Life Project Blog

…comes with a cost.

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Matthew 8:18-22

In the last post, I mentioned what we discovered about Peter, and what it apparently cost him to drop his fishing nets and follow Jesus; in these verses, we see the cost again in two brief examples. The first of these is the teacher of the law who declared his intention to follow Jesus where ever He might go. Jesus’ reaction to this declaration is interesting, don’t you think?

He might have said, “Great friend, we’re delighted to have you along on the journey,” but His reaction was quite different. No, the Son of Man had no home, for He had given all of that up to do His Father’s will; fair warning for the teacher of the law. Right at the moment, I cannot recall that any of the Twelve were this teacher of the law, can you?

The second example is a tough one, for here we have a “disciple” requesting leave to “bury my father” before heading off across the lake. There is nothing in the text  to indicate a bad motive, neither is there anything that would tell us that this disciple (whoever he was) is seeking anything more than to accomplish the sacred duty of a son that the Law required of him. In other words, this was a very reasonable request for him to make. Yet Jesus didn’t say what we might expect, something like, “OK, give my best to your family and meet us at such and such a place day after tomorrow.” Instead, Jesus says, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

This may seem a little harsh, and in a sense, maybe it is, but Jesus is going about the business of His Father, and so are His disciples; there is no “leave of absence” from the calling of God.

His remark about “the dead” burying the dead refers to the recognition that there are many people who are spiritually dead, who are not following God’s call to do His will on earth; they have time on their hands. Notice the strong implication that if we are spiritually alive, we have a calling to serve God. It would seem that there is no such thing as a follower of Christ who does not have a calling, even though some might think otherwise.

So, what is the cost of following Jesus? It is leaving the things of this world behind and really following Him.

When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”

Matthew 8:14-17

In our last post from Matthew, we saw that the Kingdom would extend not only to Jews but to Gentiles as well; here we see that where the Kingdom goes, healing follows.

Jesus is a visitor in Peter’s house in this scene, which gives us an interesting little bit of insight into Peter’s life. I’m sure that you recall that Peter, who was a commercial fisherman, dropped everything to follow Jesus as soon as Jesus called him.  The disciples of Jesus were very young men, and we often pick up on that and almost discount the fact that they left their lives and careers to become His disciples, but here, almost in passing we see that Peter also had a house, a wife… were there children?… and his mother-in-law was in residence there. Peter had family depending on him for support, and yet he dropped everything to follow Jesus.

I’ll just pause a moment to let that sink in…

It seems that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with some kind of fever, but Jesus touched her and she was healed, and then she got up and began to wait on Him.

Maybe I should pause again while that one sinks in…

That evening, people began to come around; they brought many who were demon possessed, and Jesus drove out the demons. They brought the sick, and Jesus healed the sick; yes sir, the Kingdom of Heaven was in town. As is Matthew’s way, he ties this in with the prophetic past of Israel, citing the prophecy of Isaiah who looked forward to that very day (Isa. 53:4).

When the Kingdom comes along, nothing is ever the same again.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with a parable of two men who built houses. One was wise and built his house on a solid foundation of rock, while the other was foolish and built upon the sand; we all know what happened when the storms came…

Of course Jesus wasn’t teaching an engineering class; He has a greater purpose, to be sure. His message here is really the summation and conclusion of His remarks: You’ve heard the teaching, now put it into practice. Putting His message into practice is the meaning of building the house on a solid foundation; not doing so is the meaning of building in the sand.

In the previous post, I made much of the idea that having a relationship with our Lord will result in a response on our parts and Jesus is in a sense saying the same thing here: Put my words into practice that is the response that grace demands. Make no mistake, Jesus’ purpose in making this address was not to get His name in the history books as a “great moral teacher”, it was to see lives change.

So, to conclude our look at His teachings in chapters 5-7, we are at the very same place His original hearers were: how will we respond?

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

Right after He comments on false prophets, Jesus has a few things to say about false disciples. Many people say they believe in Jesus without doing the Father’s will; that isn’t going to cut it on the last day. I want to be careful here not to give the impression that I am suggesting that they somehow haven’t earned their salvation, for salvation is not something we earn; it is God’s free gift. However, receiving grace demands a response, and it seems to me that Jesus is telling us that where there is no response other than saying, “yeah sure, I believe in Jesus,” and then going on with business as usual, we have a false disciple. I say this because of the discussion in the last section; look at the fruit. If there is not fruit, then you are no disciple.

There are many groups out there who claim to be Christian, but who are not. There are many religious leaders who take on the form and appearance of following Jesus, but who do not, and they have many followers who do likewise, and are not followers of Jesus at all, in spite of what they may claim. This is what Jesus is warning us about.

Take particular note of verse 23 where He tells how it is that He knows this: “I never knew you”. Do you see the relational aspect of that? To “know” Jesus is to be in relationship with Him; it is quite a different matter than simply “believing in” Him… as the Devil and his demons do.

Here is a trustworthy saying: Relationship with Jesus always brings about a response; where there is no response, there is most likely no relationship.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7:15-20

As Jesus continues His exhortations here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we come to another zinger, false prophets bearing fruit. Jesus makes a very simple case in these verses: trees bear the fruit they are supposed to bear; apple trees bear apples, lemon trees bear lemons. If an apple tree bears lemons, you should be on guard!

False prophets, likewise, do not bear good fruit; instead they bear bad fruit. If they teach hate and discord, their followers will spread hate and discord. If they teach sexual immorality, so will their followers. If you aren’t sure about a prophet or teacher, observe their followers. If their followers are not following “The Way” then get out of there.

Remember what happens when the Kingdom of Heaven was preached by Jesus: The results were stunning… healing, love, wholeness, sight, chasing out evil spirits, and above all Truth.