An Unnamed Disciple
Read Matthew 8:21, 22. How do you understand what is going on here? Why would Jesus say something like this to a person who first wanted to bury his own father?
Yesterday, we viewed a scribe who sought discipleship. Today we encounter another volunteer, but one who is neither named as an individual or identified with a specific group. Examining the narrative, one wonders if Jesus was not unreasonable in His expectations. The man asked to bury his father, and in the Jewish faith it was a sacred duty to ensure a decent burial for a parent. What is going on?
Contrary to popular belief, the young man's father was neither dead nor even at the point of death. It was even possible that he was at the time "enjoying good health, and the time of his death was indefinitely in the future."—The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 366. If this is so, why did the man answer the way he did? Was it an excuse, one that Jesus saw through? Because the dead were usually buried the same day, had his father actually died there would not have been a problem, because he could have attended to matters and then returned to discipleship.
This man's response revealed his character. In contrast to the scribe's hastiness and impulsiveness, he was slow, lethargic, lacking in zeal for the work, indecisive, and prone to procrastination. He was in fact delaying his discipleship to the indefinite future because he did not want to make an immediate commitment. If he did not commit right then, he would perhaps never commit. The man was, apparently, saying that he could begin discipleship only when the time was convenient for him. Furthermore, Jesus wanted it known that because of the limited time He had for ministry and training disciples, discipleship required undivided attention and full commitment.
Is the Lord calling you to do something (End a relationship? Give up a habit? Be faithful in tithe? Witness to someone?) that you intend to do, but not now? What are the dangers of delaying?
1 comment:
It's quite dangerous to ever put off or ignore warnings to give up anything that may endanger one's soul salvation. One never knows what will happen from one day to the next. It's best to do it today while there is time, because today is the only one that's given.
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