Discipleship is Hard, Jesus is Worth It
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The Demands of discipleship
The Demands of discipleship
inclusio of Matthew: Matthew sets the stage for chaps. 4–9 with his summary of Jesus’ ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing in 4:23. The Sermon on the Mount (chaps. 5–7) has beautifully illustrated his teaching and preaching; now Matthew turns to Jesus’ healing. Matthew 9:35 forms an inclusio (a framing device in which a passage begins and ends with similar statements or concepts) with 4:23 by repeating verbatim how Jesus was “teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.”
Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.
So we find ourselves in the middle of these passages of what seems to be major unit of material when looked at through scholarly outlines and such…
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Here Matthew presents nine miracle stories (containing ten actual miracles plus summaries of several others). These accounts are arranged into three groups of three stories each
Matthew (3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35))
All but one of the miracles involve physical healings of various individuals. The lone exception, the stilling of the storm, is probably to be seen as a kind of exorcism and thus a “healing” of nature appropriate for this collection of miracles
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
In between the three triads appear two pairs of passages dealing with discipleship
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
These two chapters thus subdivide into: three healings of illness, focusing on Jesus’ ministry to social outcasts (8:1–17); negative and positive paradigms of discipleship, framing three dramatic miracles of Jesus which point to his divine nature and sovereignty over Satan’s realm (8:18–9:17); and three more accounts of healings, illustrating the growing polarization of responses to the person of Christ (9:18–35)
So this is the section we find ourselves in today focusing on the reality and cost of discpleship as well as the christological truths about Jesus and his sovereignty over the universe. (read the passage)
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 8
18 When Jesus saw a large crowd, around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21 “Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
WIND AND WAVES OBEY JESUS
23 As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. 25 So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”
26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”
It is also important to note some other introductory matters important for this passage. namely that there is a progression throughout Matthews gospel that creates a shift in Jesus’ teaching about his followers being insiders and outsiders. this is especially important when you look at features of the audience that Matthew was writing to. primarily Jews who were tasked with the gentile mission to take the gospel to all the nations. while Matthew was writing to Jews, the thought of Gentiles receiving the kingdom of heaven was unthought of was one of the reasons so many people rejected Jesus’ teaching. they were told for thousands of Years that they would be his people! but now there was room for everyone.
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4
9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans
The centurions faith in the previous passage v. 5-13.
- this passage comes after a story about great faith from a gentile
so the gospel is for everyone, but true discipleship is hard and is for the few that would take up there cross and follow Jesus daily.
So lets dive into this passage,
Jesus was wanting to get away from the crowds with his disciples. As will happen repeatedly, Jesus tries to escape the crowds (cf. 12:15; 14:13; 15:21). Later he will flee hostility; here he is probably just seeking physical rest (cf. his deep sleep through the subsequent storm, v. 24) and spiritual refreshment (cf. Luke 6:12—following a previous frenzy of healings).
So as Jesus is directing toward going to the other side he is commanding a group of unspecified individuals who is most likely the twelve, to go over to the east side of the sea of Galilee.
Matthew (3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35))
Before he can leave, two other people express their desire to follow Jesus across the lake. The first man stands out because he is called a scribe (“teacher of the law”). So far in Matthew scribes, like Pharisees, have been objects only of denunciation. So one expects this scribe to illustrate inadequate discipleship, and Matthew includes nothing to discourage this expectation. The man addresses Jesus as “teacher” (didaskale), a title given to Christ in Matthew only by those who do not fully believe in him. The title is accurate but not adequate. The scribe professes absolute allegiance, but Jesus realizes that the man doesn’t know what such a commitment would actually involve.
so there were many Pharisees who hated, turned, and walked away. They loved their sin. They loved darkness rather than light. But there were others who were attracted to Him (in which this scribe fits), the magnetism of His personality: the thrill seekers. And they came. But in each case, something kept them from genuine conversion. Let’s see what it was. Two classic cases.
