MATTHEW 8:18-22

CONTEXT of JESUS• had just preached the sermon

on the Mountain (5-7)• came down from the mountain -

great multitude following (8:1)• healed a leper (8:2-4)

CONTEXT of JESUS• entered Capernaum and healed

centurion’s son (8:5-13)• healed Peter’s mother-in-law

(8:14, 15)• healed many demon-possessed

(8:16, 17)• now wants to go to the other

side of the sea (8:18)

TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE DESCRIBED:

• BOTH DESIRED TO HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST

• BOTH HAD A CERTAIN DEFICIENCY:–FIRST. . . . . QUICK AND HASTY

SCRIBE–SECOND. . .DULL AND HEAVY

DISCIPLE

FIRST PERSON• A SCRIBE

–A LEARNED MAN, SKILLED IN THE LAW• A VERBAL RESOLVE

–“TEACHER, I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO” (v. 19)• EXPRESSED REVERENCE: TEACHER• EXPRESSED A READY RESOLVE: I WILL

FOLLOW• EXPRESSED RELIABILITY: WHEREVER YOU

GO

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

MATTHEW 7:21

Luke 22:33 But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."Luke 22:34 Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

RECALL“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.”

MATTHEW 23:3

• JESUS COULD ANSWER SOMEONE ACCORDING TO HIS HEART:–Lu 5:22 But when Jesus

perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

• THE LORD’S ANSWER TO THE SCRIBE:–“Foxes have holes and birds of

the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

–scribe may have thought that Jesus was going to set up an earthly kingdom and wanted a share in it (cf. Jn. 6:15)

TESTING A HASTY RESOLVE

FOXES, BIRDS & THE SON

• FOXES HAVE HOLES–AN INFERIOR CREATURE–MAN OFTEN SEEKS TO DESTROY–GOD PROVIDES SHELTER FOR

THEM IN HOLES

FOXES, BIRDS & THE SON

• BIRDS HAVE NESTS–GIVEN ALL KINDS OF REAL-

ESTATE TO MAKE NESTS• IN CONTRAST . . . THE SON

–HAS NOWHERE TO LAY HEAD• NOWHERE TO RETREAT IN

COMFORT• DESERVED LUXURY HOTEL OR

MANSION AS KING OF KINGS• DEPENDED UPON THE HOSPITALITY

OF OTHERS (Lk. 8:1-3)

THE LORD’S EXAMPLE:• IS NOT ONE THAT CALLS

PEOPLE TO QUIT JOBS, BECOME HOMELESS AND SEEK TO LIVE OFF OF ANOTHER–2Th 3:10 For even when we

were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

–2Th 3:12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

HAVING

NO PLACE TO LAY HIS HEAD

• WAS A CIRCUMSTANCE OF HIS MINISTRY FILLED WITH–TRAVEL–PREACHING–WORKING MIRACLES (Mt. 9:35;

11:5)• WAS NOT THE CIRCUMSTANCE

OF BEING LAZY

Divine Commentary

2 Corinthians 8:9: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

To Those “Hasty” Scribes Today

• DO NOT MAKE A RESOLVE BASED ON A FLEETING MOMENT’S CONVICTION (Mk. 4:5; 16, 17)–“they that take up a profession in

a pang, will throw it off again in a fret” (Matthew Henry)

• TAKE TIME TO “COUNT THE COST” (LK. 14:28-33)–FOLLOW LORD NOT ONLY WHEN

“POPULAR” BUT IN “PERSECUTION”

HAD FAMILY CONCERNS PRIORITIZED HIGHER THAN FOLLOWING CHRIST

A DISCIPLE

• A DULL AND HEAVY DISCIPLE–Matt. 8:21, Then another of His

disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

THE 2ND PERSONALITY

HIS FATHER: SICK, DYING, AGED, DEAD?

HIS REQUEST SOUNDS REASONABLE.HIS REQUEST WAS DENIED. . .WRONG!

THE SLOW TO COMMIT LOOK FOR PLAUSIBLE REASONS TO NEGLECT

THEIR DUTY TO CHRIST!

THE 2ND PERSONALITY

THE LORD’S ANSWER:

Matt. 8:22, But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Luke 9:59 Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

Luke 9:60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."

THE LORD’S ANSWER:

Matt. 8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

POINT:

PIETY TO GOD BEFORE PIETY TO PARENTS

1. HAVE NO OTHER GODS

2. MAKE NO CARVED IMAGE

3. DO NOT TAKE NAME OF LORD IN VAIN

4. REMEMBER SABBATH

OF GOD

OF GOD

OF GOD

OF GOD

NOTE 10 COMMANDMENTS

NOTE 10 COMMANDMENTS

5. HONOR FATHER & MOTHER

6. DO NOT MURDER7. DO NOT COMMIT

ADULTERY8. DO NOT STEAL9. DO NOT BEAR

FALSE WITNESS10.DO NOT COVET

FAMILY

NEIGHBORFAMILY

NEIGHBOR

NEIGHBOR

NEIGHBOR

THE NAZARITE6 ‘All the days that he separates himself to

the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.

7 ‘He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.

8 ‘All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD.

NUMBERS 6:6-8

THE HIGH PRIEST

11 ‘nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother;

12‘nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.

LEVITICUS 21

THE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

62But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

LUKE 9

LUKE 14:26

"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.

• NOT “HATE” TO “DISOBEY” (cf. Eph. 6:1-3)

• MEANING = TO LOVE LESS

MATTHEW 6:33

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

UNTIL DEATH• “And you will be hated by all for

My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22)

• “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10)