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THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS
Matthew 8:18-34
Key Verse: 20
“Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’”
In today’s passage, Jesus teaches his disciples to know who a disciple of Jesus truly is through the dialogues with two men who seemed to follow Jesus. Jesus also helps them have a living faith by passing through a furious storm on the lake. Furthermore, he helps them see the destructive control of the demons in people’s hearts and to have a godly value system by sacrificing the herds of pigs to free two wild men from their possession. Figuratively speaking, we all got into Jesus’ boat to be his disciples. Disciples of Jesus are those who follow Jesus. You and I and All Christians are called to become disciples. Let’s think about the gracious privileges of being Jesus’ disciples. First of all, we have been saved from our sins because of Jesus’ death on the cross. We now have a hope of the kingdom of God after our life-journey on earth. Moreover, we are guided by the Holy Spirit. We have our Lord Jesus whom we can freely come to and ask for our needs. What great privileges we have received from God although we don’t deserve at all. Disciples are people of God-given privileges. We thank and praise Jesus. Now as disciples we must know the cost of following Jesus.
First, Jesus has no place to lay his head (18-22). Look at verse 18. “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.” Because of Jesus’ authoritative teaching and miraculous healing ministry, the crowd flocked around him. These crowds had never seen such a compassionate and yet powerful man of God before. So they followed Jesus. But seeing the crowd, Jesus gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. If it had been Jesus’ intention to have a huge and populous ministry, then he would have had to stay there and take care of the ever growing crowds. But Jesus left the crowds and headed to the other side of the lake. As we review Jesus’ public ministry, we can often discover that Jesus turned the crow away who were not really committed to follow him. For example, Mark 9:30b-21a says, “…Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples…” Although Jesus preached the crowds and healed them from their sicknesses with genuine love and compassion, he was not eager for crowds of people to sign up as his followers. Clearly, the focus of Jesus’ messianic work was to raise committed disciples. Jesus was not after quantity of numbers as much as quality of commitment. Jesus can do far more through one committed disciple than through 1000 uncommitted crowds.
Knowing that Jesus was leaving, a “disciple-wanna-be” came to Jesus expressing his willingness to follow him. Look at verse 19, “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’” The disciple-wanna-be was a teacher of the law. Basically he was a religious leader, a scholar of the Bible. Wow! Humanly speaking, this man’s signing up to be a follower of Jesus would have been a great help to Jesus’ ministry. His ministry would have appeared to be a more intellectual and weighty team. He said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” What a remarkable offer! Perhaps, Peter was greatly challenged by this man’s audacious offer.
But Jesus didn’t seem to be impressed with his statement. Look at verse 20. “Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’” It seems that Jesus discouraged the man who had a strong desire to join the disciple team. Jesus didn’t say, “Yes” or “no” to the teacher. Jesus simply talked about his own poor lifestyle. A fox has its den. A bird has its nest. But Jesus had no place to lay his head. Think about who Jesus is. He is the Creator God. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. But he gave up his heavenly throne and came to serve the lost. But on earth, he had no place and no king-size bed and no feather pillow to lay his head. Even when he died, his head was bowed in the air and his body pinned to the cross. Laying one’s head refers to rest and comfort. But Jesus was the suffering Servant. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was poor in order to make us rich through his poverty (2 Cor 8:9).
I presume that this man as a teacher of the law recognized that Jesus is the promised Messiah based on the prophecies of the Old Testament. Perhaps he wanted to follow Jesus to be the founding member of a glorious earthly messianic kingdom. Or maybe he wanted to get the recognition as one of the disciples from ever growing crowds around Jesus. But we are not sure of this man’s motive to follow Jesus. Nevertheless Jesus, in saying it, taught the man that a disciple of Jesus is one who is willing to give up worldly comfort and ease and serve God’s will to save sinners with life giving spirit just as Jesus had done. The passage doesn’t tell us about the man’s decision. But a rich young ruler in other part of the gospel narratives who came to follow Jesus with the similar attitude that the teacher of the law had, could not follow Jesus because he couldn’t give up what he had. Jesus’ disciples are those who are willing to give up earthly things and participate in Jesus’ suffering with a glorious hope in God’s kingdom. Amen.
Now another man came to Jesus just before Jesus got into the boat. Look at verse 21. “Another disciple said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’” We don’t know if his father had just died or was in the process of dying that he should take care of his father till he buried his father. In either case, his request seemed to be out of his sincere and noble concern for his father. He was a disciple, meaning, he had already made the commitment to follow. He said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Here his word “first” implies that he would come back and follow Jesus later. His word “first” also reflects his priority. He had already followed Jesus, but was about to stop following for a while because he had a greater priority than following Jesus at the moment.
What was Jesus’ response? Look at verse 22. “But Jesus told him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Jesus did not mean this man should ignore taking care of his father’s funeral. Rather, through this crucial and sorrowful event, Jesus wanted to help him to set his life priority. Jesus said, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Jesus meant that to follow Jesus one must place Jesus’ call and Jesus’ priorities above all others. We face demands of life: studying for final exams, finding a job, becoming a good employee, taking care of family, and many others. To sustain life on earth, these demands must be met. But when we set a priority to take care of them, we begin to lose sight of what is most important in our life. We are soon held by one demand after another and we stop following Jesus. Those who follow Jesus will eventually find out along the way that following Jesus conflicts with other demands of life—even some of the most basic demands of life. Disciples of Jesus are called to set a priority to follow Jesus. Jesus himself had faced many demands of life. But he had a clear priority to follow God’s leading and to do God’s will even to the point of death. Jesus said in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him.”
