Left Behind

Left Behind

Matthew 8:18-22

Last week we saw Jesus power over disease. After establishing the power of Jesus preaching in chapters 5-7 Matthew shows us that Jesus has supernatural power as well. In 8:1-17 we saw Jesus heal a leper, a paralyzed slave and an older woman with a fever. Once word got out that Jesus was healing the sick multitudes of people began to flock to Him. In verse 16 we saw that many sick and demon possessed people were brought to Jesus and He healed them all.

The healing of the sick accomplished two purposes:

1) It established that Jesus is indeed the Messiah that the Jewish people had been looking for.

2) It relieved the misery of those who were suffering with disease and demon possession.

We immediately see that healing the sick was not the primary purpose for which Jesus came. If it were, then He could have simply converted Peter’s home into a ministry center. The surrounding area could have brought all the sick to Jesus and He could have healed them.

Because Jesus primary purpose was not to heal the sick, He did not do that. Jesus left the multitudes in order to accomplish the will of the Father. The ultimate purpose of Jesus coming into this world was to go to the cross and pay the sin debt of humanity. Jesus has come to save people from their sins, not heal people from their sickness.

It wasn’t difficult to be healed. No demands were required of you. In fact, some people were healed without even meeting Jesus. Just because Jesus healed you from your sickness it didn’t mean He saved you from your sin. Being saved from your sin is far greater than being healed from your sickness.

In this section of Scripture, we see the demands that Jesus gives for those who want to be saved. We see how serious it is to come to Christ. What we see is three instances in which Jesus left people behind because they did not take the call to follow Christ seriously. This morning we will see that Jesus leaves behind:

A group of sinners

A great scholar

A good son

I. Jesus leaves behind a group of sinners (18).

A. Jesus never had a problem drawing a crowd.

The Bible often describes the people who followed Jesus as multitudes. There were times when tens of thousands of people were following Him at one time. When Jesus fed the 5,000 the number “5,000” referred to the amount of men present, not the total amount of people. When you see the word “multitudes” understand that means thousands of people are following Jesus.

The crowds that followed Him were diverse:

Poor & rich

Godly and the demon possessed

Young and old

Jew and gentile

Educated and uneducated

Upper class and lower class

The crowds came for different reasons

Some heard of His wisdom. The educated came to hear Him teach.

Some heard of His compassion. They came because He received and helped all classes of people.

Some came because of His miracles. They needed a miracle, or they were curious to watch Him perform a miracle.

Some came because He sometimes fed the hungry. They wanted a meal.

Today Christianity is the world’s largest religion. Over two billion people claim Christ. Two thousand years later Jesus still doesn’t have a problem drawing a crowd. There is no doubt Jesus Christ is the most famous religious figure in existence.

He is known all over the world.

There are statues built in His honor.

There are churches built in His honor.

There are countless books in countless libraries written of Him.

There are works of art displayed in the most mundane and the most magnificent places.

Jesus has never had a problem drawing a crowd.

B. Jesus was never impressed with the crowds.

He had just been impressed by the faith of a single Gentile (10), but He was not impressed with this crowd of people.

The reason He was not impressed with them was because He knew what was in their heart. John 2:24-25 says

“But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”

Jesus had no problem addressing the hypocrisy of the crowds.

In Matthew 12:38 some in the crowd said “We would see a sign from Thee” Jesus called them a wicked and adulterous generation.

After the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus was attempting to have some time by Himself but the crowds kept looking for Him. They finally found Him, and Jesus said to them in John 6:26 “Ye seek Me not because ye saw the miracles but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.” In other words, He told them they didn’t care about Him, they just wanted some free food.

Jesus knew that most of the people in this multitude were not interested in being saved. They were interested in either receiving or watching a miracle.

C. Jesus leaves the crowd behind.

He tells His disciples to prepare a boat so they can go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. There are a few reasons for Him crossing the sea.

1. To rest. The Bible teaches that Jesus did get tired. He had been preaching, and healing people for some time. Jesus needed to rest. When Jesus gets on the boat, He immediately falls asleep. And He’s sleeping so heavily that not even the storm wakes Him up.

This group of sinners didn’t care how tired Jesus was. There was no concern for Christ. If He had not gotten on that boat, they would not have let Him rest at all.

