01/22 - A Disregard for the Normal Things of Life

Matthew 8:18-27

Jesus seemed to be in a testy mood.

First, he challenged the religious teacher, apparently one of the disciples (i.e. students) following him. The man seemed to be a nice, decent fellow, and his declaration about following Jesus sounded very sincere. However, his teaching position brought a nice, pleasant lifestyle, and although Jesus did not reject his offer, he made sure the man knew what he was in for if he continued to follow. We are not told whether the teacher was scared off by Jesus’ comments.

Next, Jesus challenged one of his disciples who wanted to go handle a family matter. It is not clear whether the man’s father had just died or was either old or ill and close to death. Regardless, he wanted to do a good, decent thing. Jesus’ response seemed at least insensitive if not heartless. We are not given enough details to know, but perhaps the man’s father was months or longer away from death, and the man was really a half-hearted follower.

Third, Jesus rebuked the closest disciples because they were afraid. The situation was certainly desperate, with strong waves sweeping over the boat, and clearly they expected to drown at any moment. After rebuking them for lack of faith, Jesus rebukes the storm. It was a miracle even more astounding then the healing and casting out of demons they had seen him do earlier.

We feel sympathy for the teacher, the man concerned about burying his father and the disciples in the boat because we think like them and their responses seem reasonable. We think it is normal to expect decent housing, to take time for family matters and to panic when life is threatened. However, Jesus had a certain disregard for the normal things of life.

He believed he was on a mission from God, so he was not afraid of storms and could even sleep through the worst of them. His vision of a spiritual kingdom was so great he was willing to give up the expected comforts of life to accomplish its mission. Even family was not as important as the spiritual kingdom.

Jesus was not challenging his followers just because he was having a bad day. He was trying to get them to put the kingdom of God first in their lives.

Today he challenges us the same way. Will we too have that certain disregard for the normal things of life? Will we put the spiritual kingdom ahead of all else? Great blessings are ours if we do.