Matthew 8:18 - 9:8

Jesus offers two sound-bite size teachings, and then connects them to real life action. 

In the first morsel, a scribe (someone who knows the bible) addresses Jesus as a rabbi. To be addressed as a rabbi is a sign of great respect. He respects Jesus so much that he tells Jesus he will follow him wherever he goes. Jesus says make sure you count the cost, you will experience hardship, insecurity, even homelessness. To follow him, to be his disciple requires sterner stuff: blood, sweat, and tears.

Why would anyone endure such hardship? Because the mission Jesus is on is the most important mission there ever was or is or will be.

And it is URGENT.

Which is the point of the second snippet. Let the dead bury the dead. In other words, we have no time to waste.

It is more than urgent, it is DANGEROUS.

Note the next few scenes. The disciples set out with Jesus. 

They first encounter a storm. They naturally become worried, even panic. Jesus’ presence, in their minds, seems far off. Jesus seems lost in dreamland. Yet Jesus is there and soon making his presence known. How similar to our own lives this scene is to when we find ourselves in storms.

They must have breathed a sigh of relief when they made landfall. Their relief soon evaporated as they came face to face with two demon-processed men. The storm moves from a physical one, to a spiritual one. 

They witness Jesus dealing with both, get in their boat and apparently have a peaceful voyage back home, and…

They encounter a different storm. They might have been hoping for a time of rest. Instead they find themselves in the storm of religious prejudice. Again, Jesus deals with it.

My point in linking together Jesus’ sharp points about the urgency and danger of what it takes to follow Jesus, with the events that immediately follow is because those events show:

·      The total and complete Lordship of Jesus over all parts of the universe, and

·      These sample situations that anyone who chooses to follow him should expect.

We should not be afraid to follow, for he is with us always. Perhaps, in moment of anxiousness, you might think him sleeping, but he is not.

We should not be surprised of the challenges. We read of them in the Scripture.

When you think about Jesus, and following him – what is your sense of urgency – what is your reality?