Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, we're going to be in Matthew chapter 8 and beginning in verse number 18, going to continue our study in Matthew.
[00:00:08] I want to be upfront with you that this, sometimes in our study of Matthew, you know, we think of like what we will study tonight. It's kind of easy things a little bit. I say easy, but easier, more low hanging fruit. When it comes to the different words of the Lord Jesus and works of Christ.
[00:00:30] And I'm referring to in Matthew chapter eight at the very end there with the crossing of the Sea of Galilee and Christ calming the storm. You can find all kinds of sermons and videos and all kinds of things that talk about the Lord calming the storm. But you never hear anybody talk about the verses we're going to talk about this morning. And I know I have to cover it because Devin is going to be taking notes and he doesn't want me to skip any verses, not one verse. And so I cannot make that promise. But we are going to cover these verses. And as I was saying this, when you go through a book of the Bible, sometimes you come across verses that are just kind of tough pills to swallow, right?
[00:01:17] They don't neatly fit into the paradigm of what we expect the Lord Jesus to say and do and think.
[00:01:27] And these verses here are some of them.
[00:01:30] So not every passage in Matthew and not every passage in the Gospels is something that's kind of easy to deal with.
[00:01:37] So bear with me, bear with me, because I do want it to be a blessing to you and a help to you as we try to look into these.
[00:01:45] What the Lord says, sometimes he gives these little nuggets of information as he's going from one event to another event. And that's kind of what's happening here. We've already studied how that Jesus cleansed the leper and how he healed the centurion servant, and he healed many. And then you have this one little part, 18 to 22.
[00:02:05] And so let's read it now. When Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe came and said unto him, master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
[00:02:23] And Jesus saith unto him, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
[00:02:34] And another of his disciples said unto him, lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
[00:02:41] But Jesus said unto him, follow me and let the dead bury their dead.
[00:02:49] Let's pray together.
[00:02:52] Our Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord, that The things that you spoke, even in these verses and other verses like them, are sometimes difficult to really wrap our minds around.
[00:03:06] Thank you for recording them. Lord, we have much to learn about you and about your your grace in our lives and your expectations to us as we look at these verses this morning. We just simply ask for your help and grace. We pray that your spirit, who is present among us in the hearts and lives of your people. But we pray that he would be at work speaking to people, working in people's hearts, moving people towards you, that they might draw nigh to you, that they might love you, that they might yield themselves to you more and more.
[00:03:47] Lord, would you give me wisdom and understanding with the things that I need to say to help your people?
[00:03:53] Lord, put in my mind and heart the things I should say and take out of my mind whatever you don't want me to say. And I pray that your people would be strengthened like the Word says that the Scripture was given to exhort and admonish and reprove and rebuke and encourage. I pray we do all of those things today according to your will. So Lord, we just want to focus our mind and heart, take away every distraction and every satanic influence that might be in our minds to hinder us from receiving your Word. And I pray that your name will be glorified among us here this morning in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:04:31] So you will find, and we will look at it briefly in a little bit, but you'll find the companion passage to this in Luke 9, 57, 62. This particular conversation with these various people is not covered in Mark, but it occurs in kind of a broader context. And as I said, we'll cover the rest of this context, specifically verses 23 down to verse 27 tonight, if the Lord allows us to.
[00:05:04] But these two people that Jesus speaks to, these conversations occur in the context of Jesus headed to the Sea of Galilee to cross the sea. Okay, so you think of the Sea of Galilee. I've been doing a little bit of study, looking at videos of the Sea of Galilee, in particular the storms. And I might show a video of some of the storms on the There aren't very many to be had, but it's pretty interesting.
[00:05:33] But you can see Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, going to the place where maybe the docks were where the boats would be moored so that he could cross to the other side. And as he's going, apparently these two people have heard him teach. So that's kind of the context of what's happening here. They've seen what Jesus has done. He's just finished the. The Sermon on the Mount, and they've seen the miracles that he's done, and they're drawn to him. And that's natural, obviously. I mean, if you heard what Jesus taught and you saw the miracles that he performed, you would likely be drawn to him and you would want to know more about why he's doing what he's doing. You'd want to know more about his ministry, and you would want to follow him just from a natural perspective. And that's kind of like what we have going on here.
