The less than gentle words of Jesus – whoever does not take up
the cross and follow me is not worthy of me… are tempered by the hairs on our
head numbered promise that we are of more value than any number of sparrows.
That is not to say we should take Jesus’ challenge lightly. It is a fair
criticism that in reading the Gospels through the lens of Paul we make Jesus
more Gentile than Jew and lose the understanding of law as life and as gift. But
in the same way that Paul’s admonition to holy living is grounded in dependency
on unconditional grace Jesus demand for radical obedience depends fully upon
the disciple being like the teacher. In the end the life we find in Jesus is
better than whatever life we may lose. So we trust that we find our life when
with hairs on our head numbered valued more than a two sparrow per penny we take
up the cross and follow.
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