Will You Follow Jesus?
Matthew 8:18-22
What does it look like to be a follower of Jesus? Is it enough for a person just to say they follow Jesus, or would you expect something more from someone who says they follow Christ?[1]
Sadly, many of us can identify with the sadness, the concern, of having a loved one who has made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but it seems as though their lives have not significantly changed since then. Maybe it’s a parent, a child, a sibling, a friend, or a spouse. You know that their life does not match their claim to be a follower of Jesus. It pains me that we have seen some people come to this church, make a profession of faith in Christ, we baptize them, and then never see them again.
We are studying a section of Matthew’s Gospel that highlights Jesus’ authority and power. Matthew is showing that Jesus is the Messiah-King who has all divine authority. Matthew 5-7 presented Jesus’ authoritative teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Now, Matthew 8-9 presents Jesus’ authoritative deeds as seen through His miracles. In these two chapters, Matthew pulls together nine specific miracles of Jesus and summarizes many more. In these accounts, we see Christ’s authority over disease, demons, nature, and even death.
Remember that Jesus has already performed three significant healing miracles in Matthew 8. He has touched and cleansed a man with leprosy (Matt. 8:1-4). He has healed the servant of a centurion by just speaking the word from a distance (Matt. 8:5-13). He has instantly and completely healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a debilitating fever (Matt. 8:14-15). Then we saw Jesus cast out evil spirits from the demon-possessed and heal all who came to Him (Matt. 8:16). All this, Matthew shows, was a fulfillment of scripture that Jesus came to bear our sins in His atoning death on the cross according to Isaiah 53.
Interspersed between each group of three miracles, Matthew presents four dialogues that focus on discipleship. So, we see that Jesus has authority over people, particularly those who would be His disciples. Jesus has the authority to call people to follow Him. And Jesus has the right to evaluate the people who claim they want to follow Him.[2] Therefore, if you are going to follow Jesus, it must be on his terms rather than your own.[3]
The Setting
Matthew not only wants you to know that Jesus is the Messiah-King, he also wants you to know what to do with that truth—how to respond to Jesus. And that is the focus of our text today in Matthew 8:18-22. Matthew 8:18 sets the stage: “And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.”
As a result of His authoritative teaching and His authoritative healings, vast multitudes of people surrounded Jesus. Some of these people were seeking to be Jesus’ followers, to be His disciples. If it had been His desire to amass as many followers as He could, then Jesus could have just stayed where He was, in Capernaum of Galilee, where multitudes of eager followers were coming to Him. When Matthew tells us that Jesus “saw great multitudes,” it suggests a careful, reflective kind of look. He saw the crowd, evaluated what He saw, and then gave orders to depart to the other side of the lake.
Why, at a time of such great popularity, would Jesus leave the multitudes who wanted to be with Him?
It may be, as some have suggested, that He was simply very tired; and the limitations of humanity demanded that He get away from the crowds and rest. We’re told in the next passage, in verse 24, that He fell asleep in the boat. But I think there is more to it than that. Jesus is not simply looking for crowds who will follow Him around. He is looking for disciples who will follow His commands. The crowds are there because of Jesus’ miracles. They are more interested in what Jesus can do for them than what Jesus requires of them.[4] So, Jesus was leaving. His departure put those who would be His disciples into the position of making difficult choices; and thus, of proving their own faithfulness to Him by their actions.
And here in Matthew 8:18-22, we find two potential followers, two men who respond to Jesus. But the significance of the story is not in these two men themselves (in fact, Matthew tells us little about them, not even whether they in fact ultimately joined Jesus or not). Instead, the emphasis is on Jesus’ remarkable responses to these potential disciples. As Jesus evaluated them, the first person was too quick to promise and the second was too slow to perform. Jesus responds to them exposing the obstacles that each had to being a true disciple. Jesus told the first that following Him meant homelessness. He told the second that following Him came before loyalty even to the closest members of his family.[5] Jesus expresses the uncompromising authority of the demands that He makes on His followers.[6]
In the first man, we see that …
1. Following Jesus comes before personal comfort (Matt. 8:19-20)
Matthew 8:19 says, “Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’” A scribe was a man who was an expert in the Jewish scriptures, a teacher of the law of Moses. REmember that Jesus mentioned scribes in His Sermon on the Mount when He said, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20). Most Jews thought of the scribes as righteous men. Jesus said to enter God’s kingdom you must have a righteousness greater than the scribes. Theirs was an external self-righteousness of rules and rituals. Jesus demanded an internal righteousness from the heart. Then, also remember that when Jesus finished teaching the Sermon on the Mount, he comments that Jesus “taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (Matt. 7:29). So, although the Jews may have thought highly of the scribes, Jesus was not so enamored by them. In fact, later in Matthew, Jesus says about them, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.” (Matt. 23:2-3).
