MATTHEW 8:18-22
CONTEXT of JESUS
• had just preached the sermon
on the Mountain (5-7)
• came down from the mountain
-great multitude following (8:1)
• healed a leper (8:2-4)
CONTEXT of JESUS
• entered Capernaum and healed
centurion’s son (8:5-13)
• healed Peter’s mother-in-law
(8:14, 15)
• healed many demon-possessed
(8:16, 17)
• now wants to go to the other
side of the sea (8:18)
TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE
DESCRIBED:
• BOTH DESIRED TO HAVE
FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST
• BOTH HAD A CERTAIN DEFICIENCY:
–FIRST. . . . . QUICK AND HASTY SCRIBE
–SECOND. . .DULL AND HEAVY DISCIPLE
FIRST PERSON
• A SCRIBE
–A LEARNED MAN, SKILLED IN THE LAW
• A VERBAL RESOLVE
–“TEACHER, I WILL FOLLOW YOU
WHEREVER YOU GO” (v. 19)
•EXPRESSED REVERENCE: TEACHER
•EXPRESSED A READY RESOLVE: I WILL FOLLOW
•EXPRESSED RELIABILITY: WHEREVER YOU GO
“Not everyone who says to Me,
„Lord, Lord,‟ shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will
of My Father in heaven.”
MATTHEW 7:21
Lu 22:33 But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You,
both to prison and to death."
Lu 22:34 Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not
crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."
Joh 13:36 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"
Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me
now, but you shall follow Me afterward."
Joh 13:37 Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You
now? I will lay down my life for Your sake."
Joh 13:38 Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for
My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow
till you have denied Me three times.
RECALL
“Therefore whatever they tell you
to observe, that observe and do,
but do not do according to their
works; for they say, and do not
do.”
MATTHEW 23:3
TESTING A HASTY RESOLVE
• JESUS COULD ANSWER SOMEONE
ACCORDING TO THEIR HEART:
–Lu 5:22 But when Jesus perceived
their thoughts, He answered and said
to them, "Why are you reasoning in
your hearts?
TESTING A HASTY RESOLVE
• THE LORD‟S ANSWER TO THE
SCRIBE:
–“Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay His head.”
–scribe may have thought that Jesus
was going to set up an earthly
kingdom and wanted a share in it (cf.
Jn. 6:15)
FOXES, BIRDS & THE SON
• FOXES HAVE HOLES
–AN INFERIOR CREATURE
–MAN OFTEN SEEKS TO DESTROY
–GOD PROVIDES SHELTER FOR THEM
IN HOLES
FOXES, BIRDS & THE SON
• BIRDS HAVE NESTS
–GIVEN ALL KINDS OF REAL-ESTATE
TO MAKE NESTS
• IN CONTRAST . . . THE SON
–HAS NOWHERE TO LAY HEAD
•NOWHERE TO RETREAT IN COMFORT
•DESERVED LUXURY HOTEL OR
MANSION AS KING OF KINGS
•DEPENDED UPON THE HOSPITALITY
OF OTHERS (Lk. 8:1-3)
THE LORD’S EXAMPLE:
• IS NOT ONE THAT CALLS PEOPLE
TO QUIT JOBS, BECOME HOMELESS
AND SEEK TO LIVE OFF OF
ANOTHER
–2Th 3:10 For even when we were with
you, we commanded you this: If
anyone will not work, neither shall he
eat.
–2Th 3:12 Now those who are such we
command and exhort through our
Lord Jesus Christ that they work in
quietness and eat their own bread.
HAVING
NO PLACE
TO LAY HEAD
• WAS A CIRCUMSTANCE OF HIS
MINISTRY FILLED WITH
–TRAVEL
–PREACHING
–WORKING MIRACLES (Mt. 9:35; 11:5)
• WAS NOT THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF
BEING LAZY
Paul’s Commentary
2 Corinthians 8:9:
For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He
was rich, yet for your sakes He
became poor, that you through
His poverty might become rich.
To Those “Hasty” Scribes Today
• DO NOT MAKE A RESOLVE BASED
ON A FLEETING MOMENT‟S
CONVICTION
–“they that take up a profession in a
pang, will throw it off again in a fret”
(Matthew Henry)
• TAKE TIME TO “COUNT THE COST”
(LK. 14:28-33)
–FOLLOW LORD NOT ONLY WHEN
“POPULAR” BUT IN “PERSECUTION”
THE 2ND PERSONALITY
• A DULL AND HEAVY DISCIPLE
–Matt. 8:21 Then another of His
disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me
first go and bury my father."
