The last words of Matthew’s Gospel contain Jesus’ command to his church.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28.19-20).
To effectively make disciples, we must first understand what a disciple is. In a sense, the entire gospel can be seen as a guide to discipleship, teaching us through Jesus’ words and actions.
In this section, we learn what the appropriate response to discipleship is.
Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, “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” (Matthew 8.18-20).
It appears that this scribe was not yet a disciple, but believed that he would like to become one. It may have been that he wanted to listen and learn from someone to improve his abilities as a scribe.
Jesus used two images to convey the difficulty of following Him and the extent of self-centeredness that must be surrendered.
I have learned to read the Bible and ask myself: “How am I like the bad guys?” As I reflect on the predicament of this scribe, I can relate to him.
I like learning and enjoy meeting with the Lord. However, I don’t like giving up my self-centeredness and all that goes with it. This is a challenging passage for me.
Son of Man
Jesus told the scribe, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (verse 20).
The term “Son of Man” used by Jesus has its roots in Daniel Chapter 7.
I saw one like a son of man
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.
To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed. (Daniel 7.13-14).
It’s interesting to compare Jesus’ self-identification as the Son of Man to the scribe with the majestic figure described in Daniel. In essence, Jesus is both the humble servant of God prophesied by Isaiah and the powerful Son of Man who will establish God’s kingdom on earth.
It’s helpful to remember this picture when we look at the world’s infatuation with power and wealth. Jesus, the most life-changing person who ever walked on this earth, lived a life of humble service rather than drawing on power to overcome opposition.
Jesus sets an example for us by living a life of obedient and humble service to both God and others. He calls us to follow in his footsteps.
Another Picture
The next episode of discipleship seems extreme. Someone who wants to bury his father is told to let the dead bury the dead.
Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8.21-22).
We need to dig into this a little more for deeper understanding.
First of all, if his father had died, he wouldn’t have been out there with Jesus. What he was asking was for permission to stay with his family until his father died.
Jesus’ response might have been something like, “That business (referring to his father’s eventual death) will take care of itself.”
We learn from both encounters with Jesus that discipleship means not only an initial decision to follow Him but also the constantly renewed decisions that attachment to Jesus involves.
It involves self-denial, service, suffering, persecution, and perhaps even death.
Disciples are, in a sense, always learning and discovering more about discipleship as they attempt to live a Jesus-kind-of life.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 