THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP (JUNE 28TH – MONDAY (Mt 8: 18-22)

Matthew 8:18-22 ⁸ Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. ¹⁹ A scribe then approached and said, "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 Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." ²² But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

1. The crowd was attracted to Jesus. The crowd had desperate needs, and Jesus was meeting their needs out of a heart of deep compassion.

2. There are several reasons why crowd is attracted to Jesus

· Some like what they see, lives are changed for good, people are helped, and ministry is carried on for the public good.

· Some follow Christ and His Church because of family and friends.

· Some have a faint understanding of God. They want to be approved and accepted by Him.

· Some believe Jesus is the Savior, the promised Messiah, and they want to be identified with Him.

3. Self-Denial – Discipleship: A teacher/scholar was attracted to Jesus

· He was ready to follow Jesus in spite of knowing that Jesus opposed legalistic traditions of the Scribes and other religionists.

· The scholar proclaims that he is willing to go anyplace. This is most unusual, for he worked in a quiet atmosphere where he could copy and teach the law. Being with Jesus means there will be a lot of crowd and noise due to the people who follow him. There is a lot of good will in him.

4. What was the problem in following Jesus?

· We must accept Him as the “Son of Man” in order to follow His pattern of life.

· We must experience personal poverty and go beyond just the willingness to give all.

· We must abandon all.

5. All the excuses we give are inadequate, God know what He is doing when He calls a person. He wants total trust. There is no better time to call a person that when he faces some unusual trial or circumstances.

Following Jesus cannot be done like a part time job. Jesus expects full time commitment. But the understanding of this full time commitment should be understood in the proper light. For priests and religious it is literally full time commitment. It may not be possible for the lay people. Their commitment is shown in their day to day decisions. If every act of an individual is filled with charity, he/she has already become an ardent disciple of Jesus.

Courtesy

The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible