Jesus' Authority Over Spirits (Following Jesus to the Other Side)

We pray for the meeting of preaching of Christ.

Father,

we ask that you will reveal to us

the end of the earth

so we might make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Teach us this morning what it means to be a true follower of Christ

and enable us by the power of the Holy Spirit

to follow and faithfully all our others.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Please stand if you are able

as I read from Matthew 8, 18-34

to honor God as we come to the Lord.

Matthew 8, 18-34

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.

And when he got into the boat

his disciples followed him.

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea

so that the boat was being swamped by the waves.

But he was asleep.

And they went and woke him saying,

Save us, Lord, we are perishing.

And he said to them,

Why are you afraid,

O you of little faith?

Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea.

And there was a great calm.

And the men marveled saying,

What sort of man is this

that even winds and sea obey him?

And when he came to the other side,

to the country of the gathering,

two demon-possessed men met him

coming out of the tombs,

so fierce that no one could pass that way.

And behold, they cried out,

What have you to do with us,

O Son of God?

Have you come here to torment us

before the time?

Now a herd of many pigs

was feeding at some distance from them.

And the demons begged him,

saying,

If you cast us out,

send us away into the herd of pigs.

And he said to them,

Go.

So they came out

and went into the pigs.

And behold,

the whole herd rushed down the steep bank

into the sea

and drowned in the waters.

The herdsmen fled,

and going into the city,

they told everything,

especially what had happened

to the demon-possessed men.

And behold,

all of the city came out

to meet Jesus.

And when they saw him,

they begged him

to leave their region.

Scott's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

When people are learning

about a trade or a subject,

they often seek out internships

or apprenticeships

with someone

who is already established

in the field.

An aspiring electrician

seeks out a master electrician

under whose tutelage

he can learn to trade

and accumulate the hours.

An aspiring counselor

seeks out a licensed counselor

under whose mentorship

it can get the number of hours

necessary to attain licensure.

A PhD student

seeks out an advisor

who is already

a scholarly authority

in the field

so that he can learn

and gain credibility

and build connections.

The apprentice

seeks out the mentor

because there is something

to be gained

in that relationship.

Otherwise,

why would interns

and apprentices

subject themselves

to hard work

and long hours

for often little

to no pay

as many of our

postdocs can attest?

If the cost-benefit analysis

changes,

maybe the mentor

is too demanding

or the hours are too long

or the research

is too boring,

the student

might seek out

a different teacher.

In our passage

this morning,

two Jewish men

seek Jesus out

to be their teacher,

to be their rabbi

so that they can learn

from him

and then train

under him.

But Jesus,

interestingly,

does not offer them

any incentive

to follow him.

In fact,

he gives them

every reason

not to follow him.

Following him,

Jesus says,

will mean

rejection,

hardship,

danger,

threat to their

very lives sometimes.

And Jesus

demands such

allegiance

that all those

who follow him

must put duty

to him

even above

their filial duties

to their parents.

But why would

anyone in their

right mind

follow such

a demanding master?

Matthew's answer

in this passage

is that Jesus

is no ordinary man.

he is the

son of God.

And it is therefore

worth risking

our skin

and forsaking

even our kin

to follow

the son of God.

That's my main point

this morning.

To illustrate this,

Matthew recounts

how Jesus

took his disciples

through a stormy sea

to an unclean land

and in doing so

demonstrated

that Jesus is

a man whom

we must follow,

a man whom

the winds and sea

obey,

and a man

whom the demons

obey.

We're going to

talk about those

three points in turn.

Since we took a break

from our series

in Matthew

last week

for a guest preacher,

let me remind you

where we are

in the passage.

Set the scene.

In the preceding passage

just before this

in verses 14 and 17,

Jesus has spent

an evening

at Peter's house

healing the sick

and casting out demons.

And he said that

many people

were brought to him.

So Jesus has already

had a full day

and evening

of fruitful ministry.

And since he is

a man,

truly a man,

he most likely

was physically exhausted.

So much so that

later he would

fall asleep

on the road

in the middle of the storm.

Yet even after

this ministry

there's no end in sight

because it says

a crowd has gathered

now around Jesus

in verse 18.

And it says in 18,

when Jesus

saw the crowd

around him

he gave orders

to his disciples

to go over

to the other side.

Other side

in the Gospel of the Union

other side

of the Sea of Galilee

to the Gentile regions.

It's interesting

that seeing the crowds

does not make Jesus

stay.

It actually makes

Jesus go somewhere else.

This happened again

in chapter 5,

verse 1.

