Matthew 8:18-22

True Cost Of Discipleship

When you give your life to Christ, you are turning your back on the World. While you still must live in the World, you can no longer be of the World. As such you must be ready to know the World will no longer be a hospitable place for you. This being said, anyone who desires to be a disciple of any teacher, must understand what it means. 

A disciple is to become like the master, and thus anything the master says or does, a disciple must follow in the same footsteps. It is the same for anything, whether it be religion, martial arts, military training, or even if you want to step into the shoes of a great chef. There are certain things the master teaches that one must take to heart, and be willing to follow, and or abandon. This is a short lesson to two men who wanted to follow Jesus.

1. ( Matthew 8:18 )  And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side

1. Capernaum was situated on the northwest side of the Sea of Tiberias, also called the Sea of Galilee or the lake Genesareth

2. Jesus tells followers it’s time to go

1. As followers of Christ, we must be ready to go on a moments notice

1. The parable of the vineyard owner gives us the phrase “Many are called but few chosen” Matthew 20:1-16

2. Jesus is saying that God calls everyone and gives us the power to respond, but to be chosen we must respond to that call

2. ( Matthew 8:19 a )  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 

1. The first man is a scribe, who spontaneously offers to follow Jesus

1. Remember, Jesus probably received many offers from those who wanted to follow Him

1. He was probably very popular, 

1. He performed many miracles

2. Like the groupies who always glom onto musicians, actors, and sports stars

3. Prophets and good teachers of the ancient World had many students 

1. Thy best were in high demand

2. Parents would do all they could to get their sons taught by them

4. Yet, Jesus Jesus knew their hearts, and why they wanted to follow him

2. This is what Jesus sees in the man, a groupie who does not know the true cost of following Him, thus He responds to the man with t eparable.

3. Jesus could have just said, “NO, you cannot follow me, because you cannot handle it.”

3. ( Matthew 8:20 ) Instead, “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.”

1. Jesus could have said, “No, you cannot follow me, because you cannot handle it!”

2. Instead He tells him a parable, but what does it mean???

1. He tells him there will be no earthly castles in his future, by contrasting dwellings

1. God provides shelter for foxes in which they live, their holes are their castles

2. Birds are also provided for by God, Matthew 6:26

3. They even reside in Gods courts Psalm 84:1-3

4. But the Son of man (Jesus) became poor on earth so we may be rich in heaven 2Corinthians 8:9

2. He is telling the man what he must be prepared to give to gain, Jesus knows the heart of this scribe

1. In Jesus day the Scribes were the public teachers of the people

2. Later they would be very antagonistic and hostile towards the apostles

3. Paul said of the scribes 1 Corinthians 1:20

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

3. Jesus is telling the man the truth, without painting a rosy glamorized scenario of what can be expected

4. Later in Matthew 10:16-18, a similar moment takes place when Jesus warns the disciples of the difficult road they midst travel to follow him

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless[a] as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

5. Jesus knows the man’s heart, so maybe he was just wanting to follow for the perks, like free food

And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

John 6:25-29

1. So how many of you are truly following for the food, instead of Jesus?

2. Would you be here if you never got fed?

3. Would you still come for the lesson if you never received anything else?

4. Are you following for the food, or for Jesus?

4. ( Matthew 8:21 )Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

1. So the second wishes to bury his Father first

1. He is not saying his father is dead, but rather like in many Eastern cultures, when a family member was ill or aged, the next of kin would care for them until they died

1. Sometimes this could take many years

2. While this may sound decent, in reality it was usually out of greed

3. They were more interested in their inheritance

5. (Matthew 8:22)  But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

1. We read in Luke 14:26 that Jesus tells His followers to put Him above the family

2. h

 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

3. Unlike most modern evangelists, Jesus is interested in the quality of those who follow Him, not with how many will follow Him.

4. Again Jesus sees past the outward appearance and looks right into our hearts

5. Remember, the heart of the problem is always a problem with the heart

6. In both instances, Jesus was being honest by wanting people to know what it meant to follow Him

1. If we desire to follow Jesus, we must be prepared for what comes our way

1. Remember many people came out of Egypt, and not all of them were Israelites

2. Many thought the journey would be easy because of the power Moses displayed

3. Then the trials and tribulations of the desert became too much for them to continue

4. Like them, many followed Christ because of the miracles and His power

5. Jesus is wanting us all to realize that things will not always be like this, soon He will be gone, and when He is, we must continue to follow Him

2. So Jesus wants us to know what the cost is. What follows is some of what we must consider if we truly want to follow Jesus

1. We must leave all, this means Jesus must have a 1st place priority in our lives

2. Deny oneself, forsaking selfish ambitions and desires, “not my will, but thy will be done”

3. A total separation from worldliness and a total commitment to Jesus is required

4. We must love Him more than ourselves and those closest to us

5. We must be willing to sacrifice quite a bit

1. extra income, comforts, position, honor, reputation

2. Even peace in our own home Luke 12:51-53

3. We should all have Paul’s attitude Philippians 3:8

6. Even today people put their own life in jeopardy to follow Christ Matthew 24:9

7. Keep His commandments John 14:15

8. We must be ready to endure hardship for Him, just as He did for us 2 Timothy 2:3

1. Pain, suffering, and even death

2. Many still face death for converting to Christianity, Islam calls for death of heretics

9. We must be prepared to give up all trust in our own morality, respectability, praying, Bible-reading, churchgoing, and sacrament-receiving, and to trust in nothing but Jesus Christ

10. Finally we must be prepared to carry our cross Luke 14:7

3. In Matthew Henry’s commentary for this passage he wrote,

“When we take upa profession of religion, Christ would have us to do it intelligently, and with consideration, and choose the way of godliness, not because we know no other, but because we know no better”

4. We are all called to be disciples of Christ, and thus obey the great commission Matthew 28:18-20

5. All this is summed up by Jesus in Luke 14:25-33

7. Christian discipleship begins when you make an active choice to get to know Jesus better. By God's grace, it is then accomplished in several ways

1. You can study His Word daily and spend time alone with Him in prayer

2. You can become a member of a Bible-teaching church fellowship

3. You can seek out the companionship of other Christians who are growing with Christ

4. You can participate in ministry and meet the needs of other believers

5. You can share what you're learning about Christ with others, as the original disciples did

6. Like the original twelve disciples, we too can , we

8. Finally, the cost of discipleship is totally reasonable in the light of the gift we have been given

1. After all, we were not redeemed with corruptible things 1 Peter 1:18-19

2. Simply put, we were bought at a price 1 Corinthians 6:20

3. And we are trained by God's saving grace Titus 2:11-14