[00:06:23] In these verses, you have the word follow is spoken twice. In verse number 19, the one man, the scribe, says, I will follow thee, whithersoever thou goest. And in verse number 22, Jesus says, Follow me. And if you'll flip the page, assuming you have a page break there to verse number 23, when Jesus enters into the ship, the disciples follow him there. So you have this kind of running theme through this whole passage of following Jesus.
[00:06:58] And in both of these men, although they state, one of them states he wants to follow Jesus and another Jesus tells him to follow him. But in both cases, neither one of them apparently does.
[00:07:15] Now we know when we get to the story of the Sea of Galilee and on the ship, the disciples are following him there. But in this case, both of these men approached the Lord Jesus and said, basically, I want to follow you. But neither one of them ends up doing that. And it does reveal something about the ministry of Christ that there were, as a result of the healing and as a result of the teaching, which was unlike any of the scribes or the Pharisees of that time. The power, the authority, the truth, the spirit of the one who's teaching and the miracles and all of these things, they were drawn to him. But do not mistake this one fact, that just because people were drawn to him does not mean that they were qualified to be his disciples, because they weren't. In other words, not everyone that is drawn to Jesus ends up following Jesus. And that's what you see with these two. Whatever their motives were, you do not see them following Jesus. Now look at verse number 19.
[00:08:16] And a certain scribe came. Now note the word scribe. We'll come back to that in a minute, but just note it. Luke just says it was a certain man, but Matthew says it was a scribe.
[00:08:27] Certain scribe came and said unto him, master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
[00:08:36] And Jesus saith unto him, the foxes have holes, and the Birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.
[00:08:49] So Jesus apparently is saying that he did not have a regular and consistent place to sleep at night. Right? Is that what you see?
[00:08:59] Now, if you did not have this verse in the Scripture, you might get the impression that it wasn't like that.
[00:09:07] But this, this statement reveals something about the life of Christ, something about his social standing, his economic standing that might not always be perfectly, perfectly obvious. In his ministry, the Lord Jesus did not have a regular place to stay. He didn't have a house. He didn't have a bed.
[00:09:30] So from day to day, in a very real and literal sense, Jesus depended upon his Father to provide those necessities for him, because that is a necessity. Having a place to sleep is a necessity. And what's interesting, though, as you go further, he says, here, I don't have a place to lay my head. But immediately after this context, where do you see Jesus laying his head?
[00:09:56] On a pillow in a ship, which illustrates this truth. Now, why is Jesus saying this? What truth is he trying to convey by saying, you want to follow me, but I want to remind you that I don't have a place to sleep at night?
[00:10:15] See, he's describing, I think, two things he's describing, first of all, the kind of variable nature of his life. Jesus is essentially an itinerant preacher. He goes from place to place, and he crosses the Sea of Galilee many times. He goes in Galilee and goes in Samaria, and he goes into Judea. And he goes back and forth over the three, three and a half years of his ministry. He's constantly moving around, so he doesn't stay in one place like we do.
[00:10:44] And also the second thing I think that his statement reveals is that Jesus had basically no material possessions.
[00:10:56] He had basically no material possessions. And as a result of that, he also had basically no honor or prestige in the society in which he lived. I know in our country we have this idea, and it's right, it's good. We should put value upon every person, regardless of whether they're wealthy or they're people of authority or honor. We should honor men because of the value God has placed on them.
[00:11:26] But in this society, if you didn't have money, you were not valuable, period. Many places are like that to this day.
[00:11:34] And this is one of the reasons why we see so often in the Gospels that the poor received Christ and the rich or the honorable didn't. It's because when they saw him, they saw a man who was basically Poor and that, you know what? That is exactly what the scripture says about the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah chapter 53. Now this is a prophecy. There are a number of places in Isaiah 53 that prophesy of the social status of the Lord Jesus Christ as a status that is not desirable. In verse number two of Isaiah 53, the Bible describes Jesus as having no form nor comeliness. Now of course we look at that and we think often of the way he looked, you know. Have you ever considered the possibility that our Lord was not handsome?
[00:12:26] Now is it true? Those of you that have been involved in advertisement or campaigns, Brother David, Liberty, do you put pretty people or ugly people on ads?
