Jesus' demanding call to discipleship only makes sense in the larger Biblical narrative, in which the Lord God  issues commands only AFTER he has delivered us. 

The Mosaic law on Mount Sinai is only given AFTER God has freed the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt and led them with dry feet across the Red Sea.

The 10 commandments are not the pre-condition for salvation. They are a way of life for people who have ALREADY BEEN SAVED. And only God’s abiding presence makes that way of life possible for them.

That is exactly how it is with Jesus’ costly call to discipleship! Only in the presence of the living Lord is his radical demand helpful. 

The gospel writer Matthew tells us at the beginning of his gospel that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.  And Matthew is the one who at the end of his gospel records the very last words of Jesus on earth to his disciples as: go, make disciples, baptize, teach them everything I’ve commanded and remember I am WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age. 

Matthew reminds us that Jesus is both the one who calls us to obedience, AND the one walking with us to make obedience possible. 

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