Requirements of Discipleship

71 – Requirements of Discipleship; Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62

Matthew 8:18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 And Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Luke 9:57 As they were going on the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at my home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Commentary

This one was a little tricky, chronologically. In Matthew, it looks as though they are getting ready to cross the lake, where Jesus will calm the storm (that will be in the next study), and someone stops Jesus on the way to the boat. In Luke, these interactions appear to take place on the road, after Jesus has not been received in Samaria, and He is headed to another village with the disciples. I decided to go with the context in Matthew because Jesus gave orders to go to the other side of the sea in verse 18, and then verse 23 describes Him getting into the boat.

The first person who approaches Him is a scribe. “The reference to a certain scribe is unusual since scribes were usually spoken in the plural. [The words “I will follow you”] indicated that he was willing to follow Christ both spiritually and publicly” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1192). Jesus’s response about being homeless must have been a significant hang-up for the scribe, and I wonder if it was a well-known obstacle for scribes in general. Jesus didn’t even seem to ask if it was something the man was willing to accept as part of discipleship, but He summarized the situation bluntly, with the apparent assumption that it would not be possible for the scribe to overcome this issue. Of course, Jesus understood the hearts of everyone with whom he came in contact, and He always got right to the individual’s stumbling block (as He did with the rich young ruler, who would have to sell everything he had in order to get into the kingdom – wealth was that man’s personal obstacle). “Jesus was born poor and lived poor. His comment in Matt. 8:20 even suggests that He was homeless. He never celebrated poverty, but He did ask His followers to forsake the common belief that real security comes from having wealth (Matt. 6:19-34)… Christ is not asking us to do anything that He did not do Himself. He wants us to learn to hold what we have very lightly” (The Word in Life Study Bible pg. 1641).

Within the context of His dismissal of the scribe’s request, Jesus refers Himself the Son of Man, which He often does throughout the gospel accounts. This is a reference to Daniel 7:13, with messianic significance. “It must be understood that our Lord deliberately used this title of Himself in order to emphasize that He was, in fact, the Messiah” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1192). Daniel 7:13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.

Jesus then proposed that another disciple follow Him, and that disciple had a different objection. The other disciple’s request to bury his father likely did not mean the man’s father was terminally ill, but that the man wanted to stay at his home until his father was gone, at whatever point in the future that might happen. “Jesus’ strong reply, let the dead bury their dead, was not intended to be harsh, but rather to emphasize that the time to be about the heavenly Father’s business was now” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1192). The phrase probably implies that those who are spiritually dead (ones who would not be inclined to follow Jesus) should stay back and bury the physically dead, and the urgency of Christ’s ministry, for those who believe in Him, supersedes even attendance to one’s own father’s funeral (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1278).

Even though it may not have been intended as harsh, it is such a strong admonition that it gives me pause. How much am I really sacrificing to follow Jesus? Does everyone need to sacrifice as much as Jesus called these men to do? Obviously, we recently studied that a group of women supported Jesus through their means, so there were also people who had wealth and used it to facilitate Jesus’s ministry. What are we called to do today?

Find the next post here https://onthepath.online/2022/05/02/calming-the-storm/

Scripture References

Matthew 8:19

Luke 9:57 As they were walking along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

1 Corinthians 16:6 Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.

Matthew 8:20

Psalm 104:12 The birds of the air nest beside the springs; they sing among the branches.

Daniel 7:13 In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.

Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.

Matthew 12:40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 13:37 He replied, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

Mark 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Luke 9:58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

Luke 12:8 I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.

Luke 18:8 I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

Luke 21:36 So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

John 1:51 Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven–the Son of Man.

John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

John 6:27 Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

John 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.

John 6:62 Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?

John 12:34 The crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

John 13:31 When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.

Acts 7:56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Matthew 8:21

1 Kings 19:20 So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”

Matthew 8:22

1 Kings 19:20 So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.

Mark 2:14 As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.

Luke 15:24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.”

John 21:19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.”

John 21:22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

Luke 9:57

Luke 9:51 As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

Luke 9:56 and they went on to another village.

Luke 9:58

Matthew 13:32 Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Luke 9:60

Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Luke 15:24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

Luke 9:61

1 Kings 19:20 So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”

2 Corinthians 2:13 I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

Luke 9:62

1 Kings 19:20 So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”

Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

Commentary

Matt 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.