Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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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…
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