years ago. As the years and decades click by, it is going to become more and more distinct, rare, and costly to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ.

Just ask a Christian college student what it’s like to stand for Christ in a secular philosophy class. I was teaching at Hume Lake recently, speaking to high schoolers about persecution—which isn’t the typical topic you usually give to high school students, but we were talking about what it means to stand firm in your faith. Afterward, a college counselor came up to me and shared what happened to him at UC Irvine.

He told me, “I took a philosophy class, and because I love apologetics and research, I was ready to go.” The professor was brilliant, but openly hostile to Christianity. Every week, the professor had students come up on stage to defend their worldviews under heavy intellectual fire. All semester long, this counselor endured the onslaught and mockery from classmates as he defended his faith in Christ.

On the final day of class, about twenty students were called onto the stage. The assignment was simply to reflect on what they had learned throughout the course. This counselor went second, thanking the class for sharpening him and expressing gratitude for the opportunity to defend his faith. But as the microphone went down the line, three other students who had started the semester as professing believers spoke up. The first one said, “My story is different. Through this class, I’ve recanted my faith. I don’t believe in Jesus anymore.” The lecture hall broke into applause. The next former believer said the same thing, and the applause grew louder. By the time the fourth student renounced their faith, the room was cheering. Finally, a vocal atheist on the end leaned into the microphone and said, “I am so proud of my classmates for finally realizing the lie of Christianity and rejecting Jesus.” The entire auditorium gave them a standing ovation.

It is harder and harder to follow Jesus. You see it every day online. All you have to do on social media is state that God values human life and that abortion is a sin, and people lose their minds. All you have to do is say that God’s design for marriage is one man and one woman for life, and people lose their minds. Stand for biblical sexuality, stating that sexual intimacy is designed by God exclusively within marriage, and people will slide into your DMs with pure venom. You’ll be labeled a bigot. You’ll be scorned and hated. Some of you have experienced that firsthand.

Jesus told us this would happen. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said that we are blessed when people insult us, persecute us, and falsely say all kinds of evil against us because of Him.

Matthew 5:11-12 (NASB)

’Blessed are you when [people] insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ’Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Cost of Discipleship: Like Master, Like Servant

When we look at Matthew 10:24, Jesus shifts from talking about being an ambassador to being a disciple.

Matthew 10:24 (NASB)

’A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

The Greek word for disciple is mathetes, which means a student, learner, or pupil. But biblical discipleship is not merely about content delivery. Jesus is not inviting us to simply download information that He knew. It is about living the way He lived. Luke records Jesus saying that a pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Luke 6:40 (NASB)

’A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Matthew records the same principle here: a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. The goal of discipleship is to become like Jesus. But here is the reality check that comes with that.

Matthew 10:25 (NASB)

’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 [will they malign] the members of his household!

In verse 25, Jesus uses what is known in Greek as a first-class condition. It is not a hypothetical “if”; it is better translated as “since.” Jesus is saying, “Since they called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household?”

Beelzebul was a name for Satan, the prince of demons. Think about the depth of that insult: they looked at the holy, miraculous works Jesus did by the power of the Holy Spirit and attributed them to the devil. Jesus is telling us that if the world treated the Master with that kind of hatred and slander, we should never be surprised when they malign us for following Him.

Do Not Fear: Valued by the Father

Because of that reality, Jesus addresses the core issue of the human heart in verse 26: fear.

Matthew 10:26-27 (NASB)

’Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or 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.

The word “fear” carries the idea of pulling back or shrinking away due to impending danger or harm. Jesus says, “Do not fear them.” Whatever you have learned in secret, whatever truths He has spoken to your heart, proclaim them openly and boldly from the housetops.

Matthew 10:28 (NASB)

’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.

If you are going to fear anything, do not fear human beings. What is the worst they can do? They might mock you at the water cooler. They might unfriend you on social media. In the extreme, they can kill the body, but they cannot touch your soul. Instead, reverence and fear the One who holds ultimate authority over both body and soul for eternity. Those who persecute you have zero authority over your eternal destiny. Those who mistreat you are not your King, nor are they your Judge. God alone is Lord of all. He is good, He is sovereign, He is fully aware, and He deeply loves you.

Jesus gives us a beautiful picture of just how intimately God cares for you in the midst of hardship.

Matthew 10:29-31 (NASB)

’Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? 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.

In the ancient world, a sparrow was the cheapest offering you could purchase in the marketplace—two of them sold for a single copper coin. Yet Jesus says not a single solitary sparrow falls to the ground apart from the knowledge and care of your Father. If God attends the funeral of every common sparrow, how much more does He care for you?

He knows the very number of the hairs on your head. That is how intimate His love is. God knows every tear you have cried. He knows the sting when family members rolled their eyes when you came to Christ. He saw the loneliness you felt when friends walked away because you took a stand for biblical truth. He is intimately with you in the fire.

Because of His intimate care, Jesus calls us to public courage.

Matthew 10:32-33 (NASB)

’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.

Knowing how deeply God loves you and how completely sovereign He is, stand up and confess Him before men. Own your allegiance to Jesus. We have no reason to shrink back in fear.

Not Peace, but a Sword: The Division Christ Brings

Jesus does not sugarcoat the reality of what loyalty to Him produces in a fallen world.

Matthew 10:34-36 (NASB)

’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.

That is a sobering statement. Jesus is saying that the gospel inevitably creates a line of division. When you are merely “religious,” nobody usually minds. Cultural religion gets along fine with the world because it demands no real change. But when you genuinely follow Jesus, division often follows.