Beginning of the

Sermon on the Mount

it said that

seeing the crowds

Jesus went up

on a mountain

and when he sat down

his disciples

came to him.

There are times

when Jesus

sees the crowd

and has compassion

on them

and ministers to them.

But I think

in these two places

Matthew is trying

to emphasize

the priority

of discipleship.

What does it mean

to be a disciple

and a follower

of Jesus?

That's what

the Sermon on the Mount

really generally

the subject

of the Sermon on the Mount

was all about.

And in Matthew 7,

13 and 14

Jesus said

that only a few

of his true disciples

enter by the narrow gate

and the narrow way

that leads to life

whereas many

enter by the wide gate

and the broad way

that leads to destruction.

Later in Matthew 13

Jesus speaks

up to the crowds

in parables

so that they

would not understand

what he is saying.

This is made explicit

in Matthew 13.

He says that

the secrets

of the kingdom

of heaven

have not been

given to them.

That's why he speaks

to them in parables.

But to his disciples

to whom the secrets

of the kingdom

of heaven

have been given

Jesus speaks plainly

and he explains

his parables

to them.

So why does Jesus

see the crowd

and leave

to the other side?

I think because

he's trying to make

the distinction

between the crowds

who are curious

interested

but not truly committed

and his disciples

whom he's investing

in and training

and mentoring

because they're

the ones who know

what it means

to be a follower

of Christ.

As Jesus is about

to leave though

there are two people

who try to join

his entourage

and he says

in verse 19

a scribe came up

and said to him

teacher

I will follow you

wherever you go.

Remember the scribes

in the gospels

they are the Jewish

legal scholars.

They're the ones

who usually teach people.

And so for a scribe

who is a teacher

to come to Jesus

and say

teacher

is a way

a measure

of humbling oneself

and he offers

to follow Jesus.

We can speculate

on the reasons

based on Jesus' response.

We're told

in Matthew 7

28-29

that after Jesus

taught

in his sermon

on the mount

that the people

the crowds

were astonished

at Jesus' teaching

because they saw

that Jesus

taught as someone

who had real

divine

God-given

spiritual authority

unlike the scribes.

They couldn't

contrast the Jesus' teaching

from the teaching

of the scribes.

So maybe

the scribe

is an opportunist.

He saw

the tide

of opinions

turning in favor

of Jesus.

He saw

that Jesus

is a rising star

and he wanted

to throw in

his lot with him.

But this scribe

doesn't truly

understand

discipleship

what it means

to follow Jesus.

He doesn't understand

what that means

and we know

that from

two primary things.

First

this scribe

addresses Jesus

as teacher.

As a scribe

right

he was referred

to often

as teacher

but remember

how the leper

that came to Jesus

earlier in chapter 8

and the centurion

also in chapter 8

that came to Jesus

how did they

address Jesus?

They addressed Jesus

as Lord.

In the Gospel

of Matthew

only people

who are

outside

of Jesus'

circle of disciples

call him

teacher.

Scribes

the Pharisees

the lone exception

the only

disciple

that calls him

teacher

teacher is

Judas Iscariot

who later

calls him

Rabbi

the Jewish

who couldn't

he would

call him

teacher twice

when he is

betraying him.

So

we know

that this

reference teacher

doesn't really

quite meet

the standard

of what he

should think

about Jesus

how he should

relate to Jesus

that's the first clue.

He thinks

that Jesus

has a good

teacher

but not quite

as the Lord

and Master

that he should

submit to

and follow.

Isn't that the

case

this day

and age

as well?

There are

many people

nowadays

who will

concede

that Jesus

is

yeah

he was

a good

man

I think

he was

a good

moral

teacher

but the

Son of

God

the Lord

no

you're

overstealing

the case

but

acknowledging

Jesus

as a good

teacher

is

insufficient

must

not

acknowledge

and have

the Lord

the Son

of God

worth risking

our skin

and forsaking

our kin

to follow.

The second

clue that

this scribe

does not

understand

true discipleship

the nature

of following

Jesus

is verse

20

Jesus'

response

to it

Foxes

have holes

and birds

of the air

have nests

but the Son

of Man

has nowhere

to lay

his head.

