(Written and read by Michael Kimball)
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:18-20 NASB)
There is a crowd about our Lord. It was a common reaction. Jesus had that sort of effect on people. After all, he was the bearer of good news: his Father is also our Father. Jesus had come to explain him and show what God the Father was like through the things his only begotten Son said and did.
Among those in the throng of people present was a scribe. Scribes were educated men whose business it was to study the Law of Moses, transcribe and write commentaries on it, and interpret the Law for the benefit of the people. (Unfortunately, they also added their own regulations and traditions.) Something about Jesus caught this particular scribe’s attention to the extent he approaches the Lord, giving voice to a bold claim, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
No doubt his intentions were good. Rightly does he recognize the Lord as “teacher”. He is struck by what he has heard Jesus say and what he has seen him do: authoritative words backed up by equally powerful deeds. But now Jesus is about to leave, to cross the sea where he will be out of sight and reach. The thought is more than the scribe can bear and so he comes to Jesus and makes his claim.
How many of us, through impulse, have made similar boasts? That, wherever Jesus might lead, we will follow?
Notice the Lord’s reply. It is neither assent nor refusal. It is a statement of sober reality, of the cost associated with following through on such a claim. “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Did Jesus have places where he could lay his head down at the close of a weary day and go to sleep? Of course! So what was his point? What did he want the scribe to understand?
Perhaps it was something like this: You don’t realize what you’re saying. Following me isn’t a matter of space and time. I’m not of this world. Foxes and birds are native to the land and each has a home here suited to them. But I don’t. This world isn’t my home. Neither is it the home of those who follow me.
Following wasn’t a matter of traipsing around the countryside keeping Jesus in sight. It was doing what the Lord said. If he was serious, the scribe could begin following Jesus any time, any place. All he had to do was put into practice what Jesus taught and modeled.
I wonder if he ever did. Or was he content, in future days, to simply reflect on the wondrous occasion when he heard Jesus speak with his own ears and see what the Lord did with his own eyes.
Following Jesus isn’t about theology and doctrine. It’s about obedience, about doing what Jesus says to do. Will we pray for our enemies and bless them? Will we treat others as we would like to be treated? Will we give to those who ask of us? Will we turn the other cheek when offended? Will we let love for one another guide our actions? Will we love God more than even our own lives and trade, like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, our will for our Heavenly Father’s when the two conflict?
As we can see from the text, Jesus left the scribe free to decide what he would do.
And so he does us.
~m
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