[00:12:40] They're both sitting there grinning like peacocks because they know, they know the truth. You put pretty people on ads, that's what they do on tv.
[00:12:47] And anytime somebody breaks that rule, right, and they put an ugly person for, you know, DEI or whatever, it's kind of like it's not so much, so much an effective ad. Here's the reality. We are drawn to pre people, handsome people, are we not? We are drawn to them. Jesus didn't have that. But here's the thing. In Isaiah 53, verse 2, he hath no form nor comeliness. I don't want you to concentrate on comeliness as in his outward beauty, but I want you to concentrate on the word form.
[00:13:17] No form. In other words, there was nothing there that would draw natural honor and draw natural attention to him maybe in his social standing in the whole of his person, in other words. And the way that works out practically is there was no money saying, well, there's a rich guy or he wasn't wearing fine clothes or well, there's a nice guy or if I associate with him, then I'm going to raise my social status by my association with him. He doesn't have a fancy house, he doesn't have an entourage of servants. What he has is a bunch of volunteers that have left their livelihood to follow him, right? And even those people are not honorable people. They're kind of backwoods, blue collar, regular working guys, no doubt. Sun tanned, rough hands, you know, ragged looking men who were not known as being men of honor, men of authority, men of money. That's not what they were. Men who went out to do their fishing for the day and they would get enough fish for the day and they had to go out paycheck to paycheck kind of thing. That doesn't give you a whole bunch of honor.
[00:14:28] That's not the association that gives you honor. Verse 3 of Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as despised and rejected of men, and the fact that he would not be esteemed also indicators of his social status.
[00:14:43] Verse 7 describes him as being oppressed and afflicted, which is also indicators of his social status.
[00:14:53] All of these things which are prophetic of the Lord Jesus, preclude men's admiration of him. He's not going to be a person that people look to and naturally say, you know, that's the kind of guy I want to be associated with.
[00:15:07] You know, I'll follow that guy with us, whoever he goeth.
[00:15:12] Jesus had nothing like that.
[00:15:17] Not only that, but if you'll take a peek in Luke chapter eight, if you would, we'll come right back to Matthew, but I want you to see something in Luke, Luke 8. 1.
[00:15:48] Here's what I want you to see. Okay, I'm trying to show you something.
[00:15:52] Even though you see large crowds surrounding Jesus, do not mistake that for celebrity.
[00:16:02] He was not a celebrity. He was well known because of his teaching and especially because of the miracles.
[00:16:09] But there was nothing to draw men to Jesus.
[00:16:12] Naturally, outside of those two things.
[00:16:16] That's going to matter in a minute. Luke, chapter eight, verse one. And it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the 12 were with him. And certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils. And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others which ministered unto him of their substance.
[00:16:48] Ministered unto him of their substance.
[00:16:51] Women were supporting Jesus.
[00:16:56] Women.
[00:16:59] That doesn't really increase your social status, wouldn't you agree?
[00:17:05] That doesn't increase your social status.
[00:17:08] What I'm trying to describe to you is the poverty of our Lord.
[00:17:13] And his social status is a factor in that.
[00:17:16] Women helped to support him.
[00:17:19] He had no means of support himself. He didn't have a house. And of course, we know this verse 2 Corinthians 8, 9.
[00:17:27] For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
[00:17:36] That ye, through his poverty, might be rich. Now, we might look at the word poor there, and we'll say, well, that just means in comparison to his status in heaven, he came to earth and lived among. No, no, no. Even among people on earth, he was poor. That was prophesied of him. He was of a low social standing as a result.
[00:17:58] You know, you think of Second Corinthians 8, 9 is actually spoken for your sakes. He became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. That's actually spoken in the context of giving. Did you know that? As an example to us. And we find a church taking that example in Second Corinthians chapter 8, taking that example and impoverishing themselves for the sake of their brothers and sisters in Christ, the poor saints of Jerusalem. That's what we see in Second Corinthians, chapter 8. So they look at the Lord Jesus and they say, well, if Jesus was rich and he made himself poor, who says we can't do that? And they gave sacrificially out of their poverty. That's what's being described.
[00:18:44] So think about this. Our Lord came into the world and was laid in an animal feeding trough.
