Matthew 8:18 - Meaning and Application

Here is Christ moving to the other side of the Sea of Tiberias, and telling his disciples, whose boats were with him, to get ready to carry him over, Matthew 8:18. The light of this Sun of Righteousness was not meant to stay in one place. He must go around doing good, because the needs of souls were calling, “Come over and help us” (Acts 16:9). He moved on when he saw large crowds around him.

Even though this showed that the people wanted him there, he knew others wanted him just as much. They too needed their share of him. The fact that he was welcomed and useful in one place was no reason for him to stay there, but a reason to go somewhere else. In this way, he tested the crowds around him to see whether their zeal would lead them to follow him when his preaching moved farther away.

Many people would gladly use such help if it were right next door, but they will not take the trouble to follow it to the other side. In this way, Christ separated those who were less earnest, and the truly committed were shown.

Here Christ speaks with two people who, when he was about to move on, did not want to stay behind and wanted to follow him. They were not like the crowds who followed him loosely. They wanted to come into close discipleship, which most people avoided. That kind of life seemed too strict for them, and they could not accept it well.

This account of two people who seemed eager to come to Christ, yet were still not right, shows the kind of things that keep many from fully coming to him and holding fast to him. It also warns us to start following Christ in such a way that we do not fall short, and to lay a foundation that will hold.

We see how Christ dealt with two different temperaments, one quick and eager, the other slow and heavy. His words were fitted to each one, and they are meant for our good.

One man was too quick in making a promise. He was a scribe, Matthew 8:19, a scholar and teacher who studied and explained the law. In the Gospels, scribes are usually shown as having a bad character, often joined with the Pharisees as enemies of Christ and his teaching. Yet here was one who seemed to make a good start for discipleship, like a Saul among the prophets.

Notice how freely he spoke: “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” It is hard to imagine anyone speaking better. His offer to give himself to Christ was very ready, as if it came from his own desire. Christ did not call him, and none of the disciples pushed him, but on his own he offered to be a close follower. He was not pressed into service, but volunteered.

He was also very firm. He seemed already decided. He did not say, “I would like to follow you,” but, “I will do it.” And his promise had no limit. “I will follow you wherever you go” meant not only across the country, but even to the ends of the earth.

We would think we could count on a man like that. Yet Christ’s answer showed that his resolve was rash, and his motives were low and worldly. He had either not thought things through, or had not thought about the main thing. He had seen Christ’s miracles and may have hoped for a worldly kingdom, and wanted to get in early for a place in it.

There are many promises made about religion during a sudden burst of conviction, without enough thought. They come to nothing. They are soon ripe and soon rotten.

Christ tested this man’s eagerness to see whether it was sincere, Matthew 8:20. He showed him that this Son of Man, whom he was so eager to follow, had nowhere to lay his head. From Christ’s deep poverty, we learn several things.

First, it is surprising that the Son of God, when he came into the world, placed himself in such a low condition that he did not even have a sure resting place, something even the lowest creatures have. If he was going to take our nature, one might think he would have taken it in its best condition, not its worst. Notice how well the lower creatures are provided for. Foxes have holes, and though they are not useful, and are often harmful, to people, God still gives them places to live. People try to destroy them, but they are still sheltered. Their holes are their castles. The birds of the air, though they do not plan ahead for themselves, are cared for and have nests (Psalm 104:17). Some nests are in the field, and some in the house, even in God’s courts (Psalm 84:3).

Second, notice how poorly the Lord Jesus was provided for. This should encourage us to trust God for what we need, since beasts and birds are so well cared for. It should also comfort us when we lack what we need, because our Master lacked it before us. Our Lord Jesus, while he was in the world, accepted the shame and hardship of extreme poverty. For our sake he became poor, very poor. He had no settled home, no place of rest, no house of his own to rest his head in, and no pillow of his own to lie on. He and his disciples lived on the gifts of kind people who supported him from their own means (Luke 8:2).

Christ accepted this, not only to humble himself in every way and fulfill the Scriptures that spoke of him as poor and needy, but also to show us how empty worldly wealth is and teach us to look on it with holy disregard. He did it to win better things for us and make us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

It is also surprising that such words were spoken at that moment. When a scribe offered to follow Christ, we might expect Christ to encourage him and say, “Come, and I will care for you.” One scribe might have been able to bring him more honor and help than twelve fishermen. But Christ saw his heart and answered the thoughts behind it. In doing so, he teaches us how to come to him.

