The Faith that Follows
Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 11 viewsFaith in the power of Jesus to save enables us to follow without fear of loss
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18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” 23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” 28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.
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How much of what we do is driven by the fear of missing out? Initially we might consider that a problem for the younger generation. When your young you don’t want to be left behind, and there may be a bit of a frantic pursuit to try to keep up with everyone for fear of missing out. That fear is driving an active pursuit that is never really satisfied. The truth is that same fear doesn’t have to look like pursuit. It can look like stagnation. For fear of missing out on the comforts we enjoy - for fear of missing out on what this place, this time, this world has to offer we never let go. It doesn’t look like pursuit at all it’s a fear that keeps us from doing anything.
In our text this morning Jesus presents a call to His followers. A call that challenges that very fear of missing out. In following Jesus these disciples will likely miss out on the comforts of a warm bed and an established home. In following Jesus these disciples will likely miss out on the benefits of an inheritance. Jesus lays before them the cost of discipleship - the cost of following in the footsteps of Jesus, but the call is not without a call to faith. The narrative to follow shows us where our eyes out to be. When we fix our eyes on Jesus and His authority and power for us as His people - as His children - that faith overcomes our fear. In seeing Jesus for all He is for us we can say with Paul
8… I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
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When we recognize the fullness of our reward in Christ through faith we simply cannot conclude, “I’m missing out.” There is no fear! When we have Christ, when we walk with Him, abide with Him, maintain our hope in Him we have everything. He is sufficient and satisfying for even the greatest of difficulties and costs that come on that road of discipleship.
The faith that follows Christ in his footsteps sets its hope in the power and authority of God to provide not in our ability to preserve.
The faith that follows Christ in his footsteps sets its hope in the power and authority of God to provide not in our ability to preserve.
Faith turns our eyes from this home
Faith turns our eyes from death
The authority of God preserves the sojourner
The authority of God gives life to the dead
Faith turns our eyes from this home
Faith turns our eyes from this home
Let’s start with a little bit of context, so we know where we are. Jesus has just performed 3 extraordinary miracles around Capernaum on the north side of the sea of Galilee. He’s healed a leper, a centurion’s servant and Peter’s mother-in-law. In all this we caught a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven where the curse of sin is overcome in the person of Jesus Christ. You might say we’ve shifted from, “Who belongs in the kingdom?” to “What does citizenship in the kingdom look like?” Plainly, what does discipleship look like? and right from the start following Jesus looks like being ready to leave home. At this point in time, Capernaum is home to most of these disciples and followers, and Jesus is getting ready to leave to go minister among the Gentiles.
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
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A little bit of geography can be helpful here. Capernaum is in Galilee on the north west corner of the sea of Galilee. There’s a mix of Jews and Gentiles on this border town. We’ve already seen the sick from neighboring Syria come over the border to be healed by Jesus, but now Jesus wants to go over the border. He wants to cross to the east side of the sea. He’s leaving Galilee. He’s leaving his home country to bring the gospel of the kingdom to the nations.
We’ll see throughout Jesus’ ministry he’s both gathering people to teach and reaching people who most would have never thought to reach. In these early days of Jesus’ ministry discipleship has largely been defined by the first. Gathering around Jesus just outside of town to be taught, but Jesus is going to stretch their understanding of discipleship. Are you willing to leave home? Are you willing to be a sojourner?
First we meet an ambitious scribe!
19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
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It’s such a simple statement, and I have to wonder how much understanding is behind this ambition? “Wherever?!?!” Do you really mean that? What is your understanding of Jesus’ ministry such that you can say, “Wherever?” It sounds a little like Peter later on.
Peter would come to approach Jesus with a question followed by a very similar ambition.
36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”
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Perhaps for young men in particular there’s a certain ambition that tends to make us think pretty highly of ourselves. “I’ll do whatever it takes! Whatever the cost, I’m there for it.” I’ve certainly had those days. I thought I could take on the world, and then I brought a baby home from the hospital.
