Day 10 - The Price is Right

Day 10: Matthew 8

THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Read Matthew 8 here first

 

“I will follow you wherever you go.” Sound familiar? I don't know about you, but I've said that so many times. Especially throughout my teenage years, as a young man desperate to follow Jesus. In the midst of what was often a difficult journey in trying to find my identity, Jesus stood out like a bright light. So often, he seemed to be the only thing in my life that made sense, and I was desperate to cling to him and live a life that mattered. Each one of the numerous times I've promised that to God I've completely meant it, and I still do. My intention is to go wherever God calls me to, and I long to live the life that Jesus would call us into. As I look at the disciples, I see the life they had, and the love, relationship and closeness with Jesus made them want nothing else.

There are two sides to this though. It's not possible to look at just the nice side to the disciples' life. When we look at the opportunity they had to walk with Jesus, to see the miracles, to have a pivotal role in ushering in the Kingdom of God, we can easily wish we were one of them, and that's ok. However, we also need to consider what it cost them. These guys gave up their livelihoods, often travelling from place to place with no fixed address, no comfortable home, and no wage. There are no stories of them demanding their own personal space or wanting to gather more stuff. They simply followed Jesus and wanted to be where he was. Everything else seemed unimportant.

As they did this, they were excited by his teaching. As they heard about the heart of God for His people, their hearts caught on fire. Again, this wasn't the whole story. As they heard this teaching, they were around as Jesus met great opposition from the established Jewish leaders and the general public, who flocked to Jesus but struggled to accept what he said.

One of my favourite passages in the Bible is in John chapter 6, after Jesus has fed the 5000. Jesus has healed people, met their needs, and begins to teach them about how only God can satisfy and that he has come to bring eternal life. The crowd struggle to accept this, and drift away. Jesus turns to the twelve disciples, asking if they plan to leave to. In one of the best exchanges in the Bible, Peter replies to Jesus by saying “Where would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.”

They know what they have found in Jesus is worth everything. They certainly don't always understand what he says, but they know that they want nothing else. These are the guys who built the church as we know it. Guys who know what it is to not just go with the opinion of crowds. Guys who know what it is to truly go wherever Jesus went. Guys who will wrestle with the things Jesus says, knowing they're hard but recognising their truth. Guys who will battle with their own desires to be recognised as important. Guys who won't be seduced by possessions.

We so often romanticise the disciples and their lives following Jesus. We can almost glibly acknowledge that following Jesus cost the majority of them their lives in the end without recognising the full life-long cost that they also paid. The reason that these guys were so willing to die for the gospel is that they had truly sought to live for the gospel first. They didn't set out to be martyrs; they just set out to follow Jesus.

As I read the stories of Jesus and the disciples, I am challenged over and over by my comfortable living. What does it mean to really follow Jesus? What does he call me to? Would I go if he did? These are big questions, and ones which we should be wrestling with throughout our lives, especially in 21st century Britain. So much we see in the media and adverts aims to tell us that our lives should be made easier and more comfortable, away from any conflict or difficulty. The more I read the words of Jesus, the more I think that's not really the life he was offering. It's what I see in the disciples, and it's tough. I'm pretty sure that's the point though. In my Bible, this story is in the section called 'The cost of following Jesus'. I don't like it, but we can't avoid it. It's meant to cost.