[00:18:52] And when he died, when he lived, he didn't have a place to lay his head. And then when he died, he died upon the cross without a single, without one single thread of material possessions. Even his clothing was stripped from him and gambled off.
[00:19:13] So in very deed, Jesus came into the world and went out of the world in the same way that he came with literally nothing, not one thing.
[00:19:23] And the world looks at Christ's poverty and they praise it, right? They praise the whole Jesus poverty. And he was a poor man. But there are few, listen now. There are few that are interested in, note the word following him.
[00:19:39] There are few interested in following him, that is to go where he went, especially if it involves what he did.
[00:19:51] And this kind of praise of the world of Christ, we shouldn't be hoodwinked by, because it's an empty kind of praise. It's just lip service. In other words, they say, well, it's good for Jesus, but it's not really good for me. Jesus was a good man who healed people and didn't take any money and he was poor. And that's good for him, but it's not really good for me. So we go back to Matthew chapter 8. Now that we kind of have a picture of Jesus poverty, right?
[00:20:19] A certain scribe, verse 19 came and said unto him, master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Now think about the scribe. Think about the scribe.
[00:20:36] Is the box on brother Phil.
[00:20:44] There we go. I was thinking it didn't have the punch. I feel like my voice is straining.
[00:20:51] I was about to tell him to run it up. All right, think about the scribe.
[00:20:57] We've gone through Matthew, we've seen a number of things about different groups. We've studied the different groups that existed in the, in the land of Israel at that time. Where, where do the scribes fit within those groups? Anybody remember?
[00:21:12] The scribes are often mentioned with the Pharisees, with the elders, with the rulers.
[00:21:19] So in, in the scheme of the social society, the society in Israel at that time, the scribes would have been the upper crust, the people who were revered, the people who had money, right? They weren't working, regular working people using their hands to work. No, these were people who had money and also honor. They were learned people, scribes and Pharisees. And of course we know the Lord did not have really nice things to say about the scribes. But in this case, the scribe is coming to Jesus and he's saying, master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And I think, you know, especially considering what Jesus says to him. Foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying, are you aware that I'm poor?
[00:22:08] Are you aware that I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight?
[00:22:14] So this scribe and that response, I think it tells us something because it's kind of an odd response, you want to follow me? And Jesus answered by describing his life, his lifestyle. And I think what it reveals to us is something about the scribe. Here this man comes. Maybe this scribe didn't really know a lot about Jesus background or whatever. And he comes to Jesus, he's teaching and thousands are listening to him. He's healing and he's popular and he's obviously well learned. Remember people described of Nazareth, they said, how knoweth this man letters, having never learned. In other words, he knew the scripture, he could read, he could write, he knew the word of God much wiser than the scribes, you know. So the scribe picked up on that. He was well spoken or whatever might have indicated that. And so Jesus is teaching, he's healing people and there's large crowds. Now, he might not be dressed nicely to the hill or whatever, but the scribe sees it. And in that world, that was a mark of distinction. That was a place of honor.
[00:23:15] So the scribe sees it and he thinks, well, looky here, if I can follow Jesus.
[00:23:23] He's probably got a nice little life for himself, all these people following him, probably got a nice little income, probably several streams of income.
[00:23:32] He's got some honor, probably has some clout. And Jesus says, of course, knowing his heart, obviously Jesus says, do you know, I don't have a place to sleep well, that let the air out of his balloon pretty quick, didn't it?
[00:23:53] And the verse just ends, which is to imply he wasn't interested that much in following Jesus after that.
[00:24:08] I'll be honest with you. That's kind of a.
[00:24:11] That's quite an indictment.
[00:24:18] Quite an indictment, I think, of religion. Listen, that uses people that use religion for economic gain or the gain in social status, you know, that's a thing. You know, that has been a thing down south for a long time to this day in all these little small towns that spread across South Carolina and probably North Carolina, Georgia. I'm from South Carolina, so I can only speak to that. In these little towns, you have such and such, you know, First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian, you know. And to go there is a matter of social standing, right? And you go there because you want to sound. You know, you want to be a member of the church, and you don't do. You know, it's a matter of standing. That was not the way it was with the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, you wanted to join First Baptist Church or First Church of Jesus Christ. You know what he did? He says, you know, I ain't got nowhere to live, right?
