Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Chapter 8, where we begin to follow Christ around, is a sort of “highlights reel” as He moves from the site of the Sermon on the Mount and crosses the Sea of Galilee (from west to east). It gives greater detail than the accounts of His very early ministry in Matthew 4, because He had begun to call the 12 apostles just before the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 4:18-22) Matthew 8 becomes more detailed about Christ’s travels because people — His disciples — had begun taking notes. After the Sermon(s), many were convinced and wanted to follow Christ. There were certainly many incidents such as those in today’s verses, but Matthew chose two to illustrate a specific lesson: They warn of the dedication and commitment that will be required of Christ’s disciples. In the first paragraph, a scribe, who calls Jesus “Rabbi”, simply offers to follow Him. This is remarkable in itself. The scribes were the ultimate Pharisees, men in charge of reading, interpreting and keeping track of the law of Moses; like Paul some years later, this man is making a 180 degree turn, from foe to advocate. Christ replies, rather cryptically, to remind him of something we often forget. Jesus was basically homeless for three years. So He means to warn the scribe that following Him means sharing His hand-to-mouth existence. (Christ “practiced what He preached.” Matthew 6:25-34.) The second incident has created some controversy among scholars. Many believe that the speaker’s father could not have been dead, for Jews buried their dead almost immediately, “before the sun can set on the corpse.” So they speculate that the prospective disciple needed to care for an elderly or dying father, still alive. He didn’t just need a day or two; he wanted to wait for his father’s death, and thus fully discharge the duty of a child to a parent, before taking to the road. Philip the Apostle Philip the Apostle Albrecht Durer 1505 Others speculate that this was one of the 12 apostles, particularly Philip, and there is some slight historical evidence that this might be true. (John recounts that Philip was called the day after Peter and Andrew. John 1:43-44.) These speculations are interesting, but in terms of the lesson taught, irrelevant. The lesson is that if the speaker wants to follow Jesus, he needs to go ahead and do it. It is a black-and-white decision, without grey areas. Although the commandment to honor one’s mother and father was still fully functional, it collides head-on with a specific teaching of Christ in this particular circumstance, and must give way: one must be willing to leave one’s nonbelieving family behind, if one is to follow Him and find life. We will have a fuller teaching on this in Matthew 10. John related the principle very bluntly in John 12:25-26: Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. (See also 1 John 2:15-17.) The lesson to us is the need for commitment, if one wants to follow Christ. A person accomplishes nothing significant by dilettantism; and this is nowhere more true that in the greatest pursuit in life, the pursuit of righteousness before almighty God.