The Cost of Folloing Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning,
I hope you are well today, blessed to gather in worship on the Lord’s day.
What a blessing we have; the freedom to gather and preach, sing, and praise the Lord our God.
Now last week I asked you to pray for our upcoming Youth Sports Camp and those who are going to come and serve here this week.
This week I would ask you to pray specifically for those children who are going to attend.
I want to ask you to pray for the Holy Spirit even now to help prepare their hearts, make them ready for the Word they will hear during the week and they will follow the Lord as He calls them to salvation.
Please make this a matter of prayer my friends…
Now this morning we come back to our study in the Gospel of Matthew and we fall back to chapter 8.
Lets find that chapter, and lets look at verses 18-22
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 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.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
As Jesus began ministering to those around Him as he went from one place to another, we see that people begin to follow Jesus.
People will follow him for a variety of reasons. Some because of what he did… some because of His teaching and some because they knew Jesus was one sent from God.
But sadly not all who begin to follow Jesus will continue… and we will investigate the why’s tied to this...
I will also tell you that this passaged is also seen in Luke 9, verses 57 to 60...
So lets examine 3 thoughts this morning, here is the first one...
1. Many Have a Desire to Follow Jesus...
As we begin to look at the text this morning we see that Jesus is moving away from the city of Capernaum
He told his disciples to get ready to cross over to the other side, we know Jesus means crossing over the sea of Galilee, if we look forward in this chapter we see, He is moving toward the south eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, to the land of Gadara.
The land of Gadara is important and so is the miracle that takes place there. Much will happen there. So this is where Jesus is getting ready to go...
But here this day, as Jesus is with so many, a scribe approaches Him and makes his profession that he wants to follow Jesus.
Lets go back to the text .... verse 19
19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
A Scribe comes to Jesus, and makes that profession, I will follow you wherever you go....
Now it was common in the day for people who wanted to learn from a teacher to place themselves under them, to learn from them. But these are teachers who are generally in one place like a city. And it was for a given period of time, just a few years…like going to college.
After that, they were out teaching on their own. Bu this day he approaches Jesus… I will follow you wherever you go...
So lets look at a couple of points here.
The first is the person, no name is mentioned but the Bible says he is a Scribe.
He is one of the religious leaders, in particular they are the one who specialize in the law (the Torah) and the prophets and its interpretation, they teach others and they also hold people accountable, they regulate the law as well.
They are called the lawyers… since they master in the law itself.
There are several times in the Scriptures were we see these religious leaders coming to Jesus to inquire, to test and to seek to bring charges against Him.
But this one agrees with Jesus and has been blessed by His teaching, he was most likely on the mountain hearing all that Jesus taught on what we know as the Sermon on the Mount.
And so this scribes makes that confession, I will follow you wherever you go…
That is a big statement...
At this point in time, there is no real opposition to Jesus, so there are many who are following, listening and wanting to join Him, which means to literally place themselves under Him and learn from Jesus...
But it is easier said than done...
How many times have we started something, a exercise plan,, a diet plan, a new hobby or something and we get started, then life happens and we lose interest and just don’t seem to finish...
The same is true of Jesus… sadly I have seen it many times over the last 38 years of serving churches.
People get in, they get excited about Jesus.... they want to serve and help and then suddenly they start to drift away.
You know why? It effect their emotions, it spoke to them, excited them but it never had an effect on their heart...
Now you might say… Preacher that sounds a little harsh… but its true friends.
Think about your family… would you give all for them? Yes you would.
What about Jesus?… would you give all for Him…?
Many want to follow, but will they follow when it gets tough, when the excitement is gone… they are not there.
Heaven help us if we allow our hearts and minds to drift away....
So lets move to our second thought today...
2. Following Jesus isn’t Easy ....
Consider our lives for a moment. How many times have you come across a group, organization, or a cause and we say to ourselves… I want to help.
And we jump in, we get busy and serve… but over time, they require more and more time, more involvement than we really care to give at that particular time.
So what happens… we drift away.
We just don’t have the time or energy to do all that we are asked or expected to give… and we are done.
It wasn’t as easy as we thought it might be...
In truth, everything we are involved in takes time and effort. For our workplaces to the home place, everything takes work.
Going back to our text, this religious leader tells Jesus: Teacher; I will follow you where ever you go… verse 19.
Pretty bold statement…
Now I want to point out something for you here, The Scribe, refers to Jesus as a Teacher, which is adequate. But it also tells us that he doesn’t fully believe in Jesus… He is just a “fan” if you will.
But being a fan and giving a full commitment to someone or something requires a great deal.
Jesus knows he doesn’t understand, nor knew what such a commitment requires....
So listen to Jesus replay....
20 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.”
This passage is a favorite of mine… why? It reminds me that Jesus lived in a world with needs and at times, while he was truly the Son of God, He went without physically in service to the Father’s will.