[00:25:09] Do you know what you're asking? Do you know what it would mean to follow me?
[00:25:15] Do you know, you just see the. You know, you see this, all the crowds and all of that, and you think, well, here's a chance to really get in with some people with some clout.
[00:25:25] And Jesus says, hold on there, buster.
[00:25:36] You see, our Lord's answer to the scribe, it contrasted with the respectability and expectation of a man in that position as a scribe.
[00:25:48] He thought he might better his situation by associating himself with such a teacher.
[00:25:55] But he was disappointed because our Lord offered no such luxury to his disciples.
[00:26:03] He offered no such luxury to his disciples.
[00:26:08] You see, when the Lord answered this scribe in this way, he challenged the common understanding of who he, our Lord, would be as the Messiah. You see, they expected. What did they expect? They expected an honorable and mighty and wealthy king. And the Lord challenged that and said, you know, I don't have anywhere to live, right? And we know that he is an honorable above all others. He is a holy and a mighty king. We know that. But in his first coming, he was a lowly servant of God, right? That's what he was, a servant of. His father.
[00:26:45] Philippians chapter two says that he was a lowly savior. He was a reproached savior. He was a suffering savior.
[00:26:54] And so we see we must come to the Christ of scripture, not to the one that we have imagined. And that is what is happening in churches everywhere. They have this. Churches everywhere have this vision of Christ, of what he is and what he expects and what he thinks. And people come to that Christ and not the Christ of the Bible. Listen, nobody wants to come to the Christ that says, you say, I want to follow you. And you expect them to say, oh great, I'm so glad to have you in the family. And he says, have you thought this through with stone Face?
[00:27:30] Nobody likes that kind of Jesus.
[00:27:33] Jesus, listen, a scribe, a scribe, a man of that social stratum.
[00:27:39] He should have been honored that a scribe or a Pharisee would say, I want to follow you. And Jesus says, as I imagine, with a blank face. Do you know what you're saying?
[00:27:54] Are you sure you want to do that?
[00:28:00] Well, that kind of rubs the.
[00:28:03] Kind of rubs the veneer off the Jesus that this world has described.
[00:28:09] Is it just me or is it not? Seriously, like we think that we somehow are doing the Lord a favor by following Him. Like he should feel honored we're going to see it. Just a minute. Let's get this right. He is the Lord of all, not we.
[00:28:30] He is the Lord of all but man. We got this backward.
[00:28:40] And this is the same assumption that people have of their association with the Lord Jesus Christ today by means of a church, usually, or religion, they view it as a matter of respectability, a way to have honor. But the scriptural understanding of what it means to be Christ's disciple is exactly the opposite. To be a disciple of Christ means we are subject to reproach as He. To be a disciple of Christ. It means that all of our substance is offered to him for his use, like He. To be a disciple of Christ means that we are not viewed flatteringly by the world as He.
[00:29:23] You know, if you are going to be a disciple, if you're actually, and I don't mean that just in word, I mean you're the real thing.
[00:29:31] You are a believer in Christ who is living for and following Him. You know what you're going to find? You are on the outside of respectability in society. The problem is we have this tension where we want people's respect, we want the world's respect and honor, while also being a disciple of Christ. And what Jesus is saying is, pick, pick, can't bother.
[00:30:03] But the question is, why do so many Christians never experience any reproach for the name of Christ?
[00:30:11] Why are they never ostracized? And that's not Pleasant or fun or doesn't feel good. But why does that never happen? To some people, it might be because they're not a disciple.
[00:30:24] They give lip service, but there's no substance to it.
[00:30:29] Because Jesus said, this is what it means to be my disciple. And he didn't say it once or twice. He said it in unambiguous language over and over. He says, if any man will come after me, you know the words. But it's not just words. If any man will come after me, let him what? Let him what? Deny himself and take up his cross and follow me? You know what that is? That is the lowest and basest form of reproach.
[00:30:55] This isn't. Well, we're going to endure hard times for the Lord. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. You know what the cross is? The cross is you walking from the place of life to the place of death. And people are looking at you on either side, saying, ah, there goes that piece of trash. There goes that filthy criminal. That's the cross.
