The Clutter of Christmas | Matthew 8:18-22 | Pastor Ken Nienke

The Clutter of Christmas

Matthew 8:18-22

1. Following Jesus requires . 18-20

And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Vs. 19

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.”  Vs. 20   

2. Following Jesus requires . 21-22

Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Vs. 21

And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Vs. 22

 “The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship)

Read for next week: Revelation 21:1-8