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 a person’s enemies will be those of his 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 his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34–39 ESV)
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The figure of speech known as oxymoron is when apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. For example, “old news,” “deafening silence,” or “organized chaos.” My favorite oxymoron is “jumbo shrimp.” Delicious!
Jesus provided an apparent oxymoron in Matthew 10:39. To find life means to lose it? To lose one’s life means you will find it? What did Jesus mean by these statements?
To find life (εὑρίσκω; heurisko) means to actively attain life valued by the fallen world. To pursue such a life, and its lifestyle, is to eventually actively lose (ἀπόλλυμι; apollymi) eternal life that is solely found in Christ. It is better to lose the life the world offers for the sake of Christ in order to really find and possess eternal life.
“The ultimate purpose of life is to show that Jesus is more precious than life,” explains Pastor John Piper.
How often do we see people in the media who pursue with abandonment all that this life has to offer? Tragically, those who pursue life and living by the fallen world’s standards, end up either disillusioned or dead. Individuals are told to take a fentanyl pill to experience a rush they’ve never before experienced, only to forfeit their life for the promised thrill.
“Jesus does not praise heedless thrill-seekers over golfers and bowlers. He would have us remember that however we craft our lives, every heart eventually fails and everybody dies,” explains commentator Daniel M. Doriani.
“Those who live for self-die twice and may never even live once. Those who die to self, die once and live twice, now and forever.”
Be a living oxymoron today.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 