Matthew 8:18-22

The Gospel Of Matthew  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Introduction

What Would You Be Willing to Do for 1 Month in Order to Win $1 Million?
Would You Be Willing to Be Separated From Your Family for a Month?
Would You Be Willing to Live & Sleep Outside On the Ground for a Month?
Would You Be Willing to Go Without the Comforts and Luxuries of Home for a Month?
No Refrigerators and Pantries Full of Food
No Microwaves and Ovens to Cook that Food
No Fresh and Running Water to Drink and Bathe
No Clothes to Wear Except the Ones You’re Currently Wearing
Would You Be Willing to Do All of That On a Deserted Island for a Month?
There’s a Popular Show that’s Been Running for 20 Years Called Survivor
They are Currently in Their 41st Season
On This Show, the Contestants Choose to Live On a Deserted Island for About 39 Days…
Separated From Their Families
Living and Sleeping Outside On the Cold Hard Ground
They Have No Comforts or Luxuries From Home
They Barely Any Food
They Eat About a Handful of Rice Per Day if They are Lucky
Or Whatever Fish They Catch or Fruit They Find
They Have One Well Where They Can Find Drinking Water
But the Only Baths They Get are in the Ocean
They Only Have the Clothes On Their Backs
And Throughout the 39 Days They are On the Island:
They are Working Hard to Survive
They are Trying to Outwit Each Other With Strategy
They are Trying to Outplay Each Other in Different Competitions
They are Trying to Outlast Each Other to Stay On the Island
And the Last Sole Survivor Wins $1 Million
These People are Willing to Give Up Just About Everything for Over an Entire Month in Order to Win $1 Million
But We are Going to Read About 2 Men Who Were Given the Opportunity to Give Up Everything…
For So Much More
And By the End of the Lesson, We are Going to Ask Ourselves:
Am I Willing to Give Up/Lose Everything to Gain the Greatest Prize Ever Offered?

