Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The cost of following Jesus

Matthew 8:18-34
Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. No place or house in the world.
Lord, first let me go and bury my father.  Follow the Lord need timing.
Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. Dead means no life and no active mind, living like dead man.
Even the winds and the waves obey him. Jesus is the Lord, who has the power over nature.
Two demon-possessed men were healed by Jesus. But the whole town out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. They were afraid of Jesus and may be more care about their property, the pigs, than the two men's free life.
Jesus response to two would-be followers provides a lesson on commitment.
Matthew has the story of Jesus' control of the wild and violent storm immediately followed by the calming of two wild and violent men. In their accounts, Mark and Luke focus on just one of them men.' Legion' or 'Mob'. They may draw on a different tradition. Or perhaps Matthew has in mind the two witnesses required for a valid testimony under Jewish law.
Jesus restores both men to sanity. But the residents of Gadara - one of the Ten Towns 10 Km south-east of the Lake- were so scared that they sent Jesus away.
Why?
Follow Jesus need commitment to give up all in this world. It need to pay the cost to be sons of God.
How?
Can I pay the cost of following Jesus? I like to do my best.





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