| Matthew 8 | ||||||
People were drawn to Jesus' works of healing. The more He healed, the larger the crowds that gathered around Him. One day a couple of followers proclaimed their interest in being a regular follower of His, going where He went. Jesus made it clear that following Him was not a casual decision to be made. If they were to go wherever He went they needed to count the cost.
Jesus told the first of these two, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head." Who knows what this man thought were the benefits of following Jesus? But Jesus disavowed him right away of any great expectations. There would be no outward benefits or prestige to following Him. A second man also expressed interest in following Jesus but said that he had an obligation to fulfill before he could do so. The obligation was to bury his father. There is much discussion about whether the man's father was already dead or the man was saying he was obligated to his father until he was dead and buried. While this may be an interesting discussion it is insignificant to Jesus' point. The point being, followers of Jesus place Him first above all else.
We easily give this man a pass for we are often slack in our own priorities regarding Christ, thinking there are reasonable excuses for placing other obligations before Christ. But Jesus taught, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Losing our lives to Christ is the expectation of a follower of Christ. The life He offers is found in placing Him first above all else. This doesn't mean nothing else, including this man burying his father, is of any importance. They have their place, but we cannot give them their proper place until we have made Christ first.
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