2. To invest. Scripture clearly shows us that Jesus spent most of His time with His disciples. He would leave the crowds and spend time with them. During this time, He was pouring Himself into these men. Other than Judas they would all become great preachers of the gospel. For three years they were in the school of Christ. Rather than spend His time with crowds of people who just wanted to see a miracle or get a meal, Jesus discipled these men.

3. Progress. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus came for the cross. He was not about to stay with this crowd because He was on a journey to the cross. He hadn’t come to heal bodies. He came to save souls. The problem we have in this world is not sickness. The problem we have in this world is sin. It does no good to heal the body if the soul is not saved.

II. Jesus leaves behind a great scholar (19-20).

A. It is surprising that this Scribe showed interest in Jesus.

Scribes were the scholars of the day. They knew the Word of God more than anyone else. They were the teachers of the law. They were not followers. They were teachers. People followed them.

They are normally coupled with the Pharisees in Scripture. We usually see the phrase “The scribes and the Pharisees”. And when they are mentioned in the gospels, we usually see them cast in the light of hypocrisy, self-righteousness and as enemies of Christ.

In fact, Jesus had harsh words for them. In Matthew 23 He called them hypocrites, children of hell, fools, blind, dirty, dead, wicked and murderers. Those are harsh words.

This scribe was risking alienation from his peers. He was breaking with most other scribes. He said he wanted to follow Jesus.

We don’t know what this man’s motive was. We do know that his motive, whatever it was, was wrong. He wasn’t coming to Christ to be saved from his sins. His interest was not loving the Lord Jesus with all His heart, soul and mind. He was coming with the wrong motive.

B. He was overeager.

What I mean by that is his words communicated more than the truth. He said He would follow Jesus wherever He went. He is ready to get in the boat. He is ready to be the 13th disciple. He wants everyone to know he is ready. He announces this before the group.

I think He believed that Jesus was going to be that earthly Messiah the Jews had been looking for. There was a misunderstanding among many of the Jewish teachers. They thought the Messiah would come and overthrow their enemies and set up a kingdom on earth. What they failed to see was the cross. They missed that part. Most of the religious elite rejected Jesus because He was not the type of Messiah they had thought would come. This was early in Jesus ministry and this scribe probably believed very soon Jesus would be ruling from a throne. He probably wanted to be a part of that.

This fellow believes the wrong thing about Jesus. He believes Jesus is going to make his life easier on this earth. He believes he will receive earthly power and prestige as a follower of Christ.

As a pastor I have seen many people like this man who were overeager. They start off well. They make promises. They are loud about their commitment to Christ. They are intense in their walk.

They want to witness.

They want to serve.

They want to read the Bible.

They want to pray.

I love to see those traits in a believer. However, wisdom has caused me to take my time with them. Jesus gave a parable concerning this. He said there are some people whose heart is like rocky soil. When the seed of the Word falls on it the seed springs up quickly. The person has great joy. But because the soil is rocky the seed cannot establish a good root. As a result, the plant dies very soon.

This scribe had rocky soil for a heart. Jesus could see that. The surprising thing is this man had so much Bible knowledge, yet he couldn’t see his own hypocrisy. Knowledge isn’t enough. There are many who know the Bible but do not know Christ.

You could make a case that this man would be a great asset to Jesus ministry. His knowledge of Scripture could be helpful. His position as a Scribe could be helpful. That might give Jesus an inroad to the religious elite. Perhaps this Scribe could help Jesus reach those men. We could think of all types of worldly reasons to let this man on the boat with Jesus. Jesus didn’t buy into that type of worldly philosophy.

C. He was left behind by Jesus (20).

Look what Jesus says to this man. The scribe said he’d go wherever Jesus went. Jesus told him He didn’t have anywhere to go. He said the foxes live in their dens. The birds have their nests in the trees. Jesus said the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. In other words, Jesus doesn’t have a house. Jesus says some animals have it better than He does.

It’s clear that Jesus knew this man thought there was ease in following Him. This man thought he would follow Jesus to the safety of a home. He had a misunderstanding of what it meant to be a follower of Jesus.