It’s when adversity comes that we see where that ambition is really rooted. Is it an ambition founded on the rock of Christ or the sand of mere men and things of this world? Is it an ambition rooted in God’s ability to provide or our ability to preserve ourselves?
You might say, Jesus wants to test the foundation before the storm comes. He gives this young scribe a bit of a reality check.
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
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Jesus meets absolute with absolute. This scribe says, “I will follow you wherever You go.” Jesus answers, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” The contrast makes it even more striking. To follow Jesus is to take on a way of living that not even the foxes and the birds have to undergo. It’s the kind of living that admits, I’m not looking for a lasting home here. I’m not looking for a place of final rest here.
I want to make clear that this call to discipleship isn’t merely a call to sacrifice. I fear there’s a version of discipleship that just takes the Son of Man out of the picture entirely. This is key. Jesus did not say, “you will have nowhere to lay Your head.” as if he would be alone. He said, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” The plain fact there that’s easy to overlook. Those following Jesus are going to be with Him. The eyes of these followers will always have somewhere to look! They will have the Savior with them to look to in faith as they look away from the place they called home.
We see this very principle laid out in the book of Hebrews. Jesus is calling these disciples to do the very thing that was asked of Abraham. It was not merely sacrifice. Give up your home. It was a call to faith that turned his eyes from any earthly home to the provision of God and the sufficiency of His presence with Him.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
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The call to discipleship often begins with the costs.
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house,
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
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In the end it’s not so much about what we leave behind as to who we’re following, but if we are to lay hold of Christ it means we must let go of something else.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the scribe for a moment. What does it mean for us to turn our eyes from this home - to walk with Christ knowing I may never find a lasting rest here.
Firstly it means we’re called to patience. That scribe had two choices. He could go back to his home that very day and enjoy all the comforts of his position and possessions. No patience required, or he could let it go and wait with Christ for a complete and final rest. It means we must be ready to find contentment in the not yet. Patience allows us to be content in tents and to live as aliens in a strange land.
It’s deserving of each of us to ask ourselves, “What do I long for, and am I willing to wait for it?” If the answer is yes, then we have all the freedom to turn our eyes to Jesus and the work of discipleship knowing God will provide that promised rest in His time. If the answer is “No, I’m unwilling to wait.” we may very well find ourselves clinging to something other than Christ. Patience is fundamental to the life of discipleship.
Secondly this call means we’re to endure. Having no place to lay our head, living as a sojourner and a stranger in tents is not easy! As we’ll see, reaching the lost on the far side of the storming sea of Galilee is not easy! It requires endurance. Jesus isn’t merely laying out before this scribe a short trip across the sea of Galilee. This is not a sprint. This is a marathon. This is the life of discipleship. This is walking with Christ for the cause of the gospel, the advancement of the kingdom, the building up of the body of Christ. That is not a task achieved with a short sprint. That is a task requiring generations of endurance.
In response to the call of Christ we must be quick to ask ourselves,
“Am I ready to wait?”
“Am I ready to endure?”
If that’s not the case, we must address what we’re clinging to. In truth there is nothing better that Christ Himself and abiding with Him. He is sufficient for all our needs. Jesus is going to get there, but first there’s one more call prompted by another disciple.
Faith turns our eyes from death
Faith turns our eyes from death
21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
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At first glance there’s an overly simplified understanding here I think we need to avoid. I don’t believe Jesus is asking this disciple to simply skip the funeral as if true discipleship doesn’t take time to mourn the death of those we’ve lost. “There’s too much work to do, no time for funerals.”
Jesus Himself mourns with Mary and Martha over Lazarus’ death before Jesus calls Him from the dead.
In short, there’s more to this disciple’s request than just a burial and the death of His father. There’s very likely an inheritance along with taking responsibility and ownership of His father’s property, potentially his father’s house. The scandal of the prodigal son is that he didn’t wait until his father died to request his inheritance. The respectable and honorable thing to do is to be faithful to your father to his dying day and that’s when the son would receive his inheritance. In a sense, I believe this disciple is asking Jesus to wait, “Permit me first..” he’s asking Jesus to wait for him to receive his inheritance.