I remember right after I became a believer—I had been saved for maybe two weeks, and I was all passion and very little polish. We were gathered at my mom’s house for Easter. My brother didn’t know Christ at the time, and our family had never had Christian traditions. We were eating Peeps and hunting Easter eggs, even though I was way too old to be hunting eggs. I looked around and said, “Isn’t it crazy that the two biggest Christian holidays, Christmas and Easter, have been hijacked by a guy in a red suit coming down a chimney and a bunny laying eggs?” My brother completely lost his mind: “Why are you shoving religion down my throat? You’re suddenly this Bible thumper!” Today, by God’s grace, my brother knows the Lord, and that story has changed. But at that moment, genuine faith created immediate friction.

When the gospel enters your heart, you are no longer comfortable living in compromise. The old life becomes detestable. You put off the old self, put on the new self, and start turning up the light of Christ in your daily life. And when light enters a dark room, people react.

Consider who was listening to Jesus when He said these words:

• To the Jewish listener, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. Following Him meant being cast out of the synagogue and facing accusations of cultural betrayal.
• To the Greek listener, surrounded by a pantheon of gods, Jesus was claiming exclusive divinity: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Following Him meant throwing away all their idols because Jesus will not share the shelf with anyone.
• To the Roman listener, Caesar was proclaimed as lord (Kyrios Kaisar). You had to burn incense to Caesar to buy and sell in the marketplace. Jesus was saying, “Caesar is not Lord. I am King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Following Jesus has always demanded absolute allegiance.

Most of us in this room may never be dragged before a government official to face execution for our faith. But we have courageous men and women right here in our church family who understand this cost deeply:

• Students who have taken a bold stand on their high school and college campuses, or who have gone home to share the gospel with atheist parents.
• People who have left the LDS background, realizing that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in the true, fully divine Christ alone.
• Brothers and sisters who left traditional Catholic backgrounds, embracing the biblical truth that Christ’s sacrifice was once and for all.
• Brave men and women from Muslim backgrounds who risk complete disownment—or even death in their home countries—simply for owning a Bible and confessing Jesus as God incarnate.
• Friends who have stepped out of Hindu and Sikh backgrounds, facing profound rejection from their families to be baptized into Christ.
• Men and women who have repented of sexual immorality and broken biblical designs. Just recently at Re:Gen, a woman shared how she heard the gospel, surrendered her life to Jesus, walked away from a same-sex marriage, and found true identity and redemption in Christ.

These are real people in our congregation. They have discovered that Jesus is not an accessory you add to your life like an app on a smartphone. He is Lord of all.

The Cost of Supreme Loyalty

Jesus makes the requirements of discipleship unmistakably clear.

Matthew 10:37-38 (NASB)

’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.

Those are heavy words. Parents, remember the day your first child was born? You didn’t realize you had the capacity to love like that until that baby arrived. A whole new chamber opened in your heart.

Jesus isn’t telling us to despise our families; He is saying that your love for Him must be so supreme, so preeminent, that by comparison, every other earthly relationship takes second place. If you love anyone or anything more than Jesus, you have not yet grasped the magnitude of the gospel. The gospel is the reality that the holy God took on human flesh, lived among us, and bore the wrath of God on the cross in your place. When you see that kind of love, how could anyone else hold first place in your heart?

Luke records Jesus putting it in even stronger terms.

Luke 14:26 (NASB)

’If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

The biblical concept here is one of ultimate priority. If mother, father, spouse, children, or even your own life matters more to you than Jesus, you cannot be His disciple. The Apostle Paul echoed this exact posture when he wrote that he counted everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord.

Philippians 3:8 (NASB)

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

The missionary Jim Elliot famously wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Yet so many people want a convenient, comfortable faith. We want the benefits of Christ—forgiveness, heaven, peace, moral community—while keeping our favorite sins on the side. We want a little Jesus and a little of the world. But scripture tells us that friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Oil and water do not mix.

Being a disciple means embracing the distinction. It means accepting that you might no longer get invited to certain parties because you don’t get drunk, you don’t get high, and you don’t participate in immorality. And that is okay! We don’t need to be obnoxious or self-righteous. We must be the most gracious, loving, and kind people on the planet. But we refuse to compromise our obedience to the King.

The Apostle Peter wrote to the early church with the same reminder.

1 Peter 4:12-13 (NASB)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

Paul reminded Timothy that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

2 Timothy 3:12 (NASB)

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Losing Your Life to Find It

That brings us to verse 39, which contains one of the greatest paradoxes in all of Scripture.

Matthew 10:39 (NASB)

’He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

If you try to cling to your own life—your own autonomy, your own preferences, your own sin, your own control—you will ultimately lose it. But when you surrender your life completely to Jesus for His sake, you find real, abundant, eternal life.

Losing your life means yielding the throne of your heart. It means saying, “Lord, not my will, but Yours be done. Wherever You call me to go, I will go. Whatever You ask me to lay down, I will lay down. Whatever You command me to do, I will do.” In His presence is fullness of joy. The world offers fleeting pleasures that leave behind regret, consequence, and death. Jesus offers life that satisfies the soul forever.

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Mark 8:36 (NASB)

’For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

There is no greater investment you can make with your existence than to exalt Jesus Christ above everything else. Following Him is not easy. It will cost you comfort, reputation, and worldly approval. But He is worthy, and it is always worth it.

Let’s pray together.

Father in heaven, we are so grateful that even though the call to follow Jesus is demanding, You love us completely. You care for the common sparrow, and You know every hair on our head. You are intimately involved in our lives.

Give us the courage to live as authentic disciples. Deliver us from the fear of man. Give us bold hearts to confess Jesus openly before this world. Where our faith causes division or hardship, sustain us by Your grace. May our lives be so distinct, so loving, and so submitted to King Jesus that the world sees Him in us. We surrender our lives to You today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.