[00:31:17] That's what it means to be Jesus disciple. Why is it that Christians don't have any idea, even in the least amount, what it's like to be that, to feel that.
[00:31:35] So that's the poverty of Christ.
[00:31:38] The second thing I want you to see from this man is this.
[00:31:42] This man comes to Jesus, and I alluded to it a little bit, and he says, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest, expecting our Lord to respond in positive terms. Oh, great. Let me introduce you to the other disciples. And what you see is the exact opposite. We see that the Lord does not encourage him.
[00:32:04] He says, this man says, whithersoever thou goest? There's a set of expectations in that word.
[00:32:12] I wonder if when he says, wither so ever thou goest, I wonder if he's thinking of the cross.
[00:32:17] What do you think?
[00:32:19] You think he's thinking of that cross? This, scribe, is when he says, I will follow thee wither. So not even. Not even Christ's chosen disciples were willing to go to the cross. They forsook him and fled. Remember?
[00:32:33] In fact, by the end of his life, all of the previous disciples, except the 12, 11, not counting Judas, all of them had forsaken him. And even in the garden of Gethsemane, all the rest of them forsook him.
[00:32:46] Do you think this man, when he says, whithersoever, he's thinking of honor or dishonor and poverty? No. And that's exactly why Jesus says what he did, you know? And There's a number of times in Scripture where Jesus actually discourages people from following him.
[00:33:07] Look at. Real quick. Look at Luke, chapter 14.
[00:33:11] Briefly, briefly. We will come right back to Matthew, Luke 14, verse number 25.
[00:33:24] It's just. I snicker when I read this. Look at the first words in verse 25. And there went great multitudes unto him. And he turned and said, all right, just stop there a second. You have this huge crowd of people who are following him. They're attracted to his message, they're attracted to his words, they're attracted to his miracles. What an opportunity to make a bunch of disciples. You know what Jesus says? He looks at the crowd and he says, you've come here today to follow me.
[00:33:56] You will be following me and will have more abundant life. No, the Jesus of the Bible says, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. That sounds kind of negative, wouldn't you say? Kind of discouraging.
[00:34:21] That's definitely not the modern message. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
[00:34:32] See that? We could go to Mark. We won't. But he also mentions, in fact, look down at verse number 33.
[00:34:40] So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
[00:34:49] The Lord lays down what sound to us like very strict guidelines to be his disciple. And then not only does he lay down guidelines, he doesn't give any encouragement to actually follow them. He says negatively, you cannot be my disciple.
[00:35:05] I'm just reading it to you, okay? Hate family relations, hate one's own life. Willing to bear your cross, forsaking all that you have, denying yourself. That doesn't sound like an appetizing discipleship material, does it?
[00:35:21] Doesn't sound like something we'd want to be involved in. The Lord appears. It's just amazing. The Lord appears to put up roadblocks and hindrances and hurdles for people in order for people to follow him. We know that our Lord calls people to follow him, but he also lays down the truth, what it means to be a true disciple of his.
[00:35:46] He told people, in Luke 14, he told People to actually count the cost.
[00:35:52] This is what it means. It's not all happy days and nice things and, you know, as they say, abundant life. Although we know that's what it is. But as it's understood, often, to be a disciple means making Hard decisions.
[00:36:07] To be a follower of Christ means sacrificing some things. It means saying no to oneself. It means sometimes your family turning against you because of the priorities of your life. That's what our Lord is talking about, is he not?
[00:36:23] You know, listen, I say this, and I am consciously aware that there are people who feel.
[00:36:31] I mean to the quick, what I'm about to say.
[00:36:35] You know, there are people in this room who have destroyed family relationships not by any wrongdoing that you've done, but because you've chosen to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and your family member rejected you over it.
[00:36:50] That hurts.
[00:36:54] But Jesus said that's what would happen.
[00:36:58] I want to tell you something.
[00:37:01] He's worthy.
[00:37:04] He is worthy.
[00:37:10] How different is this from the accommodating Christianity that's so prevalent today?
[00:37:15] We will customize Christ, customize his words to ensure that there's no barrier and no hindrance and there's no negativity, no negative word about following him. But that is dishonest. There is a sacrifice and there is a cost to be counted. Jesus said it. Our Lord said it.