Number one: Personal comfort. Personal comfort. Verse 18: “Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart to the other shore.” They were on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd was becoming so massive; the Lord was weary in His physical body. In fact, on the boat ride across, He fell asleep down in the hole of the boat on the wood planks. He needed time for prayer and refreshment, for meditation. And the crowd could put pressures on Him that were not necessarily in the plan of God. And so He said, “I think we’d better leave, go to a new place,” so he commanded them to depart to the other side.
Now when He did that, immediately it pressed the issue of commitment with certain people, because by then He had a lot of people following Him. In fact, Mark tells us that when He went on His little boat, a bunch of other little boats went behind Him like a little flotilla, following along. So some people were at the very crux of decision: “Do I get in the boat and go, or do I stay? What do I do?” And we meet a couple of these people in our lesson this morning.
The first man was so interested, but he never came to true salvation, because he wanted personal comfort more than he wanted Christ. Verse 19: “And a certain scribe came, and said unto Him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’” Oh man, that sounds good, doesn’t it? Wonderful. “Hey, we’ve got a live one, Lord. And guess what; he is a scribe.”
You know about the scribes? The scribes were the authorities in the law. The scribes were the ones who had the official sanction in the Pharisees. The scribes were qualified by Jewish authority to teach. The scribes were highly educated. The scribes were loyal to the system. They were the teachers, they weren’t the followers of teachers.
And the scribes were generally hostile – weren’t they? – to Christ. They generally joined the Pharisees in their antagonism and opposition. So when you get a scribe, you’ve got a live one. A scribe! And he says, “Master,” – didaskalos, teacher, rabbi, master. What an affirmation – “I will unconditionally, continuously follow you wherever you go. You’ve got me for good.” What a tremendous statement of dedication, permanent commitment.
I’m sure the scribe thought Jesus was the greatest teacher he’d ever heard. They all marveled at that. I’m sure that when he saw these miracles he said, “This is of God. This is something else. This is unbelievable. This is attractive. I want to get close to this guy. Man, wherever this guy is going I want to go. He’s irresistible.”
Now if this guy showed up to church today, we’d say, “Hey, great, we’ll take you in.” We’re real eager to do that. But Jesus wasn’t so eager. Listen to what He said to him. What a strange statement. just out of the blue, at first appearance: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.”
This is a proverbial saying. It simply means, “The basic comforts of life that even wild animals have, I don’t have.”
The end of John 7, says, “Every man went to his own house, and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives,” – He didn’t have a house – “and He spent the night lying on the ground in prayer with the Father.” In Luke chapter 8, it lists for us the beloved women who were hospitable to Him. One commentator says, Of course, Jesus had a home in Capernaum even if it was a borrowed one, but he was often not there to use it. SO He didn’t have any personal comforts. He didn’t have any worldly possessions. He didn’t have anything to offer this guy.
so you might think, “Why did He bring that up?” Because He could read his mind, and He knew what the guy’s hang-up was. The guy was saying, “Man, my life is full and rich, and I got all I want, and my lifestyle satisfies me, and I just want to add You to my lifestyle. I just want to take my whole gig, and drag it along, and follow You.”
back in John 2:24-25, He had done these same miracles in Jerusalem? And it says, “Many believed in His name.” And then it says, “And He committed Himself to none of them, because He need not have anybody tell Him what was in man; He knew what was in man.” You know what that means? It means that He had no faith in their faith. He knew it was shallow, superficial, thrill seeking.
He classified these people in the parable of the seed. He said, “There’s some seed, you throw it, and it gathers a little root, and it springs up; and as soon as the sun comes out, it burns and dies.” There are those people, you know, who want to jump on the bandwagon, and they look like they’re alive for Christ; and as soon as the persecution starts, as soon as it’s not comfortable anymore, as soon as you don’t have a nest or a hole, as soon as you don’t have the basic commodities of life, then you want out. Sun scorches it, and it dies.
