St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse: 26a, Heavenly Protection not Fear.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Confidence in divine protection) Part 1.  

Christ has been telling his disciples about the enemy that they will face in the previous verses.  He has told them that a disciple is not above his teacher indicating that they will face disciples of evil and not the teacher.  For no disciple is above his teacher.  A disciple only strives to be like his teacher.  In the case of disciples of evil, they strive to do greater evil than their teacher.  So they willingly serve their master seeking to win his favor by doing evil to mankind.  

Christ has trained his disciples for their solo journey.  He has given them the tools that they will need to do battle with the enemy they will face.  He has given them a battle cry to find the one that is worthy.  He has strengthened them mentally and spiritually through the training of the mind and the heart in preparation for the coming of the Spirit of the Father who will give them words of wisdom to speak on their behave when they face the governors and kings possessed by the evil one.  He now gives them the confidence in their battles by telling them,  "Therefore do not be afraid of them."

He tells his disciples this to build up their confidence in the protection that they have from their heavenly father.  He wants them to be assured that they have nothing to fear.  He wants them to know that they are of greater value than anything on earth and will be protected.  Sure they will face demons.  Sure they will see all kinds of deformities in the bodies of men.  Sure they will come in contact with all kinds of illnesses and diseases.  Sure they will hear the lamentations of the bereft in the loss of their loved ones.  But he assures them that they are divinely protected above all other things.

This is a clear message for us today.  Do not be afraid of them.  Do not fear.  Do not allow yourself to open the door to anxiety and allow it to enter your heart.  For you are protected.  You are watched over.  You are secure in the hands of your heavenly father if you are a disciple of Christ.  For there is the decision that must be made.  Either you follow Christ or you follow the evil one, whether you accept it or not.  Most would criticize this statement by saying that they do not believe in Christ and the message of the kingdom.  But they will not say that they do not believe in the evil one.  So one must make a decision.  Ignorance and failure to do so does not excuse that the decision has been made for you. For if you do not choose the one then the other is your decision.  Therefore, make the decision and know where you stand.  Are you afraid of them?

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:25b, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 3.   

Christ has told his disciples that no pupil is above his teacher.  He has said this to illistrate to his disciples the structure of pupil teacher relationship.  If the pupil is below his teacher and the students of the evil one are who they encounter in their solo journey then they should not worry.  They should not be afraid.  For the disciple is not above his teacher and the servant is not above his master.   The servants of Beelzebub, want to serve their master so they seek to do greater evil.  They seek to kill, to destroy, and to sactter.  But the students are not their masters only like him.

Christ tells his disciples,  "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household!"   If the master of the household is evil, how much more can the servants of the houshold be.  The servants are not above the master.  Even though they are evil, having been trained or taken on the mindset of the master, they are not above him.  They are like him but not above him.  And the same is true of the disciples.  They are not above their teacher who is Christ, even though they strive to be like him in all ways.  Christ wants his disciples to know who they are facing and how they are to defeat them.  Their battle will not be with the master but with the disciples of the evil one.

They have been trained in preparation for thier journey into the towns and villages.  They have been trained to do battle with the dark forces that have taken over the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  They will encounter evil.  They will encounter darkness.  They will cast out demons.  They will evict evil spirits.  They will cause death to abandon its claim.  They will heal the sick.  But of all the things that they do, they will face only the disciples of the evil master.  And all are servants of the master and not above him but only like him in evil. 

So today, we the disciples of Christ, seek to be like him.  We seek to cast out demons.  We seek to heal the sick.  We seek to cause the lame to walk and the blind to see, based upon the powers that Christ will give us through the Holy Spirit.  We become followers of Christ.  If you do not follow Christ you follow the evil one.  If you do not follow Christ you are a disciple of the devil.  There is no middle ground. 

We are led to believe that we are independent agents.  We live in this world and we seek to be the best that we can be.  We live our lives according to the principals and morals handed down to us by our society.  IF we do not follow the commandments given by Christ then we follow the commandments of the devil.  Those commandments may not be evident to us because they are hidden.  They are disguised to prevent us from knowing that they are evil.  They are hidden in the way we live, the way we speak, the way we think, and the things that we do in the name of our independence.  Society tells us that we can live a life of luxury and passion.  We can have it and eat it at the same time.  There are no boundaries.  Go for it.  Do what you feel.  Be all that you can be.  These are the slogans that we live by.  And they are the slogans that lead us to become disciples of evil.  Are you a follower of Christ or a follower of the devil?  If you are not one then you are the other. 

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:25a, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 2.  

Christ continues to explain to his disciples the principals of pupil and teacher.  In the previous verse he has told them that no disciple is above his teacher nor is a servant above his master.  What he is indicating is that if one calls himself a disciple then he/she is accepting the position of being under a teacher.  And vise versa if one is a teacher then there are pupils under him.  So if Christ is calling his students disciples it means that they are accepting that they are not above their teacher.  These principles are earthly ideals because Christ is of divine nature and everyone is under his teachings.  But Christ is indicating here, the principal of student/teacher relationship.  He is clarifying spiritual relationship.  This is important for the disciples to know because just as they are being trained as disciples to do combat with the dark forces of evil, there are also disciples of the evil one. 

He says to his disciples,  "It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and for the servant to be like his master."   It is sufficient for the pupil to take on the principals taught to him by his teacher thereby becoming like him.   Also it is enough for the servant to accept the mindset of his master thereby becoming like his master.   But the classic human struggle of, freedom vs servitude or pupil exceeding teacher, comes into play.  One does not serve when bound under slavery.  One does not truly give of oneself with a yoke around one's neck.  The service is not truly given but demanded.  So one who is bound under the servitude of slavery does not truly serve.  He/she only gives out of the requirement of their bondage. 

Likewise a pupil who learns from a teacher and then declares himself above the teacher is no longer a disciple, a student, a pupil.  For the declaration states that one knows more than the teacher and therefore is equal to or better than the teacher.  The confusion comes when one thinks of the pupil having received training from his teacher and then achieving greater understanding and greater success than the teacher.  However, the foundation for that success and greater understanding always comes back to the teacher.  One would not have succeeded were it not for the instructions of the teacher.  The pupil is not above the instructor.  The disciple is not above his teacher.

So Christ is giving his disciples principals to do battle by.  The opponents they will face will be disciples of the evil one.  They are not above their teacher but like him at most.  They serve him out of a desire to do evil.  For their service is given willingly out of a desire to do greater evil.  It is enough that the enemy that they will face will be like their master and not above him.  For they have been prepared and trained to do spiritual warfare also.  So Christ gives his disciples encouragement to let them know whom they will face.  They will face disciples of evil.  Do you seek to become the teacher yourself or is it enough that you have become like the master?  Our willingness to serve must come out of our love for him whom we serve.