[00:37:35] Our Lord. Now, here, and this is. We're getting to the end here, but I just. I want you to get this.
[00:37:42] Our Lord Jesus Christ and note the words. Lord Jesus Christ expects and demands all of us.
[00:37:55] Our Lord Jesus Christ expects and demands all of us, without exception, for he is the Lord of All right.
[00:38:12] And so we turn to the second dialogue in Matthew, chapter eight. He says this. And another of his disciples said unto him, lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. What man? What a situation that cuts to the quick, especially. I mean, just read the next verse. Take a second. Read the next verse to yourself, if you would.
[00:38:34] You see those red words?
[00:38:38] How many of you feel like. Just be honest. How many feel like. That sounds really harsh.
[00:38:45] Okay, I'll be the. I guess I'm the only one. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Imagine you have a loved one pass away. And Jesus said, let the dead bury their dead. That sounds calloused and cold.
[00:38:58] Right. But let's not draw conclusions too fast.
[00:39:07] Here's a situation that cuts to the very quick of a human relationship. That is.
[00:39:13] That is. That is precious. I don't know if this man's father had already died. He was ailing. Maybe he was about to die. Maybe he had already died and he about had a funeral. It could have been that the father. And my personal belief is that this man was just elderly and he wanted to kind of delay until such time as he could go through all that process, and then he would follow Jesus. There's a problem.
[00:39:36] Here's a problem.
[00:39:39] Jesus is the Lord of all.
[00:39:42] I don't care what your situation is. I don't care what my situation is. I don't care how close the relationship is. And listen to me closely. This is so important for us to get. It doesn't matter how close the relationship is. It doesn't matter what circumstance. We're talking about a funeral here where emotions are raw, right? We're talking about one's own parents.
[00:40:05] And yet Jesus, our Lord asserts his lordship at this moment.
[00:40:16] He asserts it and tells this man, follow me.
[00:40:22] Now, let me make a few caveats.
[00:40:25] Unless there's any kind of confusion, we know that God himself commands us to love our parents. Do I really even have to say this? But I'm going to say it anyway, okay? God commands us to love and honor our parents.
[00:40:41] And God tells us to materially provide for them in old age. First Timothy 5, 4. But if any widow have children or nephews which are grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents. That means you pay for them. That's what it says.
[00:40:57] For that is good and acceptable before God. First Timothy 5, 8, same chapter says this. But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.
[00:41:12] Remember, our Lord himself, when he was hanging on the cross, used his precious breath and energy to make sure that his mother was taken care of. Right? Did that happen or did that not happen? It happened.
[00:41:30] Devout men carried Stephen to his burial after his martyrdom. So the Lord is not saying you shouldn't go to a funeral. I mean, this is. This is the silliness that comes up, people, the conclusions people draw. He's not saying you shouldn't take care of your parents. He's not saying you should never go to a funeral. These are the silly conclusions.
[00:41:48] But what I want you to see is this.
[00:41:53] The Lord is making a statement regarding following him.
[00:41:58] He is demanding.
[00:42:01] Remember, the Lord is speaking to this one man who is. Listen, now, this is so important. He is using a right family relationship and a good thing. Right bearing your father. There's nothing wrong with that. He's using a good thing and putting it above Jesus. He's using as an excuse and prioritizing and putting that thing in a preeminent place above the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, follow me. And he says, I can't. Can I bury my Father, he asked a question. But the obvious implication is, sorry, I can't. I have to deal with this. I'm going to do this not following you. And this is the Lord of Glory looking him in the eyeball and saying, follow me. He says, but what about follow me? You only have one choice in that case, you know that. One choice. It doesn't matter who the family member is. It doesn't matter what the circumstance is. You have but one choice, and that is either you are going to follow Jesus or you're going to put something in the place of Lord of your life that's not Jesus. This is the question.
[00:43:09] Here's what you have to remember. All the lesser things when you put Jesus in his preeminent place. All the lesser things he takes care of.
[00:43:18] The problem is that this man's not doing that.
[00:43:23] The Lord of Glory is looking him in the face and saying, follow me. And he's saying, but I can't, in essence, without using such direct language, he's saying, no.
[00:43:45] The Lord Jesus Christ is demanding the absolutely preeminent place in the lives of his disciples.
