The Mission: For Jesus' Sake

06-21-2020Weekly Reflection

We are all called to be missionaries, and the mission includes the cares of daily life, activities, events, and happenings. This chapter of Matthew is often times called Jesus' Missionary Discourse. Jesus teaches His disciples about the mission they are facing and at the same time trains them of the right disposition in the mission. The two paragraphs contain the two main ideas of Jesus about the mission.

What is the hierarchy of values that Jesus' disciples must adopt? He presents three categories: First, and the most important, Love. A disciple must love the Lord, Jesus Christ above everyone else. This simply means that we value our relationship with Him more than any other relationship, including our families.

The value of the cross is the second category. There is a saying, “The journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step.” In the same way, the journey to every mission begins with the cross. It is the most valuable possession to carry on in the journey, in the mission. Establishing the daily life in the mission is itself a big cross, this includes daily life burdens and challenges that purifies one's motivation in mission. The cross is the trademark of every disciple, Jesus' bearing of the cross is the standard, a disciple is invited to share the cross of Christ and conform himself to Jesus' way of the cross. The worth of every disciple is the worth of his cross and how much value he/she gives in carrying the cross. How a disciple carries Jesus' cross as a badge of honor, unworthy of sharing the cross of Christ.

The last category is Life. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Many of our missionaries have left the comforts and securities of their families and homeland for the mission. The key to the mission, and even in life, the secret of life, is selfemptying love. To entrust totally one's life to Him, is the fullest expression of this love. That is why, Jesus instructed His disciples not to bring so much in mission, “to travel light is to travel bright.” At the cross, and in His death, this surrendering of life takes up everything to a deeper level of meaning, a calling for would be disciple, “If anyone wishes to be my disciples, one must take up his cross and follow me.” To conform in His death, a total obedience to the Will of the Father was the fulfillment of the life planned by the Father. His life, suffering, death, resurrection and glory is the complete life of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The second part of the Gospel presents instruction on mission. Taken together, the two paragraphs point also to the two dimension of Christian discipleship, which are, the vertical and horizontal dimension of mission. Where the hierarchy of values are the vertical dimension and how missionaries may be received is the horizontal dimension. Just like the cross, the horizontal and the vertical are actually the two elements of the cross. Thus, embracing our cross for the sake of Jesus and following Him is how one becomes a worthy disciple.