There’s an unwillingness to wait, that undermines discipleship, and there’s waiting for the wrong things that also undermines discipleship. There’s clinging to what we already have that keeps us from following Jesus, and there’s pursuing what is ultimately unnecessary that keeps us from following Jesus.
At first it seems respectable. This man isn’t lazy. He’s not hoarding wealth, but underneath he’s trying to preserve his own well-being at the expense of walking with Christ. We can only speculate what this disciples is thinking, but for some there may be a thought that with an inheritance I’m more capable of serving Jesus. I’m going to put off serving the church until I really establish myself in the marketplace… so on and so forth.
Jesus responds in no uncertain terms.
“Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
Don’t make God wait. Today is the day. There’s no amount of patient preservation of family wealth that is going to give this man a better position in the kingdom. There’s nothing the world can provide this man that is worth making God wait.
Jesus’ reasoning is rather striking.
“allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
What’s Jesus getting at there? Clearly he doesn’t want the man to wait another day, but what’s the point here?
Again if we understand burial as more than just putting a body in the ground - it’s the work of preserving what this man left behind - I think this starts to become more clear. Jesus is saying those who are dead spiritually - those who have nothing to look forward to after death, those who are not willing to wait for a greater home, those who try to build for themselves a home and reject the city who’s builder is God as Hebrews says. It’s these who only have this life, the spiritually dead, let them bury the dead. Let them strive after the things of this world and preserve what is ultimately fading away. “Don’t store up your treasures on earth… Store up your treasures in heaven.” We strive toward the things of God. “Follow Me” Jesus says. There’s no time to waste and nothing to be gained by waiting to follow in the footsteps of Christ.
This particular narrative may seem abstract at first, maybe none of us are tied up with a potential inheritance that’s keeping us from walking with Christ, but the big picture is quite simple. “Is there something I’m waiting for that’s keeping God waiting?” “Is there something I feel I need to do first before answering this call to discipleship - to walk with Christ, serve His church, reach the lost.”
I don’t want to spend too much time here, but I believe there are at least 3 big areas of our lives that we wait on that may very well make God wait.
(1) Money - I believe it’s plain in the text. Money can provide a sense of security. A sense of security that we may think necessary to really give ourselves in service.
“If I can get to this point financially, then I’ll ease up and start giving myself to discipleship, fellowship, and life in the church.” Walking with Christ and His church is more security than any amount of money can provide. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
(2) Relationships - For the young people in the room, there’s a big temptation out there to find a wife or a husband and then get serious about your faith. Don’t wait to be a part of the church until your married. Don’t wait to give yourself to being discipled and serving the church until your married. There are too many examples of couples who try to make their faith revolve around their marriage and it doesn’t work that way. Follow Jesus today even if it costs you. By God’s grace you’ll find someone along the way who’s done the same, and then you’ll have a marriage that revolves around your faith and your commitment to the church. It’s the only way!
(3) Education - Education just like marriage and money isn’t a bad thing, but when it takes priority over discipleship it can hurt us more than help us. Young people all the time, even seminary students disconnect from the church to get an education. I’ll be a part of the church, I’ll serve the church when I’m done. Why not serve today? Why not join a church today? Jesus has given a call to all of us. Let’s not wait to follow Him - serve His church - no matter the season we find ourselves in.
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As we continue through the narrative, let’s notice how all of these themes we’ve seen here in these first few verses are sitting in the background. Jesus is going to have nowhere to lay his head. We’re going to see spiritually dead men literally walking out of tombs. These are just the background though. Turning away from worldly things is only the beginning of discipleship. It’s turning to Jesus in faith that’s the call. “Follow me”
The authority of God preserves the sojourner
The authority of God preserves the sojourner
Jesus and His disciples step off on their journey. They’re leaving home and they sail right into a storm.
23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.