First, the scribe’s promise seems to have been sudden. Christ wants us, when we begin a profession of religion, to sit down and count the cost (Luke 14:28). We should do it with understanding and care, choosing the way of godliness not because we know no other way, but because we know no better one. Religion is not helped by catching people by surprise before they are ready. People who take up religion in a burst of feeling often throw it off in irritation. So let them think it through, and they will be more likely to stay. Let the one who wants to follow Christ know the hardest part, and expect to lie hard and fare hard.

Second, his promise seems to have come from a worldly and greedy motive.

He saw how many healings Christ worked and assumed that meant Christ had large payments coming in and would quickly gain wealth. So he wanted to follow him in hopes of getting rich too. Christ corrects that mistake by showing that he was far from becoming wealthy, since he did not even have a place to lay his head, and anyone following him should expect no easier life.

Note, Christ will not accept people as followers if they are aiming at worldly gain, or if they mean to use religion for anything other than heaven. We have reason to think this scribe left sorrowful, disappointed in a deal he thought would benefit him. He was not willing to follow Christ unless he could profit from it.

Here is another man who was too slow to obey. Delay in action is as bad as being too quick in making a decision. Once we have had time to think and have made up our minds, we should never leave for tomorrow what we can do today.

This man who wanted to serve in ministry was already one of Christ’s disciples, a follower in a general sense (Matthew 8:21). Clemens of Alexandria says, from an old tradition, that this was Philip. He seems to have been better prepared and more sincere than the first man, because he was not so bold and overconfident. A quick, eager, overforward temper is not always the best sign in religion. Sometimes the last are first, and the first are last.

Notice the excuse he gave for putting off immediate service to Christ (Matthew 8:21): “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Before I come to be a close and constant follower of you, let me first do this last duty for my father. In the meantime, let me be content to hear you now and then, whenever I can spare the time.

His father, some think, was sick, dying, or already dead. Others think he was only old and not likely to live much longer. The man asked for leave to care for him in sickness, attend his burial, and then come to Christ’s service. This sounded reasonable, but it was still not right. He did not have the zeal he should have had for the work, so he used this excuse because it seemed likely to succeed. Note, an unwilling heart is never short of excuses.

The meaning of the Latin saying, “Non vacat,” is “Non placet,” meaning, “I do not lack time, I lack desire.” We may suppose his request came from real love and respect for his father. Even so, he should have given Christ the first place. Note, many people are kept from serious godliness, and slowed down in it, by being overconcerned with family matters. These lawful things ruin us when we let our duty to God be pushed aside under the cover of serving other obligations. So we need to be especially careful here.

Christ did not accept this excuse (Matthew 8:22). Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” No doubt power went with that command, as it did with Christ’s words to others, and the man followed him and stayed with him, like Ruth staying with Naomi, while the scribe in the earlier verses, like Orpah, turned back. That man had said, “I will follow you.” Christ answered, “Follow me.” Put side by side, these words show that we are brought to Christ by the power of his call, not by our promises to him. It is not by human will or effort, but by God who shows mercy, and he calls whom he wills (Romans 9:16).

Even chosen people may make excuses and delay obeying God’s call for a long time. Yet Christ will finally answer their excuses, overcome their reluctance, and bring them to his feet. When Christ calls, he will prevail and make the call effective (1 Samuel 3:10).

The excuse is set aside as not good enough: “Let the dead bury their dead.” This is a proverb. It means, let one dead man bury another, or even let the dead go unburied rather than have the service of Christ neglected. Let those who are spiritually dead take care of the physically dead. Leave worldly tasks to worldly people. Do not burden yourself with them. Burying the dead, especially one’s own father, is a good work, but it is not your work at this moment. Others, who are not called and fitted for Christ’s work, can do that as well as you can. You have something else to do, and you must not put that off.

Note, devotion to God must come before devotion to parents, even though honoring parents is a great and necessary part of religion. Under the law, Nazarites were not to mourn for their own parents, because they were holy to the Lord (Numbers 6:6-8). The high priest was not to make himself unclean for the dead, not even for his own father (Leviticus 21:11, 12). Christ also requires those who would follow him to hate father and mother (Luke 14:26), meaning to love them less than God. We must think less of our nearest relatives, compared with Christ, when they stand in the way of either serving him or suffering for him.