True Discipleship

Setting and Overview
One of the repeating themes that we see in the Gospel of Matthew is Jesus retreating occasionally from the crowds to spend time to teach His disciples. The crowds come to Jesus in curiosity or with a desire to have miracles performed, but while He does perform miracles and teach among them, few of them are willing to actually commit to learning from Him and following Him. Furthermore, even some of those are only willing to make a nominal commitment. Thus, the difference between those who would desire to identify with or be the beneficiaries of Jesus’ healing and those who are willing to truly commit to following Him, is significant. In Matthew 8:18-27, we see three different encounters that illustrate that difference.

Exposition
Verse 18 sets the stage for the section: as the crowds come to Jesus, He prepares to cross the Sea of Galilee with His disciples. At that point, two different would-be disciples approach Jesus. The first is an expert in the law, a highly respected and elite position. While we generally see the experts opposed to Jesus, this illustrates that some were willing to at least make a nominal commitment to Him. This expert makes the broad claim that he would follow Jesus anywhere, with a boldness that reminds us of Peter in Luke 22:33. Having been a disciple of another rabbi at a time in his life (since such tutorship would have been necessary to achieve his position), he likely has in mind a similar experience to the honored and comfortable environment of a rabbi in a respected institutional position. Jesus challenges his commitment by pointing out that He lacks even the creature comforts of some animals, reflecting an even greater gap to traditional rabbis of the day.
Whereas the first man may have been to quick to promise, the second man is apparently too slow to obey. This would-be-disciple promises to follow Jesus as soon as he buries his father. Tied to the fifth commandment, burying one’s parents was an important part of honoring them (Leviticus 21:2, Genesis 50:5.) When Jesus calls him to forgo what he was planning to do, He would seem to be stating that honoring such duty would disqualify one from being His disciple. Since that would seem to conflict with His challenge in Matthew 15:1-9 (as well as Paul’s reference to the fifth commandment in Ephesians 6:1-3), we shouldn’t read it that way. Since we don’t know the exact nature of what the man was requesting to do (possibly to stay with his father for a long period of time until he did die, or perhaps complete the process of moving his bones a year after his death) we can’t pinpoint the full immediate meaning of Jesus’ response, but we can get His overall point. As important as family responsibilities are, even those cannot compete with the devotion that we owe only to Jesus (Matthew 10:37)
We next see the narrative pick back up in verse 23 as they begin to cross the lake. Jesus is asleep in the boat when a sudden storm picks up. The disciples are afraid and immediately wake up Jesus with cries for help, who commands the storm to cease, and then criticizes them for their fear that stems from a lack of faith. Since the disciples (many of whom were fishermen) did ask Jesus (the son of a carpenter) for help seems to indicate that their lack of faith was not in relation to Jesus’ ability to help them. Rather, in line with other references to “little faith” (Matthew 6:30, 14:31, 16:8, 17:20) it seems to be for not recognizing God’s promises and sovereignty (since they should have recognized that a boat with Jesus in it could not be in serious threat at that time.) They then marvel at Jesus’ power over even the storm, a power ascribed to God in the Old Testament (Psalm 18:15, 65:7, 89:9, Isaiah 50:2, Jonah 1:9-16.)

Examination and Application
While these stories don’t provide us with an exhaustive list of expectations of disciples, they do provide us with three important ones. As the first man learned, we must recognize that to follow Jesus means to forgo the pursuit of earthly comfort and security and even honor. While those things may come at times, there is no room to give them priority in following Jesus. Likewise, even a more valuable purpose such as caring for one’s family takes a backseat. Jesus does not want us to minimize our other responsibilities, especially not for selfish reasons (Matthew 15:1-9), but ultimately we have to be willing to choose Jesus over even our most precious earthly relationships. Finally, to follow Jesus means to have faith in who He is and the promises that we are given in the word. Although we do not know everything that is in store in this life, God reveals enough for us to follow Him with confidence, and we are expected to know His word so well that even in the greatest of storms, we trust that He is fully in control.