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These faithful followers of Jesus - his disciples - are willing to leave their homes and follow him, but then the reality of that call to discipleship hits. Here they are with the Son of Man with no home or bed to lay his head. Jesus’ ministry has so exhausted him that he’s forced to sleep on the way, and this isn’t a leisurely sail across the Sea of Galilee. I have a hard time imaging this: While the waves are actively coming over the side of the boat there’s Jesus, sleeping. There’s a facet of our discipleship in this picture. We are expected join our Savior as a sojourner and stranger with nowhere to lay His head, but that does not mean we are not without rest. It may not be a lasting rest like we’ll find in glory, but that rest and peace is possible. Jesus Himself calls the disciples to put away their fear through faith like he’s already done. Put away the fear of losing the comfort of home and follow me. Put away your fear of lacking an inheritance and follow me.
See first the reasoning of the disciples.
25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
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They’ve concluded they’re about to die. The life of discipleship will put us in places where we must admit, “I am hopeless alone!” They’ve forsaken self-preservation in following Jesus and now they must put it into practice. This is what they signed up for. Here’s where their faith is really tested.
Jesus questions them rather sternly in the midst of the storm.
“Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”
Here’s where that faith filled endurance gets exercised. They started well, they got in the boat, but the storm tests one’s endurance. This isn’t an endurance of mere grit either. “Why are you afraid, work harder. You can do this!” Jesus asks them where they’re looking. Who are you trusting? Where is your faith? Why are you afraid? What we believe in affects what our heart is doing.
Without a call to believe the call of discipleship is merely a call to leave behind what we love to enter the storm alone only to despair along the way. If however the call to discipleship is a call to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith so that we may run the race with endurance, then there is hope! Then there is reason not to fear and find peace in the midst of the storm. With eyes fixed on Jesus, we behold the one who made all things and the one through whom all things hold together. The one who has the power and authority to command the winds and the sea is with us and for us.
“He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”
The presence of God with us in the Spirit, the authority of God in heaven to accomplish his good and perfect will, that is what preserves us. We may not have the wealth, the comforts of home, the education, the relationship, or the strength that others do, but that doesn’t mean we’re lacking. That doesn’t mean we have reason to fear or despair if we have Christ. “If Christ is for us, who can be against us?”
I want to take this one step further for practical purposes. I’d like to ask, “How do we respond in the midst of adversity?” There’s really only two options, belief or unbelief, but those two options can present different fruit. Considering unbelief for a moment, we might respond in fear. From their we can respond in a couple different ways depending on our circumstances. We can despair when there’s no way out like the men in the boat. There’s no where to go. We can fight like Peter in the garden of Gethsemane, or we can take flight like Peter when he said, “I never knew him.”
Whatever the response, it all comes from the same heart of fear and unbelief. I believe it’s important we’re able to make this diagnosis of ourselves in our walk as disciples because we will face trouble and trial. People will reject us. We will face adversity and our own weakness. Are we ready with the faith that endures?
I personally think it’s quite rare in our day to face true despair. There’s almost always a way out. There’s almost always room to run back to the comforts of home, and I would argue few of us are going to find ourselves in the proverbial boat with nowhere to go.
With that being said, Let’s be aware of the fear that drives us back to those things we’ve already left behind. When discipleship gets hard we can have a tendency to start thinking like the world again grasping after money, security, and all the comforts that are fading away with the dead. In those moments we need to address the unbelief. This running to worldly comforts is the self-preservation of fear and unbelief. We must address that unbelief with a trust the the authority and power of God is with us and for us. Though we are sojourners and strangers in this land we are not forsaken. Though we face trial and storm, suffering and rejection we have not been separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why run when we have the presence and power of God for us? Why not press on for the prize that awaits us?
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Perhaps you can begin to see the pattern in the text at this point. Jesus has presented two calls and now in two short narratives we see two facets of who Jesus is for the faith of those who answered that call. For those who are willing to follow the Son of Man into sojourning with no place to lay his head, they have the presence and power of God over even the wind and the waves. This final narrative sustains that one who lets the dead bury their own dead. His power and authority surpasses that of demons and the powers of sin.
As we transition the disciples are looking for more.
They were amazed as Jesus calms the storm. They ask,
27 “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
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The next story answers the question.
