Costly Discipleship: Prophetic Call from Matthew's Gospel

Matthew is still only in the tenth chapter, and Matthew has already shown himself to be a mighty engaged disciple with a lot to say. Matthew is the convert, the tax collector, the fellow nobody in town wanted to see coming. Matthew knew what it was to be called by Jesus when other people wondered how such a man could possibly know anything about justice, equity, mercy, or God’s love.

Matthew also tells the story in his own long-winded way. Matthew is not building a neat little system where every sentence can be pulled out and used like a law book. Matthew is telling the breadth and depth of Jesus, and Matthew cares about the point he is making in the moment. The hard words about fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, slaves and masters, and even hell cannot be ripped out of their setting and made to serve somebody else’s agenda.

Jesus, in Matthew’s telling, is not primarily interested in making people happy or comfortable. Jesus is interested in developing disciples. The gospel of Jesus comes in flesh and blood, and that gospel disturbs. The gospel calls people to account for injustice in the world. The gospel tells the truth that life is not always fair, life is not easy, and life may become even harder for those who follow Jesus.

The language about slaves and masters has been twisted before, even to defend chattel slavery. Matthew does not give approval to slavery. Matthew’s witness has to be read alongside the whole story of Jesus Christ, including the good news that in Christ there is neither slave nor free. Matthew was an expert on taxes and an expert on grace, not an expert on slavery, and cherry-picking his words forgets the whole Christ who upturns the world.

Jesus stands in the line of the prophets. The prophetic church does not depend on earthly power, money, armies, crowds, or popularity. The prophetic church tells the truth to power, names injustice, and counts the cost of discipleship honestly. Jesus changed the world not by forcing people into agreement, not by riding through Jerusalem with a sword, but by convincing a small group of people that the world does not get to decide how they live and treat one another.

God’s love and mercy are not rewards for good behavior. God’s love and mercy are the engine and the fuel that empower holy and righteous life. The same grace that called Matthew away from cheating and harm still calls tax collectors today, not with comfort, but with mercy strong enough to tell the truth in love.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus forms disciples, not comfort [35:45] Matthew’s Jesus is not trying to keep disciples settled, pleased, or untouched. Jesus presses beyond happiness into formation, because a disciple must become the kind of person who can bear truth, mercy, and justice in an unjust world. Comfort can leave a soul unchanged, but the call of Christ disturbs what needs to be disturbed. [35:45]
• 2. Cherry-picking Scripture serves old agendas [37:23] Matthew’s words about slaves and masters have been used to bless what the gospel itself condemns. A text torn away from the whole Christ can become a weapon in the hands of people who already know what they want it to say. Faithful reading refuses that shortcut and asks what Jesus is doing in the whole story. [37:23]
• 3. Prophetic faith tells costly truth [39:47] The prophetic church has never been measured by wealth, crowds, or earthly authority. The prophet speaks to the one nobody else can correct, and that work is often unpopular because truth threatens settled power. Jesus stands in that line, where love is not softness but holy courage. [39:47]
• 4. Christ changes people without coercion [42:25] Jesus did not overturn the world with a horse, sword, army, or forced agreement. Jesus gathered people who learned that the world’s way did not have to become their way. That kind of change runs deeper than control, because it begins in a life captured by mercy. [42:25]
• 5. Grace is fuel, not payment [45:04] God’s love and mercy are not recognition for religious achievement. Grace comes first, and that grace gives power to leave behind what harms neighbors and distorts the soul. Matthew’s call shows mercy as a summons, not an excuse, because Jesus loves enough to say, “Come, follow me.”
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [32:37] - Matthew’s Wild Gospel Begins
• [33:04] - Why the Lectionary Matters
• [33:32] - Matthew the Tax Collector
• [34:48] - Hard Words About Family
• [35:45] - Jesus Wants Discipleship, Not Comfort
• [36:25] - Scripture Twisted to Defend Slavery
• [37:54] - Reading Matthew With the Whole Christ
• [39:09] - The Gospel Makes Life Harder
• [39:47] - The Prophetic Church Speaks Truth
• [42:25] - Jesus Changes the World Without Force
• [43:05] - Becoming Christ’s Hands and Feet
• [45:04] - Grace Calls Matthew to Leave Everything
• [45:40] - Love and Mercy Fuel Holy Life

1. Matthew 10:34-39

1. In Matthew 10:34-39, what kinds of close relationships does Jesus name, and what repeated phrase shows how deeply discipleship can disrupt a household? [35:18]
2. What does this passage say a person must do in order to follow Jesus, and what contrast does it draw between finding life and losing life?
3. How is Matthew described as a person in the gospel story, and why would his calling have surprised the people around him? [33:19]
4. What are some examples of words from Matthew being pulled out of context and used for someone else’s agenda? [36:48]

1. Jesus says he came not to bring peace but a sword. How should that be understood if Jesus is not calling his followers to violence, but warning them that truth and discipleship can bring conflict even inside a family? [39:14]
2. If Jesus is more interested in forming disciples than keeping people comfortable, what does that suggest about why the gospel can feel disturbing instead of easy? [36:00]
3. Why is it dangerous to read one small line from Matthew without reading it alongside the whole story of Jesus Christ? How can isolated verses end up defending things the gospel finally overturns? [37:54]
4. Jesus changes the world without force, armies, or coercion. What does that reveal about the kind of change Christ is seeking in people and in communities? [42:25]

1. Jesus does not promise comfort first; Jesus calls people into discipleship. Where is faith in Christ currently unsettling something in life that would be easier to leave alone? [35:45]
2. The gospel can create tension in households, friendships, and communities when someone begins to live differently. Where has following Jesus created strain, misunderstanding, or distance in relationships, and how might faithfulness be practiced there without bitterness? [34:48]
3. Cherry-picking Scripture has often been used to protect injustice. What habits could help this group read the Bible more honestly, with the whole Christ in view, especially when a passage is hard or confusing? [38:48]
4. Prophetic faith tells the truth about injustice even when that truth is costly. Where is there pressure right now to stay quiet, keep things pleasant, or avoid naming what is wrong? What would courageous and loving truth-telling look like there? [39:47]
5. Jesus changes people without forcing them. Who has shown that kind of Christlike influence in life by mercy, honesty, and example rather than pressure? What made that witness believable? [43:05]
6. There are still “tax collectors today,” people trapped in harmful patterns, injustice, or shame. Who might need grace strong enough to tell the truth in love, and what might a faithful first step toward that person look like? [43:42]
7. God’s love and mercy are not payment for good behavior, but the fuel for holy living. Where is there a need to stop trying to earn grace and instead let grace actually change the way one lives this week? [45:46]