This scribe saw Jesus, and he was magnetized. But Jesus knew the human nature. He knew it was fickle. He knew it was unstable. He knew it was self-centered. He knew that human nature hungered for sensations. The crowd, the miracles, the excitement; the scribe was fascinated.
SO for Jesus, he’s too ready, he’s too eager, he’s too complete in his offer. He’s like a seed on rocky ground; it grows quickly, it lacks root, and it dies under the blazing sun of the price that has to be paid. this man never understood the basic principle of discipleship; and that is self-denial, that is sacrifice, that is suffering. So Jesus hit him with it. He said, “I just want you to know one thing: you’re not going to get any comfort out of this.”
You know what the next verse says? It doesn’t say anything about him. You know why? He isn’t around. He left in the white space between verses 20 and 21. The Lord nailed him right where he was; he’s gone.
Isn’t Jesus unlike us? We sugarcoat the message. We want to make it so everybody can get in as easy as possible. He makes it so hard to keep them out, unless they have a genuine commitment.
I love the statement: “The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” The Son of Man first appears in Daniel 7:13. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be Son of Man, and Jesus came and said, “I’m Son of Man.” anybody take a guess? how many times that’s used in the Gospels? Eighty times. Jesus affirmed He was the Son of man.
What is it? the term actually focuses on the exaltation and preexistence of Jesus, who was present in God’s heavenly throne room and given everlasting authority over all the world. In general “Son of Man” focuses more on Christ’s divinity than on his humanity. It can also be a term to point to his humiliation as a human. he could be seen as essentially saying, “In my humiliation, I don’t even have what foxes have.” And the foxes were very common in those parts of the world in those times, and they would burrow little holes in the ground. And birds were everywhere and they had their nests, and He said, “I don’t even have that. In My humiliation, I don’t have the basic comforts of life; and if you’re going to follow Me, you’re going to have to be willing to give that up.”
In Matthew chapter 10, verse 16, He said, “Now I’m going to send you forth.” Later on, He tells His apostles, “I’m going to send you forth. I’m going to send you like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Now that’s not a very inviting thing, is it? “You’re going to send us out like sheep in the midst of wolves?”
“And just remember, beware of men. They’re going to deliver you up in councils, and scourge you in synagogues. You’ll be brought before governors and kings, and they’ll deliver you. Don’t worry I’ll give you the words to say.” Verse 22: “You’ll be hated of all men for My name’s sake.” Verse 23: “You’ll be persecuted.” Verse 25: “If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household
In John 15, He said, “Don’t be surprised when men hate you. They hate me. Don’t be surprised when they kill you, and think they’re doing God’s service.” Persecution: “In this world you shall have tribulation.” He said it to them. “All that will live godly,” – 2 Timothy 3:12 – “all that will live godly in this present age will suffer persecution.” Matthew 5: “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.” Hebrews 11: They just suffered and suffered, all those heroes of the faith, and at the end it says, “of whom the world was not worthy.”
There’s a price to pay to be a Christian. This guy wasn’t willing to pay the price, he just wanted to add excitement to his life. He was a potential Judas, and nobody needs more than one of those. So, Jesus drove him away.
It’s like a young man who comes and expresses a desire for scholarship, and the dean of the seminary says to him, “Good. But are you prepared to scorn the delights of the world and study diligently to attain your goal?” Or an explorer who wants to gather a team to explore some uncharted portion of the earth, and everybody wants to line up, until he gives a little speech about the snow and the ice, the searing heat, the swamps, the wild animals; and all of a sudden the troops start disappearing. Or the young person who wants to be a great athlete, and the trainer says to him, “Yes, but are you willing to make the sacrifice that it takes to be great?”
we do Jesus a grave disservice if we lead people to believe that the Christian way is an easy way. It is not an easy way. I agree there’s no thrill like the way of Christ. There’s no glory like the end of that way. But Jesus never said it would be easy. He always said that you had to take up your – what? – cross.
