The cost of following Jesus
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 And 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.”
21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.””
In the above text, we see two people having the desire to follow Jesus and be His disciples. Now we must ask, firstly, what were their motives? These two men had seen many miracles and demonstrations of power and were undoubtedly moved by them. They wanted in on that! They wanted to be part of this ministry! They wanted to follow Jesus because they saw Jesus as a remarkably gifted man. Who wouldn’t have wanted to be in the company of this wonder-working, miracle-man?
That is possibly why the scribe said to him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go!” But he could also have said those words because he was a genuine believer.
That statement, is profound.
Have you ever said those words to Jesus?
Jesus, I will follow you, wherever You go. Wherever You lead me Lord, I will go. Wherever You send, I will go.
Ask me anything, I will do it!
Whatever the cost, O Lord, I will pay!
To say something like this to Christ, is what every true disciple of His must say. We cannot say ‘no’ to Jesus and not obey His will. This would mean He is not our Lord, our King. May it be true of you, that you can sincerely say, with this scribe, “Teacher, Christ, I will follow You wherever You go’”
But listen to Jesus’ answer:
20 And 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.”
It is the first time in the gospel of Matthew, that Jesus uses the title “Son of Man”, for Himself, a title He will use repeatedly. This title, the Jews and particularly the scribes, would have been familiar with. “Son of Man” is used
in Psalm 8 and Psalm 80 and in Ezekiel and elsewhere. Many times, when “son of man” is used it refers to a human, or to a prophet. But in Psalm 80 and in Daniel 7:13, 14, it refers specifically to the Messiah, the one who would come, who would save His people, and to whom all authority and dominion would be given.
Now when this title is being used in the gospels, it always refers to Jesus, and as William Hendrickson points out, to His humiliation or His exaltation, or both.
In this context, it probably refers to His humiliation, or His life of sacrifice. When Jesus began His public ministry, He was always on the move. He had no permanent home to lay His head. He had no “nest”, no real estate, no apartment complex, no palace, no farm, and no “hole”. He was always on the go, moving from one town to the next, sleeping wherever He could find a place. He devoted his life to sacrifice, self-denial, service and suffering (Taken from The Gospel of Matthew: William Hendrickson). And all these things He did voluntarily. He came to serve and to save those who were lost. He did this willingly, in obedience to God, His Father.
What was the point, then, that Jesus was making to the scribe?
If you want to follow Me, you have to live a life of sacrifice, service, self- denial and suffering. That’s it!
Remember Jesus’ words, “Unless, you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple” (Matthew 16:24).
To follow Jesus, one must count the cost.
That is the point.
There is a price to pay for following Christ. We must become aware of this over and over again. We don’t know how the man reacted to these words. To be a Jesus follower, will cost you something, sometimes your very life and reputation!!
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