We don’t know if this particular scribe was like the rest of them that Jesus spoke against. Perhaps he was different. After all, he came to Jesus. He called Him “Teacher”. While we know Jesus is much more than a teacher, this scribe is showing an astounding measure of respect to Jesus. And he expressed an enthusiastic desire to follow Jesus, saying, “I will follow You wherever You go.”
How did Jesus respond to this scribe who seemed so eager to follow Him? Jesus did not seem to be very impressed with this man’s offer at all. In fact, what He said to the scribe seemed designed to discourage him from going on any further with Him (Matt. 8:20), “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Think about what Jesus was telling the scribe. Even the humble creatures of nature, the foxes and the birds, have places to lay their head at night. But Jesus, “the Son of Man“, had no such creaturely comforts. He didn’t have a place to lay His head at night. As far as we know, Jesus had very few possessions—no home of His own. When he was arrested and crucified, He had nothing but the clothes on His back. Jesus would increasingly be rejected by His own people and ultimately delivered up to be killed.
Jesus said this to the scribe to bring him to a crisis point in his following. Perhaps that is why Jesus here introduces the title by which He most often would refer to Himself: “the Son of Man“. This title occurs eighty-one times in the Gospels always on the lips of Jesus or on the lips of those who are quoting Jesus.[7] In Matthew Jesus uses “the Son of Man” to teach that He has authority on earth to forgive sin (Matt. 9:6), to affirm His full deity (Matt. 16:13–17), that He would ransom His people from their sins (Matt. 20:28), that He would die on the cross and rise from the dead on the third day (Matt. 17:22–23; 20:18–19), and that He will return one day in judgment (Matt. 24:27–31).[8]
What does the title “Son of Man” mean? On the surface, it simply means “a man,” or “the nature of a man”. Psalm 8:4, uses it this way when it asks, “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” But this title implies more than just Jesus’ human nature. Jesus uses “the Son of Man” to emphasize His humanity while at the same time revealing His deity. Jesus is fully human, but He is also fully divine. He left His heavenly home and came to Earth where He no longer had a home.
As a scribe, this potential follower would have been very familiar with the passages in the Scriptures that spoke of the Messiah. He should have thought about what it says in Daniel 7:13-14 about the Messiah; where Daniel writes,
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:13-14).
This scribe should have realized that the Man standing before Him is “the Son of Man” spoken of in Daniel, that He was the Messiah to whom all the kingdoms of this world are destined to be given. The glories of the coming Kingdom are found in Jesus. Hadn’t Jesus been preaching the kingdom and teaching about the kingdom and performing the miraculous signs of the kingdom? Was this man thinking, “Teacher, I know the glorious Kingdom that You are destined to receive! And so, I will follow You wherever You go”?
But Jesus put the brakes on this scribe’s enthusiasm. He told the scribe that He, the Son of Man, didn’t even yet have a place to lay His head, He was letting the man know that before the riches of the Kingdom would be realized, the sufferings and trials of the cross would have to be experienced. As Jesus says elsewhere:
For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first, He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (Luke 17:24-25; also Matt. 24:27-28).
The scribe was looking at Jesus as the fast track to the glories of the Kingdom. But Jesus was letting the man know that his immediate worldly expectations of comfort and exaltation would not be fulfilled by following Jesus. The glories would come, but the suffering and the cross come first.
This man had unrealistic expectations of what would happen if he followed Jesus. He likely expected that he would soon receive an exalted position, a glorious palace, and the comforts and treasures of the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus was letting him know that following Him would not lead to the worldly things that He expected.[9]
Why would Jesus discourage this man like this? Once again Jesus is not looking for a crowd to follow him around. He is looking for disciples who will follow His commands and ultimately who will follow Him to the cross. Jesus is Lord, not a celebrity. Jesus put the will of His Father above earthly comfort. He was an obedient servant even to the point of suffering and death on the cross. Jesus put His mission to save you above His own comfort. Will you put Him before yours?
