Setting: Contemporary Worship
Length: 34:42
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Title: Quick and Slows Responses to Discipleship, part 2 of 2
Commentary: the photo in the icon is the traditional site of the burial place of Lazarus
Main Scripture: Matthew 8:18-22
Main Topics: Discipleship, commitment, slow response, priorities
As you listen, select, copy, and paste the following outline:
-and in the book of Matthew, we are in a section on the miracles of Jesus and the various responses of the people to those miracles and to Jesus Himself
-this section is Matthew 8:1 – 9:38
-a section that has 10 miracles listed…..
-here, we find that the miracles are divided into sections
-section of 3…3…4
-and in between the sections are the various response of the
people to Jesus
-we finished the first set of 3 miracles: leper, centurion, Peter’s mother
in law
-we are on a set of responses now….
-remember last week, I said that these responses are about discipleship
-about following Jesus
-“follow” is a key word in this section
-here in this situation, Jesus is about to cross the lake
-now whenever he separates himself like that…he takes his inner circle
of disciples with him
-the ones who have made a serious commitment to be his disciple
-and the rest of the crowd…those that follow him but only from a distance are left behind
Suddenly out of that crowd come 2 people who have followed Jesus from a distance but are now ready to reveal themselves…ready to respond to Jesus
* a teacher of the law or scribe
* and someone else…referred to as…. “another disciple”
* 2 people, 2 different responses…
…Let’s use 2 words to describe their responses….quick & slow
-now, there are many kinds of responses to Jesus, these 2 men represent
polar opposites….one is quick, the other is slow
-hence the title of today’s sermon….not catchy but to the point:
Quick and Slow Responses to Discipleship
Today is part 2: The Slow Response to Discipleship
[review of part 1]
But, before we do that, let’s review just the main point of part 1: the quick response
-because the 2 responses are a mini-set
-they are best understood together….
-and you will encounter a common theme that will hold both of
them together
-part 1 is….the quick response…the teacher of the law…or scribe…or lawyer
-this person has 3 names in the Bible
-he comes to Jesus and says, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
-we saw how huge this statement was since a scribe is usually an
enemy of Jesus
-but he is now ready to follow Jesus
-we can call him a disciple is a general sense
-after all, in v.21, the second person is called “Another
disciple”
-now, if the second person is “another disciple” then the scribe is
the other disciple, right
-So, the scribe is a disciple….but Jesus sees him as a casual follower
-because, Jesus is able to look into our hearts
-he is able to look beyond our words and see what is behind the words
-and so, looking beyond the words of the teacher of the law and into his heart, Jesus replies…
20 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
-that foxes and birds have homes
-but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head
-in other words, his life is very hard
* that it will not be easy to follow Jesus
-the scribes wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus speaks of how hard his life
is
-what is going on here?
-why does not Jesus just let the scribe come along?
-could it be that the scribe does not know how hard following Jesus is?
* could it be that this scribe is responding too quickly ?
-without counting the cost
-Jesus is able to READ HEARTS and what he sees inside is a heart that does not really understand how hard it is follow Jesus
-to talk about foxes and birds and how Jesus himself has it hard is to say: listen, you speak too quickly…..count the cost first….
-and so, we concluded part 1 with this:
Jesus does not want a quick response, He wants a lasting
commitment.
[part 2 begins….]
* now….after speaking to the scribe, Jesus is about to go the other side….but he is stopped again by another eager follower…..
21 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my
father."
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
-Matthew does not give us his name
-and when Matthew does this, it’s because knowing his name is not important
-not that this person’s life is not important but that his life is to be a symbol or representation of a spiritual point
-and so, in this sense, knowing his name is not important
-here is a person that represents many who come up to Jesus and
express a desire to follow Him
-He wants to follow, but he has something to do first
-He says: "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
-what do you think?
-I don’t know about you, but that response from Jesus deeply troubled me at first
-because I would think that burying a family member….your own father would be an obligation that God would honor and validate
* we would feel more comfortable if Jesus said: “you’re a good man, take care of your family and meet me on the other side of the lake after you take care of the funeral.”
-then, this would become a feel good story of another person who
follows Jesus
-but to our surprise, Jesus seems to completely invalidate it
-it’s like Jesus is saying: that’s not important, just follow me
-this confused me at first….