Note that

Jesus

doesn't try

to persuade

this scribe

to follow

him

he's actually

trying to

dissuade

him from

following him

Jesus

is not

saying

that

if you

follow

him

you'll

never

have

any

kind

of

home

or

lodging

in fact

they did

just

stay

most recently

at Peter's

house

as a base

for their

ministry

so sometimes

they did

have

housing

however

as an

itinerant

preacher

Jesus

did

often

go to

places

where they

had no

known

relations

foreign

parts

where there

were no

people

to be

hospitable

toward

them

and

often

presumably

he also

stayed

in exposed

places

even more

exposed

than

foxes

holes

and

birds

nests

that would

have been

a change

for the

scribe

who was

probably

welcomed

as an

honored

guest

most places

he went

among the

Jewish

circles

and so

Jesus

said

later

about

the

Pharisees

and the

scribes

in

Matthew

Matthew 23:6–7

23

verse

6

to

7

that

they

loved

the

place

of

honor

at

feasts

and

the

best

seats

in the

synagogues

and

greetings

in the

marketplaces

and being

called

by

others

but

the

Jesus

warns

this

scribe

this

is what

the

scribes

are

like

but

Jesus

warns

this

scribe

don't

think

that

you

will

find

honor

and

recognition

by

following

me

don't

expect

the

VIP

treatment

when

we

enter

into

towns

!

for

the

son

of

man

has

nowhere

to

lay

his

hand

Jesus

does

not

promise

wealth

comfort

popularity

to his

followers

as the

two

following

stories

from

Jesus

life

will

illustrate

foxes

have

holes

and

birds

have

nests

but

the

son

of

man

has

nowhere

to

lay

his

head

this

is

the

first

time

that

Jesus

uses

applies

the

title

son

of

man

to

himself

and

I'll

talk

more

about

the

meaning

of

that

later

on

but

for

now

the

contrast

between

the

son

of

man

and

the

foxes

and

the

birds

even

the

beasts

of

earth

have

homes

but

this

man

does

not

so

who

wants

to

follow

this

son

of

man

it's

a

non-starter

it's

the

anti

recruiting

bitch

right

and

then

in

verse

22

another

of

the

disciples

said

to

him

lord

let

me

first

go

and

bury

my

father

this

volunteer

this

prospective

disciple

starts

a little

better

he

addresses

Jesus

as

lord

and

Matthew

even

refers

to

him

as

another

disciple

but

based

on

his

question

and

Jesus

response

it

doesn't

seem

like

this

disciple

makes

the

final

cut

either

he

says

to

Jesus

let

me

first

go

and

bury

my

father

it

seems

unlikely

although

it's

possible

that

this

man's

father

literally

just

died

because

then

why

would

he

be

hanging

out

with

the

crowd

here

with

Jesus

teaching

being

attending

to his

funeral

responsibilities

it

it

seems

more

likely

that

the

expression

bury

my

father

is

in

reference

to

this

man's

sense

of

filial

responsibility

of

providing

end of

life

care

for

his

elderly

father

this

was

a

responsibility

that was

taken

much

more

seriously

in the

ancient

near

east

than

here

in

the

US

for

example

in

Genesis

47

it

says

that

when

the

time

drew

near

that

Jacob

must

!

he

called

his

son

Joseph

and

made

him

swear

to

bury

him

back

in

the

promised

land

in

Canaan

and

not

in

Egypt

he

doesn't

die

right

away

after

that

he

lives

for

a

while

after

that

but

he

nonetheless

still

already

tells

Joseph

what

to do

for

his

burial

Joseph

is

the

one

who

is

in

charge

and

has

this

real

responsibility

of

burying

his

father

and

so

this

man

is

in

a

similar

situation

and

he

is

asking

to

defer

his

enrollment

as

a

disciple

of

Christ

he's

not

asking

for

a

super

long

deferral

but

it

is

kind

of

an

indefinite

postponement

Jesus

I

really

want

to

follow

you

but

I

have

an

elder

to

follow

you

see

and

it's

my

filial

duty

as

a

son

to

care

for

him

until

his

death

so

give

me

a

little

bit

of

time

save

me

your

spot

on

your

roster

I'll

come

back

I

promise

when

the

time

is

right

however

Jesus

response

is

uncompromising

he

says

follow

me

and

leave

the

dead

to

bury

their

own

dead

this

man

is

closer

to

being

Jesus

disciple

than

the

scribe

Jesus

actually

invites

him

follow

me

but

there's

something

he

must

leave

behind

in order

to

follow

Jesus

leave

the

dead

to

bury

their

own

dead

dead

people

of

course

cannot

bury

anyone

so

Jesus

not

speaking

in the

first

instance

of the

word

dead

of

physically

dead

people

he's

speaking

of

the

spiritually

dead

leave

the

spiritually

dead

to

take

care

of

their

own

physically

dead

in the

parallel

account

in Luke

Luke 9:60

9

verse

60

Jesus

says

leave

the

dead

to

bury

their

own

dead

but

as

for

you

go

and

proclaim

the

kingdom

of

God

Jesus

is

here

speaking

of

the

utmost

priority

of

following

Jesus

this

is a

shocking

thing

to say

even

in

our

culture

but

especially

so

in

Jesus'