Then we come to the second potential follower of Jesus where we learn that …
2. Following Jesus comes before personal relationships (Matt. 8:21-22)
Matthew tells us,
Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Matt. 8:21).
Commentators disagree over what this man’s comment meant. It may mean, as it appears, that his father had just died and that he needed to go and attend to his burial. But the Jews in that day usually buried a dead body the same day that they died. There was no embalming or waiting. Others have suggested that his father was sick and was in the process of dying and that he needed to stay home and attend to him. Others suggest that it was a reference, not only to care for the man’s father but also to the estate that needed to be settled and the inheritance would be his when his father died and was buried, whenever that time would come.
On the surface, this seems like a valid excuse, to attend to the needs of his father. But Jesus would not accept the man’s excuse. Jesus said something that, on the surface, seems harsh and insensitive:
But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matt. 8:22).
But consider some of the details. For one thing, the man was called “another of His disciples“. He had already made the commitment to follow. Unlike the scribe, he called Jesus, “Lord”, not just “Teacher”. Second, Jesus’ command to “Follow Me” is a present tense command, meaning, “Keep following Me”. Jesus confronted this disciple with the fact that He was about to leave. The man wanted to stop following Jesus for a while in order to attend to his father. And third, the man used a keyword that pointed out the whole nature of his problem. The word was “first“: “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” The man had already begun to follow but was about to stop following because he had a greater priority than following Jesus at the moment.
This man was putting something other than Jesus first in his life. He was putting personal relationships before Christ. There’s a disconnect when you say to Jesus, “Lord, first …” You don’t call Jesus “Lord” and then put your agenda before his.
Jesus’ answer suggests that other people could have attended to the man’s father, whatever the concerns of his father might have been. And Jesus may have been indicating the spiritual state of this man’s family—they were spiritually dead, not believers. The gospel of Luke adds an additional command that Jesus gave here: “Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:60). In other words, don’t be like the spiritually dead who hold back from following Jesus. Instead, as one who is spiritually alive, go forth and share the gospel with those who are spiritually dead so that they might receive life and follow Christ who is the giver of life.
Finally, I can’t help noticing that Matthew doesn’t tell us what happened to either of these men. Did they get on the boat or walk away? We’re not told if they responded by turning back in discouragement or if either one repented and became devoted followers from then on. Their stories are left open-ended. We’re left to wonder what they did with Jesus’ high call for total devotion, just as it now waits to be seen what we will do with it!
The first man was eager to follow but Jesus cautioned him to consider the cost. He wanted to jump in too quickly. The second man was too slow to follow Jesus because earthly matters took priority in his life. Matthew included enough of the story so that you and I would know what Jesus required of His followers. What matters today is your response and mine.
And so; what kind of a follower are you right now? Have you been thinking that all that was required to become one of His followers was that you simply profess faith in Him? Have you been thinking that to be one of His followers, you could just say “I will follow” but not do it? Have you put personal comfort or personal relationships before obedience to Christ?
Some of you here today are like the scribe or that disciple. You profess to love Jesus. You would like to follow him, but you are hesitant about all the sacrifices that following Him might mean in your lifestyle. You want to follow, but first, you need to take care of business, or you do not want to risk your relationships with your family and friends. It is time to get off the fence. You know that Jesus wants more. He must be Lord.
Do not let the things of this world, or family pressures keep you away from following Jesus. His authority is real. He is Lord. He is God in human flesh who has the power and authority to forgive your sin and give you eternal life. Repent of your sin, believe that He died for your sins and was raised for your justification. Confess Him as Lord and follow Him wherever He leads, even though it means a cross. Jesus has commanded us to follow Him—don’t miss the boat!
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[1] Ray Fowler, The Cost of Following Jesus. https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/the-cost-of-following-jesus/
[2] Richard Caldwell, Discouraging Superficial Discipleship | Matthew 8:18-22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bThulptuX3Q&t=1237s&ab_channel=FoundersBaptist
[3] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 130.
[4] Fowler, The Cost of Following Jesus. https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/the-cost-of-following-jesus/.
[5] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 130.
[6] R. T. France, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Volume 1. Inter-Varsity Press, England 1985. Quoted on https://www.bibleoutlines.com/matthew-818-22-the-demands-of-discipleship/
[7] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 135.
[8] James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 135.
[9] Greg Allen, It Costs to Follow! https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/082105.htm
