Latest / The Daily Word / April 21 – Following Jesus Comes First
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well, good morning. Maybe it's afternoon or evening for you, but it is April 21st, which means we are in Matthew chapter eight. Pastor Jenny here. And I have come across another encouraging passage in our reading today that I'm excited to share with you. Before I share with you the scripture that I was drawn to, I have a question. I want you to think about or consider to help lead you into my thought for today. and it's this. want you to think about what is home to you? What does home look like for you? Or what do you feel like when you're at home? Do you like being at home? I know, ⁓ that I don't know if I'm a homebody, so to speak. I do like to be out and about, but I do also like being at home. I'm a little bit of both maybe. ⁓ I think for many of us the idea of being at home at least for when I hear it referred to for kids kids definitely ⁓ They say can be Loose can be the fullest version of themselves at home. Maybe they're really great for their teacher and at home they can just Get wild and crazy because they can just finally let down all the walls at home. Maybe that's you at home maybe You're on all your P's and Q's out and about during the day and at home you can just let out that big exhale when you get home. your head on the pillow and just, maybe it's quiet or maybe you come home to work out, ⁓ get a good run in, get a good workout, a good sweat in, read a good book, enjoy cooking, whatever that may look like for you. But I don't know about you, but I know for us. We do enjoy having our time at home. We really guard and protect our time as a family at home to be at home. And when things are crazy and chaotic at home, that's hard for us. That can be difficult for us as a family. So with that thought in mind, what does home look like for you? I wanna read today's passage that I came across in Matthew chapter eight, and that's gonna be verses 18 through 22. And it says this. When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. This is a little different from what sometimes we're used to. Sometimes these teachers of religious law are trying to trap Jesus or ⁓ just honestly, there's kind of not being kind to him. But this one actually was interested in following Jesus. He says, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. But Jesus replied, foxes have dens to live in and birds have nest, but the son of man has no place even to lay his head. Another of his disciples said, Lord, first let me return home and bury my father. But Jesus told him, follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead. Wow. This can be a pretty intense passage, think, especially if you just kind of in there and walk away, you can think, wow, Jesus, that seems a bit harsh. Like I just wanted to go bury his dad and you're kind of like, well, no, no time for that. That doesn't seem like a kind hearted Jesus that was just walking around and having compassion and love. Where's the compassion in that? But again, Let's back up and think about the context of the times that they were living in. You have the Jews, especially this teacher of religious law that approached Jesus and said, teacher, I'll follow you wherever you go. He would have definitely been in this category. The Jews were looking for a messiah. They were looking for someone who was going to come and rule this earthly kingdom. And so for some of them, they were ready for this kingly ruler. to take over the here and now. So can you imagine kind of aligning yourself and looking for, my kids have totally been into watching Survivor, and it's all about making those alliances. And you wanna get on the side of the good team first. And so, you gotta be on the end, because if you're not on the end, where are you at? You're on the out. And so, Jesus was able to assess, and he wanted to make sure those who were following him understood. There was going to be a cost of following Him. No one was going to be able to jump in to following Jesus and it was like, hey, you just get to ride the coattails of this thing into this luxurious victory. And He also didn't want them to be under any false assumptions of what they thought it was going to be. Because as we know now, we continue to read the scriptures, this thing did not unfold like many of them thought it was going to. Many of them, obviously, they didn't know. He was gonna not soon after be crucified on a cross. That's not at all what it would look like. But going back to my thought on home and why does any of that matter? I think about Jesus's response that foxes have dens to live in and birds have nest, but the son of man has no place even to lay his head. What a powerful concept for us to understand because, or even attempt to wrap our heads around, to put ourselves inside of. if we look, Jesus was essentially homeless during His earthly ministry. He was, He was traveling from place to place and He didn't have that opportunity that maybe even we find ourselves in, where we have at least most of us, where we are, you know, in American culture. We have an opportunity to go home and to have a shelter, have the comforts, ⁓ food, lodging, heat, air. And at least while there are other things that we struggle with, there is some outside comfort and shelter that we can find. But there was nowhere for Jesus to lay his head. But he knew that. And he needed those who were following him to understand there was going to be a cost involved in following him. But he was willing to pay that price because he was leaning on his daily bread. He was leaning on the Lord daily for all things. And so what does that have to do with us? Does that mean we need to give up our home and ⁓ live a lifestyle of poverty? That's not what the scriptures are instructing us. Now, if the Holy Spirit gives you an instruction, you need to be obedient and respond to what the Lord's calling you to do. But that's not what this strict instruction is here. The point of this is that we need to understand. When it says, Son of Man has no place even to lay His head, and that as it goes on to say another of His disciples, Lord, first let me return home and bury my father. We see here where this disciple had a mentality of, I'll follow you, but wait, let me first do this. Have you ever, if you're a parent, maybe you're a teacher or a coach, you give an instruction and the response is, I'll do that, but first. Or maybe you've even given yourself an instruction. I'm going to go do this project, but first. How many times have you done the but first and never gotten to what's next? Something we teach in our home because we believe it's a scriptural ⁓ foundation is first-time obedience. Following that which is first and not putting other things before it. Keeping first things first. And that is where we see Jesus' response come in. Follow me now, he says. I won't get into the rest of that statement. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead. But essentially, that's the principle. Follow me now. He's saying, you have to put me first. You're saying you're going to follow me. Don't delay. Don't put it off. Why are you putting it off? That's the instruction. So my encouragement, my takeaway from this passage and this reading today is just a reminder that Jesus is so good prior to when we do our reading today, Jesus has been, He healed a man with leprosy. He healed the Roman officer's servant. He heals many people. It says that he healed ⁓ that many came who were demon possessed, who had sickness and disease, and he healed all of them. He took all of their sicknesses. He removed all of their diseases. So in all of that, I am so grateful for ⁓ Jesus who heals us, who takes away our sickness, who is with us. as simultaneously, I understand that there is a cost to following him. And that cost is when I choose to lay down my life, that is what is great gain. Choosing to put aside what I think is earthly comfort and choosing to seek Him and find my rest in Jesus and not in thinking that if I want to look to what I think is important, what I think should go first, but choosing to continually submit to Lord, what's the next step you have for me? Where are you leading? what we want to find trust in. So let me pray for you today as the Lord leads you and continues to reveal His word to you. God, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Jesus, that you came and you set the example for us that, Lord, you ⁓ walked in step-by-step obedience and, you paid the ultimate cost ⁓ so that we could have life and life more abundantly. So Lord, as we look to follow you, and while there is a cost of us laying down our lives in sacrificial obedience, we thank you that your burden is light, that it's not heavy. But Lord, as we are anchored to you, as we're anchored to the truth of your word, we thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are faithful to lead and guide us into all of that truth. So Lord, as we trust in you today, as we look to you today, we thank you that you are faithful to be with us. In Jesus' name, amen.