Jesus’ Rivals

Jesus’ Rivals

Read: Matthew 10:34-39

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

Matthew 10:37-38

“Whatever a man seeks, honors, or exalts more than God, this is the god of idolatry.”

—William Ullathorne

IN WORD These are startling words from Jesus. And in a sense we can dismiss them with a disclaimer: “None of us is worthy of Him anyway; that’s why we call it grace.” Acknowledging our universal unworthiness, we can move on without dealing with this radical call. But we must linger at these words longer if we really want to know the mind of Christ.

When we consider these verses in the context of the whole Bible, we know that Jesus does not oppose love for family. Rather, He opposes disproportionate love—that which depreciates His desire to have us love Him wholeheartedly. He can have no rivals in our hearts, not even good ones.

IN DEED Jesus only asks us to be realists. In reality, He is more valuable than any other person or thing in all of existence. In fact, all existence—other than the self-existing Godhead—came through Him (Colossians 1:16). He is where true worth lies. When we value others more, we are not living in truth. Instead, we deny truth, attributing greatest importance to someone or something less important than Him. This is the unworthiness of disproportionate love. We deny the reality of who Jesus is.

Try this exercise: Make a list in one column of all of your relationships, possessions, and plans. Then in another column write “Jesus.” Look at your columns like an accounting sheet. Which weighs more to you? On which column do you place the most value? The answer will tell you how much you value the gospel’s worthiness.