-cause I believe….(and I think you believe also…)
-that burying a family member is truly honorable
-that it is a good Christian to do
-in fact, today’s Christian burials are quite worshipful events
-we pray, we sing, we hear God's word, we comfort each
other, we think of heaven
-there is great hope in the midst of sorrow
-it is a time when faith in God is strengthened
-I truly believe that God is worshipped at a Christian
funeral
-I attended a funeral this past week, and it was a blessed event
-is Jesus saying that funerals are not important?
-hold on to that thought….and let’s bring in the Old Testament
-there we find that burying family is considered very important
-hey, the Bible takes time to mention it in detail
-in the story of Abraham & Sarah
-when Sarah died, Abraham took time to mourn for her (Gen.23)
-in fact, almost all of chapter 23 are negotiations between
Abraham and the Hittites about the best land and tomb for Sarah
-going back and forth in negotiations
-clearly, burying a loved one was noble and honorable
-when Abraham died, his son Isaac took his body back to the same cave when his mother Sarah laid
-again, not just dumping the body anywhere but treating the
burial with meaning and respect
-remember Jacob
-he thought his son Joseph was torn up by wild animals….
-he finds out that his son, Joseph is still alive and living large in
Egypt
-the whole family goes down south to Egypt and soon Jacob is about to die and he makes Joseph swear an oath (Gen.50:5) to bury him properly
-I guess burials are big deal
-Jacob did not want to be buried on foreign soil…he wants
to be buried in Canaan
-and so, Joseph takes the burial request seriously and
swears and oath to fulfill it
-later in Genesis 50:24-26
-Joseph himself is ready to die
-he expresses to his brothers his desire to be buried in his home
land of Canaan
-and so, like his father, he made his brothers swear an oath to
take his bones up to the promised land
-Joseph and his father Jacob took burials seriously
-and on and on and on
-graves were marked by pillars of stone that lasted for generations
-we do that too…..we put up tombstones….pillars of stone
-it’s all part of the respect and honor involved
-and on and on
-coming into the New Testament….burials were very important
* it would be considered a curse from God if you did not get a burial !
-and a good son, would go all out in burying his family
-he may even hire professional mourners
-people who are paid to cry at funerals
-truly this was a special event…in which burying your parent was seen as the final act of devotion and respect to the deceased
-and if you think about it
-the basic attitude still holds true today everywhere
-So, is Jesus against all that tradition surrounding burials?
-No, I don’t believe Jesus is….
-there is no evidence that Jesus openly took a stand against burials
-He did not criticize Mary & Martha for burying Lazarus
-Jesus’ own burial was taken very seriously
-from preparing the body with linen wraps and spices
-to laying his body in a very nice tomb
-there were many people involved in Jesus’ burial including
Nicodemus
* now, if Jesus taught that burials were wrong, then his disciples would
have stopped all the fuss about Jesus’ own burial…don’t you think?
-they would say….to those who are preparing Jesus’ body for
burial
-hey…hey….remember what the Master taught us….. burials are
not important….
-but, we don’t find such a reaction from the disciples to Jesus’
own burial
-Now, if Jesus is not against sacred burial traditions, then how do we understand Jesus’ response to this disciple?
-let’s do this….
-let’s go back and take a second look at what the disciple says
-if we re-examine his words, we may learn something
-hey, we used the same strategy with the scribe
-and upon re-examining his words….we saw that there was
something behind his words
-the words were OK….but Jesus saw what was behind the
words
-here also, there is something going on…..behind the words
-let me explain…
-the phrase: “…first let me go and bury my father…”
-on the surface, appears noble and honorable
-we could say that same thing for the words of the scribe: his
words are noble and honorable
-but behind them, there’s a lot going on….and Jesus is able to see that
because He is God and He is able to read hearts
* just because people respond positively to Jesus does not mean
Jesus responds positively to the people
-remember in part 1:
John 2:23-24
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.
24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.
-something is not right here with this second disciple
-Jesus is responding negatively…..and so we have to find out why
-and here we go….examining this statement by the disciple, we find
that it is not a literal statement
-it does not mean that the father is dead
-in fact, most scholars believe the father is still alive
-how is that possible that the dad is still alive?
-well, the phrase: “…first let me go and bury my father…”
-it was a figure of speech back then
-it was a common expression for…taking care of your family
-it means, you are there for the family business and take care of
everything including burying your father
-and once you have done everything, you will collect your inheritance
-if you did not fulfill your family obligation, then your inheritance
might be cut
-and so, the average Israelite would keep this commitment and receive
their cut of family fortune
-now that could take a long time
-it could take up to 40-50 years if the father is young and healthy
-I mean if a dad had youthful energy …that dad could live forever !
