June 24, 2026
Passage to read: Matthew 10:24-39
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus offers some confrontational and perhaps quite surprising words. As Matthew’s Gospel progresses, we will see the confrontation between Jesus and his opponents heat up significantly. At times, Jesus can seem judgmental or condemning or harsh and unforgiving. Virtually always, when I read these passages, I am confronted yet again and led to evaluate my life and ministry again, again (redundancy intentional).
That we take these passages seriously, let them confront us, confuse us, create disequilibrium, cause us to ponder them carefully, and learn to live with the tension they create is crucial for the full development of our discipleship and humanity. If we are going to grow, we must let Jesus disturb us and create disorientation in our heart, mind, and soul. I know of no other way for humans to grow into the full flowering of our humanity. I know of no other way for disciples of Jesus to become like their Teacher. Thomas Keating said the human family is stuck in the preadolescent stage of development. I cannot recall what I thought about myself when I first heard him say that. In the decades since, I have come to know it is true of me. I hope I have learned to live into allowing the Gospel to disorient me, to force me to let go of what I think I know in order to discover what I don’t know, and, crucially, to let those new discoveries change my mind and my behavior.
So, with caution, I want to encourage two things: 1) The grace of the Gospel never departs. God never stops seeing us as traumatized. God knows humanity exists in an impossible situation. Simply put, we are, indeed, stuck in self-awareness that knows what we are supposed to do and we are unable to do it. Our only hope is grace – favor that we can never merit. [In last week’s Gospel Notes, I listed many instances of grace in the first nine chapters of Matthew’s Gospel. I think they are worth reviewing.] 2) Read carefully, in my opinion, the “judgement” passages do not reference a decision on God’s part to judge us. They simply reveal where our life choices take us.
I believe we are invited and urged to live in this tension. Does grace “win” in the end? …
Finally, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and “perfect love casts out all fear.”
Jesus, grant us grace to embrace the tension.
You remain in my prayers,
Jim
