A Study of Matthew: Who Are You Following?
A Study of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”
And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.
And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them.
And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”
And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
We are continuing our study of the book of Matthew. Everything we have read so far shows that Matthew was trying to help his fellow Jews that Jesus is the Messiah that was promised centuries ago. Everything we see Jesus doing lines up with ancient prophecy.
There is, however, a problem. Jesus is fulfilling all the prophecies. Descendant of David—check. Born of a virgin—check. Lived in Egypt—check. A Nazarene—check. Healing people—check.
But while Jesus is ticking off all the boxes laid out in the Old Testament, the people still struggled with their own ideas of what the Messiah would do once he got here. They were looking for some great political leader or military marvel to overthrow the Roman empire and establish Israel as the cultural center of the world. They were waiting for Jesus to do some great political move and make Israel great again.
So, now that Jesus is newly on the scene, working miracles and teaching with authority that the religious leaders don’t possess, the people are all excited. They are ready to hop on the “Vote Jesus for World Leader” campaign trail.
Jesus sees the crowd gathering, like in one of those comedy movies where the movie star gets recognized and the fans start chasing them everywhere. He immediately signals the disciples to get their boat ready. Before he can get away, one of the fans gets to him.
And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Scribes were part of the religious leadership. They knew how important it was to connect to the most important leaders. This guy can see Jesus’ rising star, and he wants to get in on this early on. When Jesus claims the political throne, he’s going to remember how this guy was there at the beginning, believing in him.
So what is Jesus’ response?
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Jesus has already told his disciples in the early part of the Sermon on the Mount that they will be persecuted if they follow him. He’s basically communicating that to the scribe now. “Dude, I don’t even have a home. If you follow me, you’ll be homeless too.”
Then it says that a disciple makes a request.
Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
This is someone who had decided to follow Jesus, but feels he has some obligations to take care of back at home. Jesus basically tells him to choose. “I’m calling you now. Discipleship is an all-in thing. So are you in or out?”
Remember when Jesus called to Peter, Andrew, James and John? They were in the middle of tending to their fishing boats. They literally dropped their nets, stepped away from their boats, and followed Jesus at that very moment. Following Jesus is not something you can “ease” into.
Next, we see Jesus and the disciples get in the boat. Jesus falls asleep. I mean, can you blame him? This has been a very long day! He did a morning sermon, walked to Peter’s house followed by a crowd, and spent the greater part of the evening healing everyone who showed up, but the crowd kept coming. So they finally get away, sailing on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus conks out. He’s sleeping so deeply, he doesn’t notice a storm rise up. Now, it is a fact that storms can rise up super fast on the sea. Before they anyone knew it, the disciples found themselves being tossed about by the huge waves. They had to wake up Jesus, who wasn’t bothered in the least, but they were all in a panic. They ask Jesus to save them, which he does.
And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Isn’t it funny that they asked for Jesus’ help, and then freaked out by how he helped them? They marveled. “What sort of man is this?”
Here’s the thing: Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is the Messiah. Everything the prophets say points to Jesus being Messiah. The wise men who found Jesus as a baby refer to him as the promised Savior king. Jesus constantly refers to himself as Son of Man, which is a prominent title referring to the Messiah. But, up to this point, no Jew has dared call him the Messiah. There have been so many others who made that claim in Jewish history, and they were all proven to be false.
The disciples have seen Jesus heal people, even long distance. He has cast out demons. Now, they see that he even has authority over nature itself. Yet they still can’t bring themselves to call him who they hope he is. They call him teacher, rabbi. But they’re not ready to call him Messiah.
The story moves on. They have crossed to the other side of Galilee to another country. They are walking near the tombs there, when they find two demon possessed men coming at them. Matthew describes them as being so fierce that the locals wouldn’t go near that place.
These two, terrifying men come running up out of the tombs, and what do they do?
And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
I want you to notice what the demons, who were controlling these men, called Jesus. “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?”
The demons knew who he was. The disciples didn’t get it yet, but the demons recognized the Son of God.
Jesus has a conversation with the demons. They know they have to leave the men, but they ask permission to enter a herd of pigs, who immediately rushed into the sea and drowned.
It’s really interesting what happens next. The pig herders, after seeing the men set free and their pigs go drown themselves, immediately run to the city and report everything they saw. The whole city comes out to see Jesus… and ask him to please leave.
Maybe they thought that the healing of two men didn’t equal the financial loss of a herd of pigs; for whatever reason, Jesus had them freaked out, in a bad way.
Isn’t it amazing how differently we can all react to encountering Jesus? Some think they are following Jesus, when really they are looking at how they can use this Christianity thing for their own personal gain.
Others say they are following Jesus, but they fall apart every time the road gets difficult.
Still others say they met Jesus, but they want nothing to do with him.
Isn’t it sad when demons have a better understanding of who Jesus is than we do?
So many think Jesus is just waiting for them to mess up. They live their lives fearing and resenting him, because they think they have to follow some strict list of do’s and don’ts to keep him happy.
Others treat Jesus like that good old buddy that you call on whenever you’re in a jam, but you don’t hand out with any other time.
I was having a conversation with someone the other day who blames God for casting the devil out and allowing him to mess with our lives. They’re mad at God because the devil is bad.
Jesus has called us to follow him. In order to do that, we have to get past our own preconceived ideas and find out who Jesus really is, as portrayed in the Bible.
The Jesus I see is someone full of power and authority, but who willingly submits to his heavenly father. The Jesus I see has the power to control the forces of nature, but cares more about the welfare of those around him. The Jesus I see can make a legion of demons fall to their knees in fear, but has compassion on a city of people who are afraid of him because they don’t understand.
The Jesus I see doesn’t force himself on anyone, even though he is King of kings and Lord of lords, sitting at the right hand of God the Father.
The Jesus I see is willing to go to the cross and die a cruel death so that I can be free from a death sentence I earned.
The people around Jesus back then weren’t quite sure who they were following. Those who had the wrong idea didn’t follow him for long. Who are YOU following? Are you looking for someone who will fix all your problems and fill up your bank account? That’s not Jesus. Are you looking for someone who is going to make you feel good about yourself and tell you that you’re fine just the way you are? That’s not Jesus.
But if you are looking for someone who sees just how messed up you are, but loves you anyways, who will take you as you are and help you become who were meant to be, THAT is Jesus.
To follow Jesus is to do what Jesus did. Love others and point them toward the kingdom of Heaven. Share with them how Jesus changed your life so that they can believe that Jesus can change theirs.