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Matthew 8:18-27
Cascades Fellowship CRC
March 30, 2003
4th Sunday of Lent
The title that I chose for this morning’s sermon in many ways obscures the
meaning of the text and theme of this sermon. It wasn’t intentional, I assure you. When I
developed the Lenten series about two months ago, I knew that I wanted this passage to
be part of the series and even had the theme for the sermon in mind, but I struggled with
the title. In the end, I focused on the white elephant in each occasion recorded for us –
the notion of what must have passed through the minds and hearts of the disciples.
It is this focus on what must have been happening in the hearts and minds of those
surrounding Jesus at the time that lies at the core of the tension found in this passage. It
is not obvious at a first, or even a second, reading, but these two scenes are connected by
a single theme. In fact they form the nucleus of a larger passage in the Gospel of
Matthew stretching from 8:1 to 10:42. What is more, these two scenes issue a challenge
that is central to the Gospel of Matthew – the challenge to embrace Jesus Christ as the
To better understand this challenge we will begin by looking at the broader context
for this passage. Then we will narrow our focus and take each scene individually.
The broader context for this passage – as I stated before – is chapters 8-10. Now, I
don’t want to spend a long time here, so I am going to summarize the different scenes and
the common denominator for all of them. In chapter 8:1-17, Jesus heals a leper, raises a
servant of a centurion from the dead and then heals many. His reputation is growing and
people are starting to flock to him – but not to hear his message. They want to be healed
in body, but not spirit. The result is that Jesus decides its time to depart the region. Then,
in v.18, before he and the disciples can climb into the boat, two different people come to
him professing loyalty. In each case he calls them to radical obedience. As far as we
Then beginning in v. 23, we read about the calming of the storm. This is followed
authoritative answer, the raising of a dead girl and the healing of woman with an issue of
blood. In chapter 9:27, Jesus heals the blind and the mute. He then calls for more
harvesters in the fields. Finally, in chapter 10 he gives the twelve disciples authority and
sends them out to heal, to cast out demons, and to preach the Gospel.
Think for a moment about this catalogue of action I have just described – really a
summary of chapters 8-10 – can you see the common denominator? In each case Jesus
demonstrates his authority over some aspect of creation – sickness, the sea, the weather,
demons. If one were to summarize these two chapters of Matthew into a single, simple
sentence it would be that Jesus is Lord of all. Now, keeping this in mind, let’s take a look
The first scene has Jesus being approached by two men – one a teacher of the Law
or a scribe, the second defined simply as a disciple. In both cases, the person comes
forward claiming to be a disciple. In each case Jesus gives them an uncompromising call
to discipleship.
The scribe came to Jesus with a bold claim. “Teacher, I will follow you wherever
you go.” I don’t know about you, but if I were guy trying to build a following, this is the
sort of response I would look for in a disciple. I will follow you wherever you go. What
Jesus’ response to the enthusiastic teacher of the Law exposes the claim of the
scribe for what it is – big words, little action. “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have
nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head.”
What an incredibly odd response. Essentially, Jesus tells the scribe, “But I’m not
going anywhere, in fact I have no place to go.” Or so it seems. But there is a lot more to
Jesus’ response than simply a glib reminder that he doesn’t have a home to go to.
You see, what may not be evident is that Jesus was testing the depth of the scribe’s
commitment. His response is aimed at exposing the expectations of the scribe – what he
believes it means for him to follow Jesus. Remember the context of this passage.
Healings, cleansings, resurrections – the power of God had been manifested through
Jesus Christ in spectacular ways. People are flocking to him because he heals – not
because he preaches the Gospel. And out of this gathering crowd comes the scribe.
miraculous and not the message. He wants the glory of being associated with Jesus – the
great healer. Any man who can do all that, he’s ready to follow. But Jesus wants to know
if the scribe has thought about the cost of following – if the scribe really knows what it
means to be a disciple.
In Jesus’ answer to the scribe what Jesus is really asking him is if the scribe is
willing to give up everything to follow. By claiming nothing for himself, Jesus was
saying that in order to follow him, the scribe must give up everything. Put in shortest
terms, Jesus is asking if the scribe has counted the cost of following him.
The second claim of discipleship comes on the heels of the first. This time we
have someone who is under the threat of losing a loved one. He asks if he an please go
and bury his dead before he comes and follows Jesus. Again, you’d think Jesus was
answering the wrong question by his response. “Follow me, now and let the dead bury
At first blush, this response sounds cold-hearted. One might even challenge
whether there is any grace involved in such a statement. But let me offer you an insight
that James Montgomery Boice shares in his commentary that puts this response in a
Boice says that it was highly unlikely the man’s father had just died and he was
asking permission to first attend the funeral. The Law required that the dead be buried on
the same day that they died. If his father had just died, the man would not have been in
the crowd on that day – he would have been at home. Most likely the man was asking if
he could remain home until his elderly father died before he sets off to follow Jesus. By
answering the way that he did, Jesus proclaims that the time to follow is now –
discipleship is always a current event, a present obligation that supercedes all others.
Two different people. Two ways of phrasing the question. One final, answer.
Jesus tells the inquirers, “You must abandon everything – every commitment, every
desire, every bloodline – must be severed in preference to me. Consider the cost
What kind of man makes that sort of demand on those who would love and follow
him? How can Jesus place such high expectations on those who would follow him?
Surely, even his own disciples were asking themselves how could their master – their
rabbi – say such things. Sure they had left home and hearth to follow him, but they were
part of his inner-circle. These were just everyday seekers. How could he call them to the
same commitment he called the apostles? The answer lies in the second scene of our text.
Our second scene is one that is very familiar to most of us. It is universally one of
the most compelling and intriguing incidences in the Bible. Every movie about Jesus – at
I’m not going to spend a great deal of time here, because it is so familiar to most