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Nothing Sacred, Scared of Everything

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

Lord and Messiah.

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.

Finally, we will consider the challenge placed before us.

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

know, in each case, they fail to respond positively.

Then beginning in v. 23, we read about the calming of the storm. This is followed

by a casting out of demons, the healing of a paralytic, the calling of a disciple, an

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

at the two scenes found in our passage this morning.

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

more could you possibly ask of a person? Apparently, plenty.

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.

What is to be assumed by Jesus’ reaction is that the scribe responds to the

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

their own dead.”

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

whole new light.

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

carefully before you follow – it will cost you everything.”

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

least it seems this way – has this scene.

I’m not going to spend a great deal of time here, because it is so familiar to most

of us. But let me point out a few things.

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