Following Christ isn’t easy. Living for the glory of the Lord is anything but easy. That’s why so many professing Christians abandon the Lord. RCH Lenski, a pastor from many years ago commented on people like this scribe saying he

“sees the soldiers on parade, the fine uniforms, and the glittering arms and is eager to join. Forgetting the exhausting marches, the bloody battles, and the graves.”

Jesus doesn’t let this man on the boat because he is not ready to be on the boat. He would jump overboard very quickly. I don’t know what this man wanted. But he did not want Christ. Jesus left this great scholar on the bank to search his own heart. Perhaps he would be ready someday, but he certainly was not ready on this day.

III. Jesus leaves behind a good son (21-22).

A. The identity of this man.

He is called a disciple of Jesus. That does not mean that he was a true believer. Scripture sometimes calls unbelievers disciples. Judas is called a disciple even though we know that from the beginning he was a devil. John 6:66 says that many of Jesus disciples departed and no longer walked with Him. The designation of this man as a disciple means that he called himself a disciple and because he followed the crowds following Jesus it appeared to others that he was indeed a disciple.

He does appear to be a good son. He wants to follow Jesus but tells the Lord he needs to bury his father first. This appears noble. In fact, the Bible teaches that we should honor our father and mother.

As well, it appears he asks permission of the Lord to do this. He says, “suffer me” (allow me, let me).

B. The error of this man.

The scribe was overeager, but it appears that this man is underwhelmed. He’s not excited enough. The scribe said he was willing to go wherever but this man implies he’s not willing to go whenever. His error is he is honoring his father more than he is honoring the Lord.

Jesus made it clear that we are to love Him more than we love our own family (Luke 14:26). We are called to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Nothing is to be placed above the Lord, not even family.

By the way, we shouldn’t assume this man’s father was dead. He didn’t say his father was dead. If he had just died why was he not at home mourning as Jewish tradition required? In fact, Jewish people did not embalm and normally buried people on the same day they died.

If he was deathly ill why was he not by his side? It’s likely that this man wants to wait until his father has passed away before he follows the Lord. Why might this be?

Perhaps he wanted to make sure he got his complete inheritance. He didn’t want to be the son that left his parents behind for others to care for. It doesn’t really matter why. The fact is this man loved his parents more than he loved the Lord.

There are good people in the world who assume they will follow the Lord later in life. There’s just too much to do now. So, they focus on being a good person and reason in their heart that someday they will also be a good Christian.

There are even people in the church who believe they are Christians, but they love their family more than they love God. The human heart can make an idol of anything. Adam loved Eve more than he loved the Lord and the whole world fell into sin.

Friend, please listen. You will not get to heaven because you loved your children. You will not make it because you loved your parents. You won’t get in because you loved your husband or wife. You will make it to heaven because you love the Lord Jesus Christ more than anything or anyone in this world.

C. Jesus leaves this man behind (22).

Jesus gives this man a command. He doesn’t accept this man’s excuse. He doesn’t say “Ok, hurry back when your done.” He says, “Follow Me”.

Then he says, “Let the dead bury their dead.” What does that mean? It means let the spiritually dead bury the dead. To be spiritually dead means to be lost. It means to be unsaved. There are many things unsaved people can do. One of them is bury dead people. You don’t have to be saved to bury someone. Jesus is calling this man to a task more noble than burying dead people. He is calling this man to the task of bringing life to the spiritually dead by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It’s clear that neither of these men listen to Jesus. They just disappear from the text. The overeager scribe doesn’t sit down, count the cost and make a clear decision to follow the Lord. The good son doesn’t leave his family behind to follow the Lord. Did they ever come to their senses? Did they ever truly come to the Lord? I don’t know.

But they are here for you and me. We can learn from them. Every week I make the outward call of the gospel from this pulpit. I preach the Word of God to you. In that sense, everyone who hears me is being called to the Lord. But there is another call. There is the inward call. The Lord is the only One who can give that call.

When I preach, I know not everyone is experiencing that inward call. However, I am sure someone is experiencing it. When Christ calls it’s important to listen. If He calls you to follow Him, it’s important you count the cost and come to Him.

We can truly repent and believe only when the Lord works in our heart. If He is calling us and we come to Him He will not leave us behind. He will receive us. He has given us that promise.

Groups of sinners

Great scholars

Good sons

Will be left behind. Make sure you’re not.