A Willing Sacrifice

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “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.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:18-22 ESV).

There is some misunderstanding about this passage of Scripture. It almost appears that Jesus is being very cruel to a grief-stricken young man. However, when you understand the culture of His day it is very apparent that the teaching here has nothing to do with a man’s grief, but his greed. The young man wants to follow Jesus, but only after he has secured his future through his father’s inheritance. And, further, it appears that his father wasn’t dead at all!

There is so much more to the sacrifice necessary to follow Jesus than merely joining a church! I read the following humorous story recently. See if it strikes a chord with you this morning:

A man went to the doctor after weeks of symptoms. The doctor examined him carefully, then called the patient’s wife into his office “Your husband is suffering from a rare form of anemia. Without treatment, he’ll be dead in a few weeks. The good news is, it can be treated with proper nutrition.” “You will need to get up early every morning and fix your husband a hot breakfast—pancakes, bacon and eggs, the works. He’ll need a home-cooked lunch every day and then an old-fashioned meat-and-potato dinner every evening. It would be especially helpful if you could bake frequently. Cakes, pies, homemade bread—these are the things that will allow your husband to live. “One more thing. His immune system is weak, so it’s important that your home be kept spotless at all times. Do you have any questions?” The wife had none. “Do you want to break the news, or shall I?” asked the doctor. “I will,” the wife replied. She walked into the exam room. The husband, sensing the seriousness of his illness, asked her, “It’s bad, isn’t it?” She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “What’s going to happen to me?” he asked. With a sob, the wife blurted out, “The doctor says you’re gonna die!”

Christ died to save us, not from suffering, but from ourselves; not from injustice, far less from justice, but from being unjust. He died that we might live—but live as he lives, by dying as he died who died to himself that he might live unto God. If we do not die to ourselves, we cannot live to God, and he that does not live to God, is dead. What are you waiting for to be that kind of sacrificial follower of Christ?