Real Discipleship – Matthew 8:18-22

A commitment to lifelong partnership is a critical factor in helping you decide who to marry. In a good article in Psychology Today on the signs of true relationship commitment encourages looking for behaviors that actually relate to something about commitment, behaviors that are actually under the control of the one acting, and behaviors that reflect small sacrifices.

Sacrifice. That is really the ultimate commitment signal. Jesus’ miracles were drawing statements of commitment to him, but he needed to challenge those statements.

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:18-22 ESV)

Matthew follows three examples of Jesus’ miracles with an encounter about discipleship.  The miracles are drawing people but are meant to be pointers to a greater reality than relief from suffering.  A scribe, one who studied and copied the Biblical manuscripts, was drawn to Jesus and said he would follow him but Jesus wanted him to understand what following him meant.  It meant deprivation at times, giving up the comforts of this life to help others find the ultimate comfort of the life to come in the kingdom.  You must count the cost if you are going to be Jesus’ disciple.

Another fellow wanted to follow Jesus after his father had died and he had time to put arrangements together for the funeral and burial.  And though Jesus strongly affirmed honoring parents, this man was putting a condition on becoming a full-time disciple.  He had been following Jesus, had been a “disciple” or learner of Jesus, but had not committed himself entirely to the Lord’s service.  Jesus challenged him with the priority of discipleship.

Where are we when it comes to having counted the cost?  Will we embrace following Jesus as our highest priority?  Because if not we cannot truly be Jesus’ disciples. We cannot be real disciples if we are only attached to Jesus because of the good things he does in our lives, because of what we get out of him. We are only real disciples if we are attached to him because he is the way, the truth and the life, attached to him no matter what the outcome of following him.