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| Matthew wastes no time in following Christ |
"I will follow you wherever you go."
It's easy to say we will follow Jesus. It is more humanly challenging to consider what it is like to do so.
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Jesus is not going immediately to a place of rest or a place of victory. He does want to eventually bring all of humanity to share in the Sabbath rest found only in the Father's arms. This is the only place the Son of Man can truly rest his head. But along the way there are no guarantees. No waypoint along the journey is a destination where we can get too comfortable. We are citizens of heaven (see Philippians 3:20) and we do not belong to this world (see John 17:16).
There is a great deal of peace to be found by following Jesus. But it is not primarily a peace he creates in the earthly circumstances around him. It is a peace that comes from his presence. It isn't so much about where he directs us in this life as that he is with us on the journey.
Jesus must be our absolute priority. Even more than other genuine goods we are called to choose Christ if there is a conflict. We must love him even more than our parents. We must not miss the opportunity to follow him even if it means someone else will have to bury the dead.
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
Jesus has a greater claim on us than Elijah does on Elisha, for Elijah allows Elisha to go and tend to his family for a while before joining him (see First Kings 19:20). But we can't risk waiting to respond to the call of Jesus.
The temptation when Jesus calls is always to make excuses. And so we get quite good at making some truly plausible ones. We need to learn to have no pretenses before the LORD. Even when we feel like we deserve to understand but don't we must trust him.
How much less shall I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
So we beg the LORD to let our prayer come before him. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time (see Second Corinthians 6:2).
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