Several years ago a prominent positive feel good preacher told his church is you struggle financially, if you are sick, if you are experiencing needs you must not be living right with God the Father.
But here Jesus says he has nothing of His own.. (by that I mean income, housing, a place to be here on earth.) Jesus was not out of fellowship with the Father.
Don’t listen to false teachers on TV…
Read and study the word for yourself… ok, Im getting off my soap box.
Now back to what Jesus is saying here… Following Him comes at a great cost at times....
When he speaks to the foxes and their dens and the birds and their nests… Jesus is saying they had shelter, a place to live and raise their babies… But the Son of man… Jesus had no place of his own. In fact they might have lived better at times… more substantial at times
His life would be marked with difficulty, hardship and He would depend on the hospitality of others for shelter at times. But that was ok..
Why? Jesus was following and doing the will of His Father in heaven.
Following Jesus isn’t easy....
There is a commitment needed if one hopes to follow Jesus and one must understand that point.
Luke 9:23 Jesus says this...
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Hear what Jesus is saying here, following, discipleship comes at a cost, a two fold cost.
A. Deny self.... what does that mean to deny self.. it mean to refuse to be first, refuse to put yourself ahead of another. For us, we are children of God. As such, He is to be our head, we are under HIm…
We are under His direction, His leadership and His plan and purposes...
B. Take up our cross… not only deny, but die to self. The cross is an instrument of death in the Roman world… If you carried your cross you were not coming back home, you would hand there until your bones fell off.
The cost of true Discipleship means we must be willing to lay down our lives, our desires and our plans for His.... Taking His life upon ours.. so that all that is truly seen is Jesus.
Consider our brothers and sisters in countries where Christianity isn’t welcome, they could suffer the lose of home, family and yes even their life. But when you explain that to them…they still choose to follow the Lord.
They are truly His disciples...
Now in giving up our lives here.... it is difficult but there is a great reward.
Heaven is our home, that is our destination … we are following Him toward that place more and more each day.
We may face hardship here but out citizenship is in heaven.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
We have been born from above, and as such our true home is the place we await to go to at the end of our days, the Father’s house.
We are just waiting for the Savior to take us home.
Until then, we know this walk can be difficult, it can be hard. But Jesus is walking with us.
Now I want to share just one last thought with you today....
3. Jesus Must Be Our Priority....
I think we could agree on this as brothers and sisters in Christ, He is to be first in our lives, our homes, our vocations… in all that we are … the call is for Him to be first.
The challenge is the daily battle to see this accomplished. There is a war inside of us… God first or me first. It takes place in us each day...
So let me ask you… right now who is winning the battle for your time, attention and devotion? is it God or is it you?
Jesus is calling for us to follow Him wholeheartedly… without reservation or hesitation.
Now lets go back to our text and see what Jesus is saying to those who desire to follow him, verses 21-22
21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Now what is Jesus saying....
Well, first off Jesus is not telling that person to abandon his father who has died and is ready for burial. No....
So what is he saying, this particular person isn’t really eager to follow. He says let me bury my father.... the meaning there is simple. Let me stay until my parents, my Father dies and then I will follow you.
So Teacher, let me wait until I am free from any obligations and then I will come and follow you.
But if that is your mindset, would that person every really follow…
You see if we say let us wait until it is convenient for us, would it ever be…
I compare it today’s world who say… we are waiting to have children until we can afford it. If you wait, you will never have enough. You have kids and trust God to watch over you and provide for you during that time of having your children.
Now Jesus object to this person’s plan… and His response is this… Verse 22
22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
What does Jesus mean?
A. Follow me first.... a true disciple will follow Jesus in the now. When they sense the call to come, they come and trust God for the rest.
But secondly..
B. Leave the dead to bury their own dead. That sounds harsh but it isn’t exactly what we think here. The dead - Jesus refers to are those who are spiritually dead. Let those who are not following God take care of such requirements.
Jesus is not saying we shouldn’t care for the needs of those around us, and certainly Jesus is not telling us to abandon those last obligations to family.
‘But He is saying put me first and the rest will work out. You cannot be stuck worry about what you might need to do tomorrow to the point that he keeps you from following God today.
There is a true for us today if we are going to follow Jesus… You cannot follow if you are stuck worrying about what might need to do tomorrow, Follow Jesus today and He will take care of the rest....
Go back and think for a moment, in the sermon on the mount Jesus spends a great deal of time talking about the cares and needs in this world. Our Father knows we need then before we ask...
The call is to trust him, put Him first and allow God to work
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Our goal is Jesus first and us second.. if we can keep that status in mind we can see God work and be glorified in our lives.
This morning, knowing the cost, are you ready to follow Jesus.
This morning are you ready to stop today, and say Lord, I may have had good and bad days in the past, but today. I am giving it all to you.
I will follow you and where you are leading my life...
Lets pray....
Jesus Must be our Priority..