In the middle of the miracles in Matthew 8 there are two men who approach Jesus wanting to be his disciples. Both of them get unexpected answers. Below is the first man.
verse 18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
verse 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
verse 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.”
he gave orders to go over to the other side: They are crossing the Sea of Galilee.
And a scribe came up and said to him: A scribe was a Hebrew scholar and teacher. They were the ones entrusted with copying Scripture accurately. It was all done by hand.
Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go: At first glance this seems to be an impressive statement. It matters, though, that he doesn’t address Jesus as Lord as others do in the chapter. If he sees Jesus as a merely a good teacher he is mistaken.
Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head: Jesus is saying that it’ll be more than just following him wherever He goes. It’ll be a life of discomfort and uncertainty. This is a good lesson for us. Jesus is honest. He doesn’t make being a disciple sound cushy and easy.
Modern Christianity is largely an easy Christianity. Not much is asked of us. This doesn’t fit with Scripture. See Matthew 7:13-14, Luke 9:23, and Matthew 10:37-39.
If your reading the book of Romans
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