The authority of God gives life to the dead.
The authority of God gives life to the dead.
28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
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Jesus arrives at the other side of the sea in a Gentile land. This is not home any more by any means.
Notice the parallel here. These two men are not physically dead, but they’re spiritually dead. There’s nothing they can do for themselves as they walk amongst the dead. They’re completely captive to the works and the power of the devil.
Jesus just got done calling his disciples to let the dead bury their own dead, and here we see two dead men literally walking out of the tombs. They’ve quite literally made their home among the dead. What a plain picture of what it is to try to preserve ourselves and the things of this world - storing up treasures on earth - setting our hope in money and power and man-made things. The wood, hay and straw that Paul speaks of in Corinthians. None of it stands the test of time. It’s all for nothing if we do not have Christ. It’s to make our home amongst the dead. Any bystander here would conclude what the disciples did. These men are hopeless. They have no way to save themselves or deliver themselves from these demons. They may have nothing, but Christ is sufficient.
The truth is the call to discipleship is impossible without the miraculous power of God in our lives. We’re all slaves to the power of sin and death apart from authority of God to give life to the dead.
These demons start taunting. “Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Jesus isn’t here to bring final judgement on these fallen angels, but He has come to free the captives.
30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.
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Let’s recall the Jewish audience Matthew is speaking to for a moment and see if these few verse might ring a few bells. What story in Jewish history does this sound like? There’s a legion of demons holding these men captive under slavery if you will. There’s nothing they can do to deliver themselves, and with a word of authority, “Go” the men are set free and the captors are cast into the sea. It’s a beautiful picture of the great salvation God accomplished for Israel at the Red Sea so many years before as the armies of Egypt were cast into the sea. It’s a picture of the beginning of our life as disciples. It’s nothing less than a miraculous deliverance and glorious resurrection. These men were dead, and through no intention of their own they’ve been made alive and freed from the bondage of sin.
When we hear that call to let the dead bury their own dead, it’s a call to forsake the slavery we once knew and look to the Lord and giver of life! Why would we seek life amongst the dead..., and yet remember when Israel faced adversity where did they want to go? They wanted to go back to the comforts of home, slavery and death. They lost sight of their deliverer! They lost sight of the presence of the glory of God with them. Let’s not make the same mistake. Our Lord freed us from the curse of sin and the dominion of darkness, why would we go back?
Unfortunately there are those who see the power and glory of God over darkness as a threat to their well-being. In spite of this great deliverer appearing before them they would prefer the preservation of their earthly goods.
33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.
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These herdsman have just seen the deliverance of the these demon possessed men. They’ve witnessed the authority and power of God to save those who no man would even go near. They’ve witnessed the power of evil that consumed these men as they watched their whole herd of pigs rush into the sea. They go tell everyone in the city and the whole city comes out to meet Jesus. If you’ve never read the story before, you might wonder. Will they follow him? Will they recognize who stands before them and see the great salvation he’s come to provide… or will they cling to their homes and their possessions?
“they implored Him to leave their region.”
In spite of all that they had heard. The call of discipleship was too costly for this city. The very presence of the person of Jesus was a threat to their livelihood. A striking contrast to that of the disciples in the boat who’s only hope for life was Christ with them. That’s where our hope is found!
When Jesus commissioned his disciples to go make disciples of all nations he gave them this assurance. “And lo I will be with you always to the end of the age.” They would live as sojourners without a place to lay their heads. They let go of all the treasures of this world, Paul was shipwrecked and beaten, nearly all of the apostles were killed for their faith. Why? Why would anyone go to such lengths to make disciples? Because Christ was enough. They lived for that city whose architect and builder is God. They lived by faith with eyes fixed on Jesus and endured to the very end.
Might we run our race knowing the authority and power of God for us and with us is sufficient. Nothing can separate us from his love and we can endure even unto death knowing we have life eternal in our Savior Jesus Christ.
Let’s Pray.
Medway Baptist Church
Pastor Sean Ryan and Nathan Esposito.
Jim Lum
