Matthew 8:18-22--The Cost of Following Jesus

Matthew 8:18-22 English Standard Version (ESV)
​Listen:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.8.18-Matt.8.22
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.”

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The crowds were gathering around Jesus because we just left Him healing the multitudes that were brought to Him, but was everyone following Him doing so because they were on-board with His message of making disciples that were fit to be citizens of a new kingdom?  Jesus uses this opportunity to  make it clear that no one should be following Him to be getting physical or monetary value out of it because Jesus was poor and homeless and nothing to offer in the eyes of the world and its system.  Jesus was not about let someone join for the "health and wealth" ideas that still plague us today.  If Jesus was so clear that this isn't why people should follow after Him then, why aren't we clear and honest about this when people seek to come after Jesus now?  We may not be able to look into their hearts like Jesus and see their motives, but shouldn't we ask a simple questions of "Why do you want to come to Jesus?"  Often the answer starts with something me-centric like "I am broken and I need Jesus to heal me or fix me."  That's a good place to start but is that ALL that you want from Jesus, because He wants much more for you.  Are you willing to give Him everything and surrender your will to His and trade your life for His and become a lowly servant of the King of Kings and live a life of service to Him?  Your decision should not be based totally on what you get out of it without considering the cost of what you are giving up and what He has given for you, and what is required of you under this new arrangement (see the Beatitudes and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount).

Another man said that he first wanted to take care of his parents until they died and were buried and then he'd be ready to follow Jesus.  Jesus seemed to indicate that if there was anything more important than him (in this case family) to the man that he would never truly follow after him and that we must be willing to make a hard decision when we follow after Christ to separate ourselves from the world and the requirements that it puts on us--even things that seem to be important like being there to take care of your aging parents and helping with their final years and being around for the funeral arrangements.  This man had no idea how much longer his parents were going to live and we cannot allow people to put off making the most important decision in their life indefinitely, because they may not get to make the decision again.  Again, this may seem like a great cost to that man to give up his connection to his family which may have meant everything to him...especially in that culture.  Jesus may call you to go places where your parents don't want you to go or where you can't come back if they get sick or die.  We must be willing to sing the words of "Wherever He Leads, I'll Go."