A DISCIPLE
HAD FAMILY CONCERNS PRIORITIZED
HIGHER THAN FOLLOWING CHRIST
THE 2ND PERSONALITY
HIS FATHER: SICK, DYING, AGED, DEAD?
HIS REQUEST SOUNDS REASONABLE.
HIS REQUEST WAS DENIED. . .WRONG!
THE SLOW TO COMMIT LOOK FOR
PLAUSIBLE REASONS TO NEGLECT THEIR
DUTY TO CHRIST!
THE LORD‟S ANSWER:
Matt. 8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow
Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
Luke 9:59 Luke 9:60 Jesus said to him, "Let
Then He said to another, the dead bury their own dead, but
"Follow Me." But he said, you go and preach the kingdom of
"Lord, let me first go and God."
bury my father."
THE LORD‟S ANSWER:
Matt. 8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow
Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
JOB OF PREACHER?
•MARRY & BURY?
•PREACH KINGDOM?
POINT:
PIETY TO GOD BEFORE
PIETY TO PARENTS
NOTE 10 COMMANDMENTS
1. HAVE NO OTHER OF GOD
GODS
2. MAKE NO CARVED OF GOD
IMAGE
3. DO NOT TAKE NAME OF GOD
OF LORD IN VAIN
4. REMEMBER SABBATH OF GOD
NOTE 10 COMMANDMENTS
5. HONOR FATHER & FAMILY
MOTHER
6. DO NOT MURDER NEIGHBOR
7. DO NOT COMMIT FAMILY
ADULTERY
8. DO NOT STEAL NEIGHBOR
9. DO NOT BEAR FALSE NEIGHBOR
WITNESS
10. DO NOT COVET NEIGHBOR
THE NAZARITE
6 ‘All the days that he separates himself to
the LORD he shall not go near a dead
body.
7 ‘He shall not make himself unclean even
for his father or his mother, for his brother
or his sister, when they die, because his
separation to God is on his head.
8 ‘All the days of his separation he shall be
holy to the LORD.
NUMBERS 6:6-8
THE HIGH PRIEST
11 „nor shall he go near any dead
body, nor defile himself for his
father or his mother;
12 „nor shall he go out of the
sanctuary, nor profane the
sanctuary of his God; for the
consecration of the anointing oil
of his God is upon him: I am the
LORD.
LEVITICUS 21
THE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But
he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my
father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their
own dead, but you go and preach the
kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I w ill follow
You, but let me first go and bid them
farewell w ho are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put
his hand to the plow , and looking back, is fit
for the kingdom of God.”
LUKE 9
LUKE 14:26
"If anyone comes to Me and does not
hate his father and mother, wife
and children, brothers and sisters,
yes, and his own life also, he cannot
be My disciple.
• NOT “HATE” TO “DISOBEY” (cf. Eph. 6:1-3)
• MEANING = TO LOVE LESS
MATTHEW 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to
you.”
UNTIL DEATH
• “And you will be hated by all for
My name‟s sake. But he who
endures to the end will be saved”
(Matt. 10:22)
• “Do not fear any of those things
which you are about to suffer.
Indeed, the devil is about to throw
some of you into prison, that you
may be tested, and you will have
tribulation ten days. Be faithful
until death, and I will give you the
UNTIL DEATH
• Re 2:13 “I know your works, and
where you dwell, where Satan‟s
throne is. And you hold fast to My
name, and did not deny My faith
even in the days in which Antipas
was My faithful martyr, who was
killed among you, where Satan
dwells.”
“BEHEADED”
(20:4)
UNTIL DEATH
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar
the souls of those w ho had been slain for the w ord of
God and for the testimony w hich they held.
10 And they cried w ith a loud voice, saying, "How long,
O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our
blood on those w ho dw ell on the earth?"
11 Then a w hite robe w as given to each of them; and it
was said to them that they should rest a little w hile
longer, until both the number of their fellow servants
and their brethren, w ho w ould be killed as they w ere,
was completed.
(REVELATION 6)
UNTIL DEATH
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the
bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is
called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead
bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put
into graves.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and
send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who
dwell on the earth.
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw
them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here."
And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.
In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were
afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
(REVELATION 11)
UNTIL DEATH
REV. 12:17 And the dragon was enraged
with the woman, and he went to make
war with the rest of her offspring, who
keep the commandments of God and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
REV. 13:15 He was granted power to give
breath to the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak and
cause as many as would not worship the
image of the beast to be killed.