NO SHALLOW COMMINTMENTS

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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When I was a younger man, I read our passage for today and found it to be harsh. In my youth, I found Jesus’ treatment of the would be disciples included in this encounter to be in direct contrast to the compassion that Jesus showed to the crowds that sought his healing and authority. Now that I have had a little more time as a disciple of our Lord, I can more fully appreciate what Jesus Christ was teaching these men. 

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 

19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

(Matthew 8:18-22 NIV11)

Escape

After the crowds followed Jesus to Peter’s house in Capernaum, these crowds kept Jesus up all night as they sought healing and release from spiritual bondage. In verse 18, Jesus calls for his people to break free from the crowds as they sought to cross the lake and find a less crowded place on the other side. 

Before they can set sail and find a release from the masses that were demanding so much from Jesus, two would be devotees came to Jesus and pledged themselves into his service. Let’s look at both of these situations and see what we can learn from them. 

Candidate #1

The first of these devotees expressed his desire to stay apart of Jesus’ retinue, professing that he would spare no effort to remain a part of Jesus’ company. 

To this man, Jesus replied with a statement that was neither welcoming nor exclusive in nature.  Instead, Jesus made it clear that the mission of the Son of Man (The Prophet Daniel’s term for the Christ) did not include the development of an earthly base of operations. 

While Jesus did indeed have a place to rest, his statement was metaphorical in nature, pointing to the fact that most of the religious leaders surrounding Jesus were living good lives off of the collections taken from the poor. 

Jesus was not about building an earthly edifice. His mission was to be the man of sorrows, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This was a mission that few would understand and one that none could join. 

Candidate #2

In a parallel telling of this same situation found in Luke 9:57, Jesus is seen reaching out to this man and inviting him to come and follow after Jesus. 

In both accounts, the man gave the reply, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

This is a common phrase that does not mean that the man’s father was in fact dead and needing to be buried. This phrase was used to describe the obligations of the firstborn to the family patriarch. With this phrase, the man is simply saying, allow me to go and carry out all of my obligations and when I am released, I will come and join you. 

Luke

There is another element of this teaching that is made clear in the case of the third man that was included in Luke’s telling of this encounter:

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

(Luke 9:59-62 NIV11)

In Luke 9:61-62, we can hear the point being made in this encounter. Those who put their hand to the plow must stay focused on the work in front of them and not turn back and look for the life they left behind. 

•  If we are going to be followers of Jesus Christ, we must be certain of our commitments to him. 
•  We cannot “try out” the life of faith. 
•  We must make our commitment to Christ clear. His commitment to us was complete, our response needs to recognize the gift of grace we have received from Jesus Christ as we make every effort to be all in with Jesus. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Works at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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