-and so, the phrase “I must bury my father”
-did not mean that he must literally bury his deceased father
-it often meant: “I have things to take care….take care of business and get my inheritance”
-in fact, this expression is still used today:
-there is the true story of a missionary today….
-he invites a man from the middle east to go with him on a trip to
Europe
-but the man replied that he must first bury his father
-to which the missionary offer his sympathy and surprise: “I did
not know your father passed away”
-the man said: no – no …my father is still alive and healthy….it’s just an expression: “to bury my father” means I have to stay and take care of business until my father dies and then I can receive my inheritance
-most scholars believe this is what the disciple in Matthew 8:21 is
saying
-the father is not dead
-the disciple just has other things he needs to do even though he
still wants to follow Jesus
Check out Jesus’ response….
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
-Jesus is saying, “if you want to follow me, then follow me”
-don’t make excuses
-don’t delay the commitment
-don’t talk about other things you want to do…
-the expression: let the dead bury their own dead."
-is a play on words
-it does not make sense literally
-how can dead people bury dead people?
-it must be a figure of speech……and it is….
-hey, the disciple uses a figure of speech, now Jesus plays off of the disciple’s word and uses a figure of speech of his own
* let’s divide this phrase in half….
let the dead…
-the “dead” are the spiritually dead
-the “dead” is a common description in Scripture for someone
who does not know Jesus
-Ephesians 2 talks about being dead in sin
-that your heart in not alive to Christ
-so, the expression is for people who live a life outside of Christ
* the unbeliever….
-the one who is NOT a disciple
-so, Jesus is saying…..
-let the unbelievers
…bury their own dead."
-again, this means what?
-taking care of business and collecting your inheritance and being
financially secure
Now, let’s put it all together: let the dead bury their own dead."
-means, let the unbelievers take care of worldly things and collect their
inheritance
-if you want to follow me, then follow me…..
-don’t let the pursuits of unbelievers drag you down
-now, is there anything wrong with getting a inheritance? No
-is there anything wrong with taking care of your responsibility and making a good living? No
-is there anything wrong with taking care of your family? No
-you have to….if you don’t, 1 Tim 5:8 says that you are worst than an
unbeliever…you have to take care of your family
-there is nothing wrong with any of these things
-the problem is that this second person was MORE concerned about the things of this world that following Jesus
-there is nothing wrong with the things of this world
-God knows that you need material things and He does provide
-and He does call you to be faithful in doing your responsibilities
-but God has design it so that we must seek Him and His kingdom first
then everything else will be added
-in his heart, the disciple really did want to follow Jesus, I’m sure
-he addresses Jesus as “Lord” in v.21
-no big deal
-but Jesus already taught us in the sermon on the mount:
Matthew 7:21
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
-hey, the SCRIBE called Jesus “teacher” in 8:19
-no big deal
-the rich young ruler called Jesus “teacher” when he said
“teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life”
-but even after calling him “teacher”, he walks away
* you can call Him anything honorable title you want, but ultimately what matters is true discipleship
-this disciple: deep down in his heart of hearts, his priorities are
somewhere else
-we are the same way
-we pray about following Jesus
-we think about it
-we share with our friends and family about it
-we feel guilty about not committing to Jesus…..
* but for many, in our heart of hearts….our priorities are simply somewhere else
* and that somewhere else is where our time and energy goes
* and in that sense, we are slow to respond to Jesus
-years and years will pass by, but our response to Jesus is still
slow
* this disciple represents many would be followers
-he represents the SLOW response to discipleship
Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
-in other words, check yourself
-if you want to follow me…follow me….
* And just like the story of the scribe, we don’t know what this disciple did
-the end result is not given to us
-what did the scribe do?
-what did this disciple do?
-as explained in part 1, it’s as if the conclusions to the stories about the
scribe and the other disciples are not important
-that what is important is the spiritual lesson behind the story
* in that sense, we really need to take to heart the lesson that is taught and not treat this is a story of the scribe or the other disciple
* What we learn here is about priorities
-true discipleship involves our true priorities
Matthew 13:44-46
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
* may you value the things of God as valuable as a hidden treasure and of great value as a fine pearl
Click for part 1
Part 2 end by mentioning the parable of the hidden treasure and pearl. Click:
For the complete collection of recorded audios on Matthew, click:
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