Expensive proposition

This morning in Bible Study, we talked about Matthew 8:18-22. In this passage, a scribe says to Jesus: "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus responds, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To which "another of the disciples" replies: "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus rejoins, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

This is a sobering passage about the commitment that Jesus requires of His followers. Jesus is looking for single-minded and sacrificial commitment to Himself. As He told the scribe, following Christ is not an "easy" thing. It's not something to take lightly. Jesus and His disciples would not be staying in the Ritz-Carlton and eating at 5-star restaurants. Even the animals, in one sense, had a "cush-ier" life. They had places of their own to lay their heads.

And, as Jesus told "another of the disciples," following after Him was more important and a greater priority even than one's duty to one's parents. As important as duty to parents is (N.B., Jesus fully embraced the 5th commandment, although not necessarily the interpretation of the 5th commandment that was put forth by the Jewish religious leaders of the day), following after Christ is more important. NOTHING, not parents, not family, not spouse, not career, not children, not money, not an easy life, not vacation homes, not our retirement package, not even being tolerant to other religions (as in the recent case in the Nevada State Senate)...Nothing is to take precedence over following after Christ.

Following Christ will be hard, Jesus Himself says, and it will require sacrifice. Many of us today may want to follow after Jesus, but we want the "cushy" life too. We want to follow Jesus, but we want to stay in the Ritz-Carltons and eat at the 5-star restaurants while doing so. We haven't counted the cost. Or, we want to follow Jesus but we want to follow Him later, after we have taken care of certain other things (all of which may be good things in and of themselves). We want to follow Him later, but for now other things are more important to tend to.

But, no one can follow TWO masters!