[00:43:54] He's not just saying, follow me. He's saying, follow me. Above every other consideration.
[00:44:04] I think of the Cambodian people when family members would die. Funerals aren't sanitized like they are here.
[00:44:14] Funerals are just fraught with idolatry and spiritism and witchcraft. And that would be a. And when a Christian's family member dies, who's not a believer, and the funeral is not a Christian funeral but a Buddhist funeral, it becomes a serious trial because it is this very case. The question is, sir, you are expected to follow in all the rituals. You're expected to shave your head and wear white. And you're expected to go and sit and listen to the monks chant. And you're expected to do all these things. Is Christ your Lord or not?
[00:44:50] You say. I mean, can't you just make an accommodation for this? It's so hard. The family is pressing. So the Lord says, no, I am Lord and I insist on my place. You say, well, that's mean. He has the right.
[00:45:10] He has the right.
[00:45:12] And listen, as a believer, that is the only way. That is the only way you can live as a disciple is if he is Lord of all at all times. You know what?
[00:45:26] I'm looking around and I see tears in eyes in this congregation. I see people with tears in their eyes. I want to tell you something. You know, that's not easy.
[00:45:43] You are living proof of that verse where Jesus lays down before you Ever got started. He lays down and says, now are you sure you want to be my disciple? It's going to cost. There's sacrifice, there's relationships, there's pain. People are not going to understand. You're going to be misunderstood. Listen, he told you in advance.
[00:46:04] But what other place can you put the Lord of Glory?
[00:46:11] Can he be put second?
[00:46:14] He must be put above my children. He must be put above my wife. He must be put above myself. And if God gives me grace, he must be put above my own life.
[00:46:27] He must be Lord of all.
[00:46:29] That's what he's saying.
[00:46:31] He alone, not this church, certainly not this man.
[00:46:37] He alone has the right to assert that place and demand that kind of loyalty. And he does.
[00:46:46] That's why it comes across as harsh.
[00:46:48] It's not because the truth is on the other side of that.
[00:46:55] It's abundant, right? Those of you that have lived as a disciple of Christ know that, yeah, there is pain, but it's not all pain. And there's grace to sustain you in the pain.
[00:47:11] But he must be first.
[00:47:15] I think this is why he touches on such a sensitive subject, bearing one's own loved one.
[00:47:25] You see, when our Lord replies in this way that seems kind of harsh to us. It reveals something about this man's motivation and his priorities. He wanted a kind of accommodation to follow Jesus. He wanted Jesus to be second in family, family considerations first. But the Lord refused that place.
[00:47:45] Matthew Henry said this.
[00:47:49] He said, note, many are hindered from and in the way of serious godliness by an over concern for their families and relations.
[00:47:57] These lawful things. Notice he said that these lawful things undo us all. And our duty is to God. Our duty to God is neglected and postponed and under color of discharging our debts to the world here. Therefore, he says, including himself, we have need to double our guard.
[00:48:22] You know, our mission conference is coming up here soon.
[00:48:37] There might be some people in this room that should go be missionaries, that God wants you to go be missionary.
[00:48:48] Go to a faraway land and give your life to preach the Gospel.
[00:48:55] It's hard for me to talk about, but some people won't do that because they want to be near mom and dad.
[00:49:08] They want to be near their family, they want to be near their children. You know, a lot of missionaries come home from the field when their kids come of age, know that because they don't want to be near. They don't want to be separated from their kids and their grandkids as they start to have grandkids. And so they leave now I can't judge people's motives. That's between them and God. I can't know that. But let me tell you something. That is an example of exactly what I'm talking about.
[00:49:37] Jesus says, I must have. I insist on having all of you.
[00:49:43] And it might be that he wants you in a faraway land and he wants you to sacrifice that relationship.
[00:49:52] That's hardly a sacrifice these days with FaceTime, but it might be that he wants that. And there are some people who say, you know what? I'd love to, Lord, and I know I feel youl tugging in my heart, but I can't do that. I just love my family too much. Jesus says, I am Lord of all.
[00:50:11] I deserve the I deserve and I claim and I demand the preeminent place in your life.
[00:50:31] Does the Lord Jesus Christ have that place in your life?
[00:50:38] Let's pray.
