Stumbling Blocks To The Cross Series

I want you to notice Jesus doesn’t reject this man or turn him away, but instead warns him of the cost and sacrifice involved in following him. It does not lead to a comfortable lifestyle or fluffy pillows, soft beds, and continental breakfasts. Following Jesus is a hard but rewarding journey. It’s joining a mission with huge stakes, massive challenges and sacrifices, but an end goal so worthwhile that whatever the cost, it is worth it. This is the meaning of Jesus’ teaching of the parable of the pearl in Matthew 13. Following Jesus is not just sitting back and soaking things up from the pew but rather to be involved in a cause so grand, a mission so critical, where not only do earthly lives hang in the balance, but all of eternity, that you’re willing to give up the most precious thing in the world to be part of it. It’ll be the hardest, most challenging and costly thing you ever do but also the most rewarding. Jesus looks at this man and says, “Are you sure?? It going to be hard…” so count the cost.

The second stumbling block is earthly priorities which lead to procrastination. “He said to another man, follow me, but he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go bury my father.’ Jesus replied, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.’” Jesus’ response can sound cold and insensitive until you understand Jewish burial rights and what this man was really asking. In Jewish funerals, an initial burial took place shortly after a person’s death due to the heat and climate. This was followed by an intense 7-day period of mourning followed by another less intense 30-day period. But the mourning was not complete until one year later when the oldest son would return to gather the remaining bones and place them in a stone box called an ossuary. Most scholars believe that this man was asking Jesus for up to a year’s delay before following! Realizing that he has less than six months to live, you can understand Jesus’ response because this man would have missed his opportunity to follow Jesus. So Jesus says, “Others can take care of that. The demands of the Kingdom are more urgent - MY call cannot wait!”

Jesus is challenging our tendency to postpone or put off until tomorrow what God is calling us to do today. Let’s face it: we’re procrastinators, especially when it comes to our relationship with Christ. I’ll join a Bible study, I’ll start praying daily, I’ll fast, I’ll attend worship more frequently next week, next month or next year. Excuses. “God, I’ll follow you and serve you more when…the babies get into school, when the kids get into college, when I get settled in my career, when I get more free time, when I retire and the list goes on and on. And when we do, we miss out on the opportunity that Jesus has set before us.

Third is our attachments in life. Another person agrees to follow, but offers up a different stumbling block when he says, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” This man makes a reasonable request. Who could blame him if he wants to say goodbye to his loved ones? Once again, Jesus’ response is difficult to hear: “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Jesus is saying that our duty to the Kingdom of God is more important than family and other relationships and that in fact these can sometimes interfere with following Him and doing the work of the kingdom. On a day when Jesus had healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute and taught a large crowd, “someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’” We don’t know what they wanted but we do know that according to Jewish custom, it was the responsibility of the son to respond immediately to the request or needs of his mother (Honor thy father and thy mother). They were no doubt expecting Jesus to drop everything and come to them. But instead, Jesus replied, “’Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’” Matt. 12:46-50