You might think that if anyone who comes to Jesus and desires to follow him would be met with a cheerful welcome. That’s not the case in 8:18-22. At least two men receive very unsuspected replies from Jesus when they pledge to follow him. The context would suggest that these two conversations are samples of many similar ones. Jesus has preached the great Sermon on the Mount, and the crowds are awed at such authority. Jesus has cleansed a leper and healed the centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, and hundreds of others. Everything he says and everything he does is amazing! Who wouldn’t want to follow him now? Jesus is the “in” thing right now, and many people are following him for the wrong reasons.
This is probably the case for the scribe who comes along and declares that he follow Jesus to the ends of the earth! Jesus essentially says, “Stop and think about what you are committing yourself to!” It’s an exciting life to follow Jesus, as it appears now. But what the scribe does not know is that following Jesus is not always “big and exciting.” Sometimes following Jesus is very uncomfortable and very costly! The unnamed disciple pledges to follow Jesus after he buries his father. We are not privy to all that is going on in this story. It would seem that Jesus is faulting this man for wanting to do the honorable thing. So something like forming an excuse or always having a reason for delay is taking place here. The point of Jesus being so blunt as to say “let the dead bury the dead” is to communicate that following him requires supreme allegiance to Christ!
Lesson: It is great and wonderful to follow Christ, but it is also costly!
Matthew chapters 5-8: Whew! I found it difficult to read these chapters quickly. Too rich, too much here!! To read these 4 chapters and to pick out one "nugget", one new thought, is like eating a whole 13x9 pan of brownies (all by myself! Yikes!) and then being able to say, "Now, the square of brownie right in this corner--THAT was the best one!" The notes in the ESV Bible have been really good too.
ReplyDeleteHow are you all doing, my brothers and sisters who are also reading through the Word this year? Be encouraged! Keep at it! Isn't it good??
This challenge that I have given myself, of looking for some tidbit of truth that I can add like a P.S. to Brother Wil's blog, this has been good for me. What are YOU learning??