You see people who want personal comfort, they want to do their thing, they want to have their cake and eat it too, they just want to add Jesus to their already established life pattern; He refuses them. That’s right, He refuses them.
There’s a second person in this chapter. The first one didn’t get entrance into the kingdom because he wanted personal comfort. The second one wanted personal riches, verse 21. Now watch this: “And another of His disciples.” Now the word “disciple” is not an official word with a capital D. It simply means learner, follower. And at this particular point, He’s got a lot of people following Him of all different levels. And another one of these followers said to Him, “Lord, permit me to go first and bury my father.”
Now you say, “Well, I mean that sounds like a reasonable request, right? Can’t leave my old man just lying around dead; got to get him in the ground, certainly proper.” The Jews didn’t embalm, so when somebody died, you really had to get him in there fast.
And on the other hand, the Jews used to teach you needed to mourn for your father and mother thirty days when they died. So maybe he’s talking about, “Just need a month to get my act together.” we also see in Genesis it tells us that the last responsibility of a son in his final act of devotion to his parents was to make sure that he cared for their burial. It was a very loving thing to do; and so it sounds like a very reasonable request. and the man knows the Lord is on the move. He’s going to get in a boat and leave, and he says, “You know, I just can’t come. But I’ll try to catch you later after I bury my father.”
But there’s a lot more here than meets the eye, because the phrase “I must first go and bury my father” is a colloquial phrase that appears in the Middle East even in contemporary times. there was a conversation years ago between a missionary with a Turk in the middle east. and as a missionary in the Middle East, and he was talking with a rich, young Turk, and he advised this Turk to go on a certain trip to Europe, and along with him. And he thought he could disciple him and accomplish certain things with him, and after he finished his education, go along; to which the Turk replied, “I must first of all bury my father.”
And the missionary said, “Oh, young man,” – he said – “I had no idea he’d died. I just am so sorry. I hope I wasn’t insensitive.” He said, “Oh no.” He said, “He isn’t dead. He’s not dead.” He said, “That’s just a phrase we use. My father is very much alive; I just have to stick around and fulfill my responsibility till he passes on. And then, of course, I will receive my inheritance.” “Oh, I see.”
“I must first go and bury my father who isn’t even dead” means, “I’ve been waiting a long time for my inheritance. Can I just hang around?” The guy is tottering at this point – “And when I get it all, think of how I can be used in the movement.” See? The guy had the money on his mind. He was playing with trivia, and it took the courage and commitment out of his discipleship. His father wasn’t even dead.
Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.” Now again, that’s a sharp statement. And at first, it seems nonsensical. How can dead people bury dead people? Obviously dead people can’t bury dead people, unless the first kind are spiritually dead; and that’s what He’s saying. It’s a proverb. “Let the dead bury their dead. Let the spiritually dead bury their physical dead.”
And then Luke adds in the parallel passage, “Go thou, and preach the kingdom of God.” What he’s saying is, “Look, this is a proverb again, just like the one about the foxes and birds. The first one meant, ‘Look I don’t have any personal comforts.’ This one means, ‘Let spiritually dead people bury their dead. Let the secular world take care of its own issues. You have been called to the kingdom of God.’” See the difference? What he’s saying is, if other priorities take the front seat over being a disciple of Christ then Jesus wants nothing to do with it and has no time for it. discipleship also requires an immediate response.
He’s not saying Christians are forbidden to go to funerals. He’s not saying if you’re a Christian, you’re not supposed to make sure your father or mother gets buried. what he means is the world’s passing affairs, the coming and going of people, the passing of fortunes from one to another is all part of a dead and dying system. “You are called to a living kingdom: go and preach the kingdom.”