Shepherd Philip in Montreal UBF once had an inner conflict when he could not find a job in Montreal for a while after graduation and a company in Toronto offered him a good and secure job. But he was a Bible teacher and shepherd there. After prayer struggle, he made a decision not to accept the job offer, but to stay in Montreal to serve God even if he would starve to death. His priority to serve God moved God’s heart and many of our co-workers. God then blessed him greatly providing him a better job in Montreal and helping him to marry a powerful woman of faith. Like Philip and like the disciple, we will all have the conflict between following Jesus first or pursuing the demands of life first. Of course we have responsibilities and obligations to take care of the demands of life, but a personal invitation from Jesus should take priority over everything else. May God help us to follow Jesus, make him our first priority, and live the life that is truly worth living.
Second, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (23-27). Jesus and his disciples got into the boat and set sail. It was sunny and the lake was calm. The disciples must have enjoyed sailing on the sunny lake trying to spot a remote place to get some rest. Jesus fell asleep fast at the stern of the boat. But then all of a sudden, a furious storm broke upon them so that the waves swept over the boat (24). The boat was tossed around and the waves crashing over the boat. Though they raced to pump the water out with whatever available tools even with their lunch boxes or shoes, they reached the end of their own effort and the boat was about to sink. It was the perfect storm that these former veteran fishermen could not handle. While the disciples became frantic Jesus was still sleeping peacefully. What a contrast! They were gripped with terrible fear. They thought this could be the end of their lives. They went to Jesus and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” This scene reflects the spiritual condition of the disciples. At first, without faith they fiercely fought the storm but they could not handle it. When they reached the point of absolute desperation they finally turned to Jesus and cried out to him, “Lord, save us! We are going to drown.” So often we are no different than these disciples. Until we reach the point of desperation, we get so caught up in trying to hang on to our own feeble effort, instead of coming to Jesus humbly. The storm helped the disciples to recognize their frailty and turn to Jesus.
Now look at verse 26. “He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.’” Here Jesus pointed out the disciples’ little faith which made them so afraid. Even though Jesus was in their boat, they failed to put their faith in him. They had seen Jesus perform numerous miracles before, and yet they didn’t put their faith in Jesus who could solve a great storm like this. In their lack of faith, they became just fearful and helpless people. The synonym of faith is courage and the antonym of faith is fear and anxiety. Though all human beings are weak, disciples of Jesus are strong and fearless because of their faith in Jesus. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Jesus wanted to teach his disciples about faith through this storm training. Later, these disciples who learned to have faith in Jesus became bold and courageous Bible teachers and missionaries. Jesus wants us to be courageous and powerful disciples not by intensive workouts at gym but by passing through the storms of life by faith in Jesus.
After rebuking the disciples’ little faith Jesus then got up rebuked the winds and the waves. Then, it grew completely calm. Jesus’ word had authority to calm the storm. In this way Jesus revealed that he was the Almighty Creator God. And the disciples were amazed and put their faith in Jesus. Apostle Paul had encountered numerous outward and inward challenges and storms of life during his mission life. But by going through these challenges and storms of life, he learned faith and became strong. Later he shared his strength in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” He saw Jesus right in his life. In Jesus he challenged the idolatry of Romans and Greeks and all gentiles and planted the gospel in their hearts courageously. Let us come to Jesus by faith when the violent waves clash over out lifeboat, and let us rebuke the storm by faith.
Third, Jesus commanded the demons, “Go!” (28-34). Jesus and his disciples finally arrived at the other side of the lake. It was the region of the Gadarenes, a gentile territory. As they passed by a graveyard, suddenly two demon-possessed men popped out of the tomb. Their residence was Gadara tombs. They looked wretched, filthy and terrifying. The demons residing within them took possession of them. They were so violent that everyone stayed out of their way. But Jesus took this way to drive out demons in them, despite their wretched conditions. Jesus valued these two men’s lives. Jesus had the power and authority to drive the demons out. Seeing Jesus, the demons in these men knew who he was and of his power. These demons became so fearful now. They shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Now there was a pig farm nearby where a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons recognized that they could no longer reside in these two men because Jesus would drive them out. So they begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” Somehow the demons’ nature is to take possession of some kind of being and inflict some damage. What was Jesus’ response? Look at verse 32, “He said to them, ‘Go!’ So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole heard rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.” It appeared like a kamikaze mission as the pigs crashed and drowned in the water.
The pig shepherds saw what had happened and went down to the town and reported the ruin of their pig industry. Then the whole town came to Jesus and asked him to get out of the town. They only worried about their damaged business and material loss. They didn’t see the two ex-possessed men who were completely healed. In this incident we learn who Jesus was. Jesus only spoke one word “Go!” in this incident. However, in it, we can see Jesus’ value system. Jesus didn’t calculate whether he could save these two men or save the pig industry. To him these two men were far more precious than the herd of pigs. He was willing to sacrifice anything to save one soul. No doubt, when Jesus said to the demons, “Go!” he knew that there would be a serious material loss. But to Jesus, one soul is precious than the whole world.