day

because

the

Jews

considered

this

filial

responsibility

one of

the

highest

obligations

for

humanity

in

the

Old

Testament

people

the

Jews

were

forbidden

from

coming

into

contact

with

the

dead

with

diseased

people

with

harnesses

because

they

believed

that

that

caused

ritual

uncleanness

and

they

would

be

unclean

for

a

period

of

time

which

was

difficult

however

Leviticus

Leviticus 21:1–3

21

verses

1

to

3

specifically

made

exceptions

for

coming

into

contact

with

your

dead

parents

and

your

close

relatives

don't

touch

the

dead

don't

defy

yourselves

by

touching

the

dead

but

if

it's

your

father

if

it's

your

parents

bury

them

and

then

cleanse

yourself

after

all

the

fifth

of

the

ten

commandments

is

to

honor

your

father

and

mother

and

yet

Jesus

says

put

following

me

above

caring

for

your

parents

this

prospective

disciple

said

let me

first

go

and

bury

my

father

and

that's

the

problem

Jesus

says

follow

me

first

it's

similar

to what

Jesus

says

later

in

Matthew

Matthew 19:29

19

verse

29

and

everyone

who has

left

houses

or

brothers

or

sisters

or

father

or

mother

or

children

or

lands

for

my

name

sake

will

receive

a

hundredfold

and will

inherit

eternal

life

please

don't

misunderstand

me

I'm

not

saying

that

you

should

go

and

neglect

or

abandon

your

family

members

right

now

the

command

to

honor

our

parents

still

applies

to us

today

in

first

25

verse

8

teaches

us

but

if

anyone

does

not

provide

for

his

relatives

and

especially

for

members

of

his

household

he

has

denied

the

faith

and

is

worse

than

unbeliever

what

then

does

Jesus

mean

when

he

says

follow

me

and

leave

the

dead

to

bury

their

own

dead

Jesus

is

putting

things

starkly

intentionally

to

communicate

clearly

the

radical

demands

of

Christian

discipleship

there

are

some

people

who

seek

to

defer

or

delay

following

Jesus

I'm

in

graduate

school

and

I

can

barely

keep

up

with

the

deadlines

deciding

whether

or not

follow

Christ

can

wait

I'm

still

getting

established

in

my

career

when

things

are

more

settled

then

I

can

prioritize

church

I'm

just

getting

married

I

just

bought

a

house

I

have

young

kids

when

they're

a little

older

I

can

focus

on

being

Christian

following

Jesus

I

have

parents

that

take

care

of

I

can't

go

to

church

but

Jesus

says

no

either

you will

follow

me

first

or

you

will

not

follow

me

at

all

Jesus

will

not

play

second

fiddle

Jesus

will

not

settle

for

third

wheeling

in

your

life

he

must

be

your

first

liege

your

first

loyalty

your

first

love

committing

to

follow

Jesus

will

turn

your

life

and

priorities

upside

down

I

love

the

phrase

that

a

Bible

commentator

R.T.

France

uses

about

pursuing

the

kingdom

of

heaven

following

Jesus

involves

a

degree

of

fanaticism

if you

become a

true follower

of Jesus

the people

of this

world

will look

at you

and say

there's

that

religious

fanatic

that

Jesus

was

forsaken

the world

to follow

Jesus

what a

shame

what a

waste

she

has

so

much

potential

he

used

to be

so

fun

you

guys

have

heard

that

are

you

ready

for

that

are

you

prepared

to

make

Jesus

your

highest

priority

above

your

career

relationships

including

your

family

are

you

willing

to

risk

your

skin

and

forsake

your

kin

to

follow

Jesus

if

not

then

Jesus

is

not

ready

yet

to

be

his

disciples

but

what

kind

of

man

may

speak

in

this

kind

of

way

what

kind

of

man

demands

such

high

allegiance

that's

why

we

have

the

next

two

paragraphs

to

answer

that

question

the

second

point

a

man

whom

the

winds

and

see

obey

verse

23

continues

this

theme

of

discipleship

of

following

Jesus

having

ordered

his

disciples

to

go

over

to

the

other

side

it

says

Jesus

now

gets

into

the

boat

and

when

Jesus

got

into

the

boat

his

disciples

followed

him

this

is

not

a

throw

away

detail

like

who

cares

who

got

into

the

boat

first

what