Biblical Knowledge

September 17, 2025
🎯Title: The Cost of Committed Discipleship

📖Text: Matthew 8:18-22 (KJV) Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

📚Introduction: The scene is alive with the buzz of great multitudes pressing in on Him, drawn by His miracles and teachings. Yet, in the midst of this popularity, Jesus issues a quiet but firm command: "He gave commandment to depart unto the other side" (v. 18). It's a reminder that true following isn't about the crowds—it's about the cross.
Two men approach Jesus, each representing a potential disciple. The first, a scribe, bursts forth with enthusiasm: "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest" (v. 19). The second, one of His own disciples, hesitates: "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father" (v. 21). Jesus' responses are sharp, sobering, and supremely challenging. They cut to the heart of discipleship: it demands everything, excuses nothing, and offers eternity.
Today, we expand this passage into three alliterated truths under the theme The Cost of Committed Discipleship. We'll explore the Cost, the Conflict, and the Command. Each point will be illuminated by the text and supported by Scripture, urging us to count the cost as we follow our homeless, heavenly King.

✍️ I. The Cost:
Counting the Price of Pursuit
(vv. 19-20)

✏️ The scribe's bold declaration sounds like the perfect disciple's vow—unwavering loyalty, no questions asked. But Jesus doesn't affirm; He confronts. "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (v. 20). Here, our Lord paints a vivid picture of poverty and pilgrimage. Foxes scurry to their dens for safety; birds flit to their nests for rest. But the Son of Man? He wanders without a pillow, a palace, or even a place to call home.
This is the stark cost of committed discipleship: not comfort, but consecration; not convenience, but crucifixion of self. Jesus isn't rejecting the scribe—He's revealing the reality. Following Him means embracing uncertainty, where earthly securities crumble like sandcastles before the tide.

Supporting this truth, we see echoes throughout Scripture.
📘Luke 9:57-58 (the parallel account), the challenge is identical, underscoring its universality.
Further, Jesus warns in
📘Luke 14:28-33 (KJV): "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?... Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?... So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Here, discipleship is likened to construction and conquest—both require premeditated sacrifice.
The rich young ruler in
📘Matthew 19:21-22 learned this bitterly: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor... But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Oh, friend, have you counted the cost? The foxes and birds remind us: Christ's trail is rugged, but it leads to glory.

✍️ II. The Conflict:
Conquering the Claims of the Carnal
(v. 21)

✏️ Now enters the second man—a disciple, mind you—who voices a seemingly reasonable request: "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father." On the surface, this honors the Fifth Commandment: "Honour thy father and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12, KJV). Jewish custom demanded burial within 24 hours, and filial duty was sacred. Yet Jesus' reply shatters the sentiment: "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead" (v. 22). What a thunderclap!
This exposes the conflict in every heart: the pull of the carnal against the call of Christ. "Bury my father" may have been a delay tactic—perhaps the father wasn't even dead yet, but the son wanted to wait for inheritance or avoid immediate hardship. Regardless, Jesus prioritizes eternal urgency over earthly obligations. The "dead" who bury the "dead" are the spiritually lifeless tending to temporal ties, while true disciples must sever such snares to pursue the living Lord.

Scripture reinforces this radical rift. In
📘Luke 14:26 (KJV), Jesus declares: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." "Hate" here is hyperbolic for supreme allegiance—Christ above kin. Elijah faced a similar test in
📘1 Kings 19:19-21 (KJV), where Elisha slaughters his oxen and burns his plows after Elijah's mantle falls upon him, symbolizing total break from the past.
📘 Philippians 3:7-8 (KJV), Paul confesses: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." The conflict is clear: carnal claims clamor for compromise, but committed disciples conquer them through Christ's conquering grace. Where in your life does family, tradition, or duty delay your devotion?

✍️ III. The Command:
Claiming the Call to Commitment
(vv. 18, 22)

✏️ Sandwiching these encounters is Jesus' sovereign directive: "He gave commandment to depart unto the other side" (v. 18), and His final word to the disciple: "Follow me" (v. 22). No negotiation, no negotiation—only the authoritative **command** that defines discipleship. The multitudes may mill about, but Jesus moves with mission. He calls, and we obey—or we drift with the spiritually dead.
This command is not optional; it's the essence of eternal life. "Follow me" echoes from Galilee's shores to Golgotha's shadow, culminating in the Great Commission: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20, KJV). It's a call to immediate, irrevocable commitment, leaving the dead to their delusions.

The Bible brims with this imperative.
📘 John 10:27 (KJV), Jesus affirms: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Peter, who once forsook all to follow (Matthew 4:18-20), later exhorts in
📘 1 Peter 2:21 (KJV): "For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."
📘 Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV) urges: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." The command claims us; now we claim it by faith, stepping out in obedience.

🙏Conclusion

Dear friends, Matthew 8:18-22 isn't a mere historical footnote—it's a holy mirror reflecting our own hearts. The cost warns of wandering without worldly wealth; the conflict confronts our carnal excuses; the command compels our complete commitment. Like the scribe, we may start with zeal but falter at the foxholes of comfort. Like the disciple, we may stall at the graves of good intentions. But Jesus calls: "Follow me"—not tomorrow, but today.
If you've never truly counted this cost, do so now. Repent, believe, and follow the One who, though homeless on earth, prepares mansions in heaven (John 14:2). For those already on the path, renew your resolve: let no lesser loyalty lure you away. As the hymnist prays, "I surrender all."
May the Spirit seal these truths in our souls. Let us pray.