Matthew 8:18-22

We are Currently in a Gap Between Jesus’ 1st and 2nd Teaching Discourses in Matthew’s Account
This Gap Consists of:
3 Groupings of 3 Miracle Stories
And in Between the 3 Groupings of Miracles are 2 Discipleship Passages
Last Week We Finished Up the 1st Grouping of 3 Miracles
And Now We are in the 1st Discipleship Passage
In this Passage, We are Going to See 2 Encounters of Would-Be Disciples With Jesus
With These 2 Encounters, We Will See What Type of Disciples Jesus Was Truly Seeking
Matthew 8:18 (NASB)
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
We Left Off With a Crowd of People Seeking Healing and Exorcism of Demons Gathered Around the Door of Peter’s House
Now Jesus is Looking to Get Away From the Crowd
But Doesn’t Seem Like Matthew Only Wants Us to See Jesus as Escaping the Chaos of the Crowd
He Said Jesus “Gave Orders”
This was an Official Command From an Authority Figure
This Seems to Be a Call to Discipleship
It was Time for Jesus to Take His Ministry to Other Places…
And Those Who Truly Want to Be His Disciples Now Have Their Opportunity to Prove it
Leave Your Life Behind, and Follow the Messiah
Matthew 8:19 (NASB)
Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
After Jesus’ Command, a Scribe Speaks to Him
A Scribe (in its Most Basic Meaning) was Someone Who was Employed for His Ability to Read and Write
We Typically Think of a Scribe as an Expert and Teacher in the Law of Moses and a Copier of OT Manuscripts
And for Our Purposes in Understanding this Context, That’s Sufficient Information
Scribes Were Highly Revered and Most Likely Lived Pretty Comfortable Lives
So Far in Matthew’s Account, We Don’t Have a Positive View of Scribes
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Said Only Those With Greater Righteousness than the Scribes and Pharisees…
Would Be Given Entrance into the Kingdom
Most of the Scribes We Come into Contact With in the NT are Opponents of Jesus
And Were Very Much Like the Pharisees (Self-Righteous Hypocrites)
But This Scribe Seems Different Doesn’t He?
He is Claiming That He Will Follow Jesus Everywhere
He Even Calls Jesus His “Teacher”
For an Expert in the Law to Call an Untrained Jewish Nobody His Teacher was Significant
The Scribe Seems to View Himself as Inferior to Jesus
But Matthew May Be Giving Us a Little Clue About This Scribe
In Matthew’s Account, True Disciples Never Refer to Jesus as “Teacher”
This Leads Us to Jesus’ Response
Matthew 8:20 (NASB)
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.”
Jesus Tells the Scribe that, Unlike the Foxes and Birds…
He Has No Home to Call His Own
His Ministry and the Message of the Kingdom Were More Important Than That
He Calls Himself “Son of Man” for the First Time in Matthew’s Account
This Will Be His Favorite Designation for Himself
We’ll Talk More About “Son of Man” Sometime Later
Why Does He Tell the Scribe This Random Piece of Information?
He is Letting the Scribe Know What Being a Follower of Jesus is Like
It Means Being Willing to Leave Behind Occupation and Comfort
“If You are Going to Follow Me Everywhere I Go…
Don’t Expect a Life of Luxury”
Jesus Wants Us to Count the Cost of Discipleship
Before Making a Life-Altering Commitment to Follow Jesus…
You Need to First Determine if You are Willing to Have Your Life Altered
Becoming a Follower of Jesus Isn’t for the Faint of Heart
It is a Life-Sentence Dedicating Yourself to Jesus as Your Master and King
And it Will Never Be Easy
You Have to Determine for Yourself if You are Willing to Lose Everything in Order to Be With Him
Jesus Doesn’t Want Large Crowds of Half-Hearted, Wishy-Washy Moochers…
Who Only Want Him When it Benefits Them
He Wants Dedicated, Loyal, Servant-Minded Disciples…
Who are Willing to Die to Remain Loyal to Him
He Doesn’t Just Want Your Belief and Admiration
He Wants Your Undying Allegiance
So, Scribe, if You Aren’t Willing to Leave Your Occupation, Your Comfortable Living, and Your Nice, Warm Bed…
Don’t Get in the Boat
But if You’re Willing to Leave All of that Behind…
Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven
One Day You’ll Find Your Sacrifice was More than Worth it
We Aren’t Told the Scribe’s Decision
But What is Your Decision?
Is Jesus Just a Teacher to You?
Or is He Your King?
Matthew 8:21 (NASB)
Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”
Before Jesus Crosses the Sea of Galilee, He is Approached By Another Man
Matthew Refers to Him as “Another of the Disciples”…
Meaning that He and the Scribe Before Him Were Considered Disciples of Jesus…
Even if Just in a Limited Way
This Man Asked Jesus if He Could Bury His Father Before Joining Jesus in His Ministry
Before Talking About this Request, Let’s Read Jesus’ Answer
Matthew 8:22 (NASB)
But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
It’s Hard for Us to Read That Isn’t it?
It’s Hard to Hear the Kind, Gentle, Sympathetic, Understanding Jesus…
Say Something that Sounds So Rude, Calloused, Insensitive, and Inconsiderate
I Used to Avoid These Verses
They Would Hurt My Feelings and Make Me Wonder if Maybe Jesus Isn’t Who I Thought He Was
This Man Has Just Made the Most Reasonable Request…
And Jesus Seems to Shoot it Down in Such a Heartless Way
But These Hurt Feelings I Used to Have About Jesus in this Passage are Not Based On Reality
One of the Most Important Commandments in the OT to the Jewish People was:
Honor Your Father and Your Mother
One of the Ways You Honor Your Parents is By Ensuring that They Have a Proper Burial
This was So Important, that Even the Levites, Who Were Not Allowed to Be Defiled By Touching a Dead Body…
Were Given Permission Under the Law of Moses to Bury Their Close Family Members
When Needing to Bury a Family Member, a Man was Exempted From Many Important Religious Duties
The Body Would Usually Be Buried the Day of the Person’s Death
But Then the Family Would Follow Mourning Customs for the Following Week
That Being Said, if This Man’s Father Had Recently Died…
This Man Would Not Have Been Amongst a Crowd of People Following Jesus
He Would Have Been Taking Care of the Funeral Arrangements and Burial of His Father
And Spending Time in Mourning with His Family
So There are 2 Likely Situations That This Man was in
Either His Father was Already Dead and Had Been Buried for More than a Week
Or His Father was Still Alive
First Situation: The Man’s Father is Already Dead and Buried
It was a Custom of the Jewish People to Have a Secondary Burial One Year After the Initial Burial
The Son Would Take the Bones of the Deceased and Place Them in an Ossuary (Special Box)
Then He’d Place the Ossuary Back in the Tomb
If This Man was Asking Jesus’ Permission to Postpone His Discipleship Until He Could Rebury His Father…
Then He was Asking Jesus for as Much as a Year’s Time of Postponing His Following Jesus
Second Situation: The Man’s Father was Still Alive
The Man Could Have Been Referring to His Obligation to Look After His Father in His Elderly Years Until His Death
And Then, Once He Had Buried His Father, He Could Begin Following Jesus
In this Case, it Could Be Several Years that He Would Postpone His Discipleship
Essentially, He was Saying, “Someday, After My Father is Dead, I Will Follow You.”
Regardless of the Exact Circumstances…
This Disciple was Most Likely Asking for Months or Even Years of Time Before Following Jesus
He Felt Discipleship was Something He Could Pick Up or Lay Down Depending On the Circumstances of Life
Understanding the Jesus’ Words in the Proper Context Makes His Response Much More Understandable…
To Us!
But His Words Would Still Have Been Considered Radical to the Jewish People of His Day
He was Demanding of His Disciples that He and His Ministry Take Priority Over Our Other Obligations
Only God Could Demand Such Priority and Honor Over One’s Own Parents
And that’s the Point!
The Messiah, King of Heaven and Earth, God in Human Flesh, Has Been Sent to Establish His Eternal Kingdom
If There is Anyone or Anything that We Allow to Be More of a Priority in Our Lives Than Him…
Then We Aren’t Worthy to Be His Disciples
Jesus Isn’t Telling His Followers to Not Honor Their Parents
He Isn’t Telling Us to Not Love, Care For, and Serve Our Neighbors
He is Telling Us that Our Greatest Priority and Obligation Must Be to Him
Jesus Said to Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead
I Believe He is Referring to the Dead Spiritually Burying the Death Physically
“Let Those Who Have Denied the Life-Giving Kingdom Take Care of the Dead”
“Don’t Worry About the Dead, the Gospel Needs to Be Preached to the Living”
This Man Wanted to Wait Until the Right Time Before He Joined the Cause of the Kingdom
But the Right Time is Now

