How Much Does it Costs? (Matthew 8:18-22)

 

How Much Does it Costs?

Decisions, decisions! Sometimes are hard but not if it is something worthwhile.  For example, Grace is free, but it is not cheap because the sacrifice Jesus made, makes it worthwhile.

In Matthew 8:18-22, Jesus sets the bar high but not unreachable if we do it his way. 

Religion is easy; it is just a habit.  Living the life Jesus lived is a matter of the heart.  Even repeating words to improve your life and make yourself a better person is easy but identifying and putting yourself in the shoes of your Teacher becomes much more difficult unless you follow him with all your heart. Block by block and precept upon precept following Christ is a relationship.

In verse 19, the scribe or teacher of the Law came and told Jesus,

“I will follow you wherever you go.”  In his own language this religious leader probably didn’t even look beyond the wall of his synagogue like most religious people do today in the church.  But following Jesus meant a loss of a comfortable life.  That is what Jesus meant by “the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Secondly, in verse 21-22, a man described as a disciple came and wanted to first burry his father.  Jesus’s answer must have been chocking, coming from someone who genuinely cared for others.  His answer was “Follow me and leave the dead to burry his own dead.  Something that would be hard to hear for someone who just lost a loved one.  Misunderstanding this reply will set the true followers of Jesus apart from the religious ones.  Life with Jesus is not a pie in the sky type of life.  It is a life of priorities and faith and sometimes what God requires might be unreasonable but behind all the high cost of following Jesus is a crown of great value shared with our Lord Jesus Christ as we obey him and do his will.  That will be different for each of us, but it must include the call of proclaiming the Word to the world at large and to believers.