Cost of Discipleship
Discipleship • Sermon • Submitted
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18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
From today’s passage, let’s look at 3 truths and apply them to our lives as a disciple of His:
Christ came to bring healing and wholeness.
Christ’s call to discipleship brings rejection.
Christ’s call to discipleship is utmost important.
Christ came to bring healing and wholeness
Christ came to bring healing and wholeness
18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.
1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matt 8:
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.
This healing provides evidence of His power and authority
This healing provides evidence of His power and authority
This healing is able to show the hearts of men
This healing is able to show the hearts of men
This healing serves as a foreshadow
This healing serves as a foreshadow
Friends, Christ’s healing provides ample evidence that He is who He says He is.
If this is true, only He can make people whole and new through His blood AND call believers to a life of discipleship in following Him daily.
Christ’s call to discipleship brings rejection
Christ’s call to discipleship brings rejection
Matt 8:19
19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Scribes:
Scribes:
The scribes were generally very opposed to Christ and His ministry. He spent much time speaking to and of them.
Matt 15:1-
20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Listen to how Matthew describes Jesus’ teaching in compared with the scribes:
2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
,
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
The scribes themselves were considered “teachers.”
1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
This is why it’s interesting that this man would address Jesus as teacher and publically acknowledge Him as such.
Notice what the man says to Jesus:
19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
Matt 8:
Jesus immediately points out that the call to follow comes with a cost.
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
The cost is rejection
The cost is rejection
Notice how He doesn’t even address a few things:
He calls Jesus “teacher.”
This carries an implication of authority.
A teacher is one whom others follow and from whom they learn.
He says he will follow Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t even begin to share with him the meaning of following Him outside of rejection.
Consider the rich young man in .
Matt 19
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Listen to what following looks like from the book of Ruth:
16 But Ruth replied:
Don’t plead with me to abandon you
or to return and not follow you.
For wherever you go, I will go,
and wherever you live, I will live;
your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May the Lord punish me,
and do so severely,
if anything but death separates you and me.
Most often, the cost of rejection is too much for people.
When my friend Tyler came to Christ, he lost almost all of his friends. Before his wife came to Christ, she hated the new man he’d become.
I’m discipling a young man in Cadiz over Zoom video chat right now. He came to Christ and his wife doesn’t like him anymore and asked him to move out.
He led a co-worker to Christ, and because he is now going to church in a primarily different ethnic context, his family is calling him a turn-coat, racist, and traitor.
Foxes have holes and birds have nests. Holes can be dug almost anywhere. Nests can be constructed almost anywhere.
The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head; not because He is poor and can’t afford it, but because of persecution resulting in rejection.
Friends, we aren’t likely to see the type of persecution tomorrow morning that we are seeing in parts of the world, but I want to ask you this:
In a given week, do we even open the door for possible verbal rejection by sharing the Good News of the gospel with someone?
It’s not likely that we would lose our home or job due to our faith in the next year, but are we even willing to open ourselves up to the possibility to be rejected?
Friends, Christ’s call to follow comes with the cost of rejection, do you follow Jesus close enough to allow for this?
Christ’s call to discipleship is utmost important
Christ’s call to discipleship is utmost important
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Matt 8:
What are some of your first reactions to either of these statements; or both?
There are two major opinions regarding the man’s statement:
His father has just died and he wants to go care for his body and be with the family for a time of grieving before he leaves with Jesus.
Documents show us that this is reasonable. People may have died, their is a time of preparation, then the burial.
His father is NOT dead, but the disciple is saying, “I’m the first-born/I have the responsibility to take care of my father, I’ll follow you after he is gone.”
Listen to Jesus’ reply to the man:
“Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
We see similar responses from Jesus in .
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 will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who 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.”
Friends, Christ’s call to Follow Him, to discipleship, is of utmost importance.
There is nothing more important than putting your faith and trust in Him and following Him immediately.
I often hear young men telling me how the Lord’s calling them to preach.
I ask them, “if you aren’t preaching right now, why not?”
I also ask them this, “if the Lord were to call you to Maine, Seattle, or India right now, would you go?”
Friends, the answers are telling!
Let’s switch the argument or questioning to someone who’s NOT called to preach:
If you’ve been born again, you are by default a disciple. Scripture gives no evidence that the two are exclusive.
If you say you are born again, is your relationship with Jesus more important than familial relationships?
Why is it that
Friends, the fields are white unto harvest!
We meet people everyday who claim to be believers but show no signs that they follow Him as a disciple. This is of utmost importance.