You see, the man’s priorities are fouled up. Secular matters belong to the people who are secular. The human system takes care of itself. But this young man, what does it say he did? It’s not there either. He left somewhere between verse 22 and 23. He disappeared. Why? Personal possessions were the big thing to him. He had waited a long time for his piece of the action, he wasn’t bailing out now. Hey, he liked the thrill and the charisma and the wonder and the miracles, and this was fabulous stuff, and he wanted to get on the bandwagon. But there was no commitment there; he wanted his money.
It reminds me of another man in Chapter 19 of Matthew who came to Jesus and said, “Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” You say, “Oh, isn’t that wonderful?” “Oh,” – he says – “what will I have to do attain eternal life?”
And the Lord says to him, verse 21, “If you would be perfect, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, that you should have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me.” He said, “Go sell everything you have, and give it to the poor.”
Is that how you get saved? You get saved by selling everything and giving all the money to the poor? No. But, if your money stands in the way and the money is the God, you’re going to have to get rid of the money in order to get saved; that was the issue. The money’s the idle over following Christ and entering into his kingdom.
Here comes this young man, and he says, “Oh I’ve kept all the law. I want eternal life.” And Jesus says to him – knows exactly what’s going on in his life. He’s omniscient, knows every detail. He says, “All right, take everything you have, and give it to the poor,” and He hit him right at the weak spot. The next verse says, “The young man heard that; he went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions.” He was sorry, sorry he couldn’t get in the kingdom, because he wanted to hold onto his money.
But a lot of people are like that. How heartbreaking it is. Personal comfort, personal riches keep Christ from accepting people who come to Him. They’re attracted to Jesus, they’re astounded, they’re overwhelmed, yet they walk away lost forever, because the price is too high.
Lets move on with the time we have left to the second part of this passage and look at Jesus’ amazing power over the natural world to see why he is truly worth following.
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
The three miracles in 8:23–9:8 illustrate Jesus’ power over disaster, demons, and disease. The storm stilling contains a rebuke of the elements that resembles an exorcism (8:26). The exorcism of the two Gadarenes clearly vanquishes Satan’s minions. And the paralytic’s malady is linked to his sin—further enslavement to the devil’s realm.
Let me give you some background to the thought this morning. When God created man, God ordained that man was to be the king of the earth. That man was to be the monarch. The book of Genesis says that God gave man dominion, or sovereignty, or rule, or kingship over the earth.
And then when man fell into sin, he was dethroned as the king. He lost his sovereignty; he lost his right to rule; he lost the majesty and the wonder of the glory of an innocent earth, the kingdom that God had given him. The earth was immediately cursed by God. And as a result of that curse, the control of the earth fell into the hands of the usurper Satan, who is called the prince of this world, the god of this age.
And so, man lost his dominion, and the earth lost its glory. What was the result of this? Let me just give you some of them: sickness, pain, death, difficulty in human relationships, war, sorrow, injustice, falsehood, famine, natural disaster, and demonic activities. These are the things that result from sin. And the earth endures all of these things constantly. But the Bible unfolds for us a great and glorious redemptive plan in which God is not only redeeming man, but redeeming man’s environment, redeeming man’s earth, redeeming man’s universe, reversing the curse.
Now, if the earth is going to be changed, and if the environment is going to be altered, and if there is to be a new heaven and a new earth, it’s going to have to be done by somebody far superior to any man. even more, it is not only a power beyond man, it is a power that is inconceivable to man. We can’t even imagine the kind of power it will take to reverse the curse, to create a new heaven and a new earth any more than we can imagine the kind of power that it takes for God to create in the beginning and to uphold His creation. In Psalms 62, the Bible says, “Power belongs to God.”
Romans 1. “The things around us reveal to us the power of God,”. What kind of power is it? The longer we look at the universe, the more shocking it becomes to see the power that is exhibited there. Puny little us, if we want to run a massive D11T caterpillar bulldozer for one day has to use a hundred gallons of diesel fuel just to push it around to move dirt. What kind of power does it take to move the universe? Beyond our imagination.