Application

These 2 Men Who Spoke to Jesus Show Us 2 Different Mind-Frames of Would-Be Disciples of Jesus
The First was Enthusiastic About Following Jesus
But He Hadn’t Fully Considered the Sacrifices He Would Have to Make in Order to Follow Jesus
The Second Understood the Sacrifices He Would Have to Make in Order to Follow Jesus
But He Decided that Some Sacrifices Weren’t Worth Making
“Some Things/Obligations Must Come Before You, Jesus”
The Messiah Had Offered Them an Opportunity, Not of a Lifetime…
An Opportunity of ALL Lifetimes
To Serve Alongside the Messiah and Usher in the Everlasting Reign of God
We Have Been Given the Same Opportunity
To Join the Messiah in His Mission of Bringing His Kingdom into this World
His Mission of Saving and Transforming People into His Image and Character
The Greatest Mission the World Has Ever Known
To Be a Part of This Kingdom Mission:
You Have to Count the Cost of Whether You’re Willing and Ready to Lose Everything for the Cause of Christ
You Have Decide for Yourself…
Is Eternal Life in Perfect Paradise Later…
Worth the Sacrifice, Hard Work, Trials, and Temptations that I Will Face Now?
And Those of Us Who Have Already Made the Choice to Join the Cause of Christ…
Do You Stand By that Choice to Make the Kingdom of Jesus Your Top Priority?
Or Have You Backed Out of That Committment and Put Jesus in the Background of Your Life?
Paul Had to Face More Sacrifices, Hard Works, Trials, and Temptations…
For the Cause of Christ and His Kingdom Than Any of Us Likely Ever Will
As We Stand and Sing the Invitation Song, I Want You to Dwell On His Words
Romans 8:18 (NASB)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
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