we certainly will be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Romans 6:5
Matthew 10:34-39
34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Romans 6:3-5
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
Family
For today the lectionary pairs the baptismal theology of Romans 6 with Jesus' warning about following him and the cost of discipleship related to family members. Matthew 10:38 is the first "cross" reference in Matthew's gospel, and it's about the disciples, not about Jesus!
Jesus knew anyone at odds with the Roman occupation government was at high risk for crucifixion; most likely Jesus started anticipating his own crucifixion even earlier than we read about in the gospel narratives. Although this refers to literal crucifixion, it's no stretch also to interpret it as putting to death our own desires, preferences, lifestyles that clash, interfere with, or even negate God's call to us. As we hear Paul's famous baptismal passage from Romans 6, we remember the cross did kill Jesus, but it didn't succeed in keeping him dead.
What social scientists refer to as the nuclear family (and that we still occasionally imagine almost as a given into the twenty-first century) is not a fixture in scripture, though we hear about parents, children, spouses, and in-laws. Jesus instead describes a new family of people who follow him. Biological heredity comes into the mix, but more than anything, this new family is by Jesus' blood, by baptismal water and word.
Reborn into a New Family
Saint Paul asks if we do not know? In Christ our primary familial kinship and identity is under the headship of the crucified and risen One. It's truly a gift to be the sibling, friend, parent, niece, or cousin of [insert name here], wonderful to live as a citizen or resident of the USA, of Italy, of any country with the right to vote, free markets, the rule of law, and a free press, but those identities are not primary.
Our second birth in baptism fully unites us with Jesus Christ – our "elder brother" – and with God's people across the eons. Baptism reunites us with planet earth, maybe the most basic and essential kinship of all.
Matthew 12:46-50
• These verses from Matthew 12 come a couple of chapters after today's. According to the scripture index on textweek, the lectionary doesn't ever schedule them. Interesting!
46 While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." 48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' 49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
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