The Cost Of Following Christ | Matthew 9:35-10:42 Series

I used to run for our college varsity track team and I can recall the many months of training we would undergo just to compete in a division race. Two hours running before the sun is up and two hours more before the sun goes down. It was grueling. Our coach would pound us with circuit training, endurance exercises and the like; and I don't think I would have endured it if not for the love of the sport.

We suffered during training, sacrificed time and denied ourselves of many things to focus on our sport. I was personally motivated to pursue it because I was passionate about it. I loved my teammates and I also got a pretty good scholarship. Our coach was a lady and she really knew how to train us, how to make us better athletes. But it all came with a cost -- sacrifice, sufferings, self-denial -- all of them combined to reap a reward.

And in our passage this week, Jesus Christ acts as a divine coach to His apostolic-athletes as He explains to them the real cost of following Him. The cost of following Christ will involve suffering and sacrifice. It will involve love and compassion for others. It will entail persecution and opposition from others. It will demand self-denial and humility -- all of these combined -- but the reward is eternal and permanent. Thank you, Jesus!

The cost of following Christ is the all-embracing blanket in our passage this week and we will unpack it in two divisions: Surrendering to Christ, that is Matthew Chapter 9, verse 35 through Chapter 10, verse 15. That's our first division. And our second division is Living for Christ, Matthew Chapter 10, verses 16 to 42. Now are you excited to dive deep with me now? All right. Please open your Bible or your Bible app to Matthew Chapter 9, verse 35 to 38. Let's read these remaining verses of Chapter 9:

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field'."

Now at this point in time, Jesus has traveled extensively, fully involved, intentionally reaching out, healing, teaching and proclaiming; and along with Him were His team of disciples. He was with them at the helm -- captain, coach, champion. They all looked up to Him. And I imagine Jesus surrounded by His disciples looking out into the throngs of people. He can see through their heart. He feels for them and knows their dire condition. As the pocket of people grew into a multitude, He knew it was time for a team huddle. It was time for a game plan to reach everyone.

Jesus was waiting for this moment. He was prepared for this. His game plan was serious as it involved the future of many lives. The first part of His game plan was to talk to them about what it takes to continue following Him. There was a cost involved -- the cost of following Jesus. In fact before He even speaks, His actions already demonstrated to His team the most important component of following Christ. It involved the heart -- a heart filled with love and compassion -- and He demonstrated it because it was imperative that they saw it firsthand. Jesus demonstrated love and compassion for people. These two are inseparable. Jesus demonstrated love and compassion and His team saw it. They witnessed it and they were the first recipients of it.

And then He speaks. He tells His disciples to pray. Prayer was an integral part of following Christ. He told them to ask God for more teammates. He was very specific in fact. He told them to ask the "Lord of the harvest", meaning God owned the field. It was His harvest. All they needed was God's help for more teammates to reap the harvest. They needed to depend on God Who is the author of life, the owner of the whole world; and communing with God through prayer was exactly what Jesus was training His team to do here.

And then in Chapter 10, verse 1, Jesus moves on to the next part of His game plan -- equipping. He needed to equip His team with the same skill set that He had. In verse 1, "Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness." Right here in this verse is a supernatural skill transfer because Jesus simply gave it to them. He gave them divine authority. No need for months or years of training. Nope. It was supernatural authority passed on to His team.