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Verse 23 resumes the story line of v. 18. The words “disciples” and “followed” link back with v. 21 and vv. 19 and 22, respectively
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
The two dialogues with the would-be disciples and the stilling of the storm narrative belong together. True disciples do model appropriate detachment from home and family, which in this case involves physical separation for a time.
so we've already seen the negative responses of the would-be disciples and now we move into three more miracles
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
As commonly happened, a sudden squall arises on the Sea of Galilee. Matthew, however, calls the storm a seismos (literally, earthquake), a term used for apocalyptic upheavals (cf. 24:7; 27:54; 28:2), often with preternatural overtones. This seems to be no ordinary storm but one in which Satan is attacking
the boat is being swamped and tehyre in danger os losng their lives.
whats amazing is how calm Jesus remains as he continues to sleep. im just thinking he mustve been really tired from all the healing and teaching he did. but the reality is he had nothing to worry about as the son of man and he was content in resting knowing that his God was with him and that, he also had the power to calm the sea…
but the discples dont know that yet.
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
The disciples rouse him and beg for help. “Save” and perish (“drown”) refer first of all to the disciples’ physical lives, but by Matthew’s time they have become the standard terms for spiritual salvation and destruction. Matthew may well intend a double entendre here.
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Despite their acknowledgment of dependence on him and use of the address “Lord” (v. 25, a positive title for Jesus throughout Matthew), Jesus rebukes their “little faith.” Matthew places Jesus’ rebuke before the miracle, while Mark reverses the sequence (Mark 4:40). Yet even though Matthew’s narrative reads more naturally, it is hard to believe that he is trying to present the disciples in a more positive light. “Little faith” simply stresses their lack of faith; it scarcely improves on Mark’s “no faith.”
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Jesus demonstrates power over the destructive forces of nature, which remain under the devil’s sway. As with his healings, Jesus’ “cure” takes effect immediately.
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Astoundingly, Jesus has demonstrated the identical sovereignty over wind and waves attributed to Yahweh in the Old Testament
whats astounding about this is to the disciples, they would have been very much thinking about, if not during the moment, at least after everything had settled down, maybe even days later, about Yahweh’s sovereignty over nature and how it correlated to Christ the God man that they were now in the presence of.
Psalm 65:7 “You silence the roar of the seas, the roar of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.”
Psalm 89:9 “You rule the raging sea; when its waves surge, you still them.”
Psalm 104:6–9 “You covered it with the deep as if it were a garment; the water stood above the mountains. At your rebuke the water fled; at the sound of your thunder they hurried away— mountains rose and valleys sank— to the place you established for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; they will never cover the earth again.”
Psalm 107:29 “He stilled the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Miracles over “nature” remain much rarer in Jewish and Christian history. Quite understandably, the disciples wonder aloud about the identity of the man, bringing the narrative to its Christological climax
and that is what I want for us to see today! who Jesus is. and that we should be amazed as the discples wre at the end of the passage.
Matthew (3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35))
Jesus’ nature miracles in general (and rescue miracles in particular) should lead men and women to worship him for who he is over our lives as God himself.
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
Contemporary applications of this miracle almost universally “demythologize” the narrative (deriving a naturalistic lesson from a supernatural event), so that it becomes a lesson about Jesus “stilling the storms” of our lives. Matthew did not likely have such an application in mind
Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)
There are implications for discipleship here, to be sure; we must turn to Jesus as the one to trust in all circumstances of life. But the focus of this passage remains squarely Christological—on who Christ is, not on what he will do for us
the one who has this kind of power must be God himself, worthy of worship no matter what he does for us and how he chooses to use his power in our lives. and worthy of true discipleship regardless of its comforts and sacrifices. because he is the one who died for all of our transgressions and sickness and iniquities.
SO will you continue to follow him with everything you have? will you start following him wholeheartedly if you have not made that decision today? He is worthy, and the reward for those who do follow him will be greater than anything you could ever imagine.
Pray with me.