Over the course of six weeks, I’m posting a series of devotional reflections for children on Matthew 8. This is the fourth devotional. Here are links to the first, second, and third. These are free for your use as devotionals for your family.
Have you ever had to save your money for something really expensive? When I was a kid, I loved the Transformers, and there was a particular Transformers toy—the Metroplex robot base—that I really wanted. I think that I saw the toy on a television commercial first and then one day, when I was shopping with my mom, I saw it on the shelf at the store. It cost forty dollars!
For an eleven-year-old boy living in the early 1990s, that was a lot of money, and trying to earn it caused me some anxiety. But I felt a sense of urgency about getting the Metroplex. I just had to have it. So, I counted the cost. Then, I mowed our yard as well as some neighbors’ yards to earn money. I even did extra chores for my parents. . . just to get that toy.
We’ve been looking at a series of encounters with Jesus in Matthew 8. So far, Jesus has been working miracles. He’s healed a man with leprosy. He healed the centurion’s servant. He healed Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever, and he has even cast out demons. Now the crowd following Jesus is getting thick and close. Jesus isn’t interested in drawing a big crowd. He wants faithful people who understand the cost and urgency of following him. So, Jesus gets into a boat and plans to leave the crowd to head to the other side of the lake (v. 18).
Read Matthew 8:18–22
As Jesus and the disciples are leaving, two men approach Jesus in order to say, “We want to go with you, too.”
The first man was eager about following Jesus, but he didn’t understand the cost (verses 19–20). This man was a religious man—a teacher of the law. He had been impressed with Jesus’s authority and miracle-working power. He says, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” (v. 19). Jesus answered the man with shocking words. He said, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (v. 20)
Jesus often referred to himself as the “Son of Man” In the Old Testament, the prophet Daniel had a vision about “one like a son of man,” one who was like a human being, who ascended into the presence of God the Father on a cloud and “was given authority, glory, and sovereign power.” In Daniel’s vision, “All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him” (Daniel 7:13–14).
I suppose the religious man liked that prediction about Jesus—that he would come with the authority and power of God the Father. But when Jesus also said the Son of Man had no place to lay his head, the man would have been let down.
During the years of his ministry on earth, Jesus traveled from place to place. The Savior never bought a house or rented an apartment. He didn’t have a great palace to which he could return after a long journey. He wasn’t rich; he was poor. Yes, there were places where (in the words of the great Rich Mullins) “he took off his shoes and he scratched his feet,” but he did not have a home.
Jesus doesn’t call every Christian to give up living in a house or neighborhood to become a full-time traveling preacher. But he does expect that we’ll step out of our comfort zone in order to follow him. He wants us to value him more than our earthly comforts. He wants us to understand that following him is costly.
The second man was hesitant about following Jesus. He didn’t understand the urgency of Jesus’s call (verses 21–22). The man says, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father” (v. 22). Jesus’s answer seems rude. Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (v. 22).
The Bible teaches in the Ten Commandments that we should honor our father and mother (Exod. 20:12), and I don’t believe Jesus was contradicting that teaching here. After all, we know that Jesus cared about his disciples’ families. Just a few verses before, Matthew tells us about the Savior touching and healing Peter’s mother-in-law. So, Jesus’s point here is not that Christians should disrespect their parents or their culture’s burial practices.
But Jesus’s words did have force. Jesus’s point is that following him is a matter of urgency. “Commitment to Jesus,” writes D. A. Carson, “must be without reservation.” It’s a matter of life and death. When Jesus says “let the dead bury their own dead,” he reminds us that everyone apart from him is spiritually dead. Apart from Christ, we love comfort, not sacrificial love. Apart from Christ, we love this world, not the things of God. Apart from Christ, we love ourselves and not others. Apart from Christ, we’re dead in our trespasses and sins and without hope in this world.
But with Christ, we live! So, Jesus is saying, “The most urgent thing is that you come to me and live. That’s the first priority.” Bringing life to followers is a matter of great urgency for Jesus. Following him should be a matter of urgency for us.
Game: Resurrection Freeze Tag
Here’s a game that can help children understand the sense of urgency we should feel about coming to Jesus to have life. This game is adapted from the PROOF Pirates VBS curriculum.
Play a game of freeze tag with an added twist. Have one person be “it”—this person has the touch of death. Then let another person be the hero with a touch of life. When kids get frozen, they are to play dead by lying on the floor. Then when they are unfrozen they have to act like they’re being brought back to life.
Say: Jesus told us that following him was a matter of great urgency because it’s a matter of life and death. Our first priority must be to come to Christ and live!
Think, Pray, and Apply
Take a few minutes with your family and reflect on the following questions:
Have you ever saved up to buy something really expensive? What was it?
What comforts do you have in your life that would be very difficult to give up if Jesus called you to leave them? What makes them so hard to give up?
What things in your life feel most urgent? Homework? Friends? Family? A job? Why?
Why do you think spiritual things sometimes feel less urgent for us?
Pray: Father, help us to understand the cost and urgency of following you, and help us to remember the great cost you paid and the urgency with which you gave your life to save us from our sin. Amen.
Gospel-Centered Family’s mission is to help parents and church leaders share Jesus with the next generation. Below you’ll find a link to Jesus Is Bigger Than Me: True Stories of His Miracles, my new board book that was recently released. You’ll also find our weekly links below.
If you ever want to ask a question or give me feedback, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. And if you’re loving the newsletter, please forward it to your friends.
Thanks again for subscribing and reading!
Jared Kennedy
Jesus Is Bigger Than Me
Kids live in the same beautiful and broken world that we inhabit, and they need to know that God is present and active in our world. More than that, they need to know that they can trust him. That’s why I wrote Jesus is Bigger than Me: True Stories of His Miracles.
In the book, children will learn that Jesus is good and powerful—that he has the power to heal and even give life to the dead. Most importantly, children will learn that Jesus is God, and through the stories of his miracles, they’ll be encouraged to go to him for help because he cares for them.
This Week’s Links
Here’s our list of blog posts we’ve found helpful:
Our friend, Sam Luce, had a post on what the church needs to change coming out of the pandemic. He warns us that we are too concerned about reinventing the wheel or being at the forefront of the next big paradigm shift in ministry. Because of this, we haven’t left room for God to do what only he can.
Michael Kelly had a post for parents about when kids fail. He writes, “Failure is a terrible experience but a wonderful teacher.” The post provides a list of things it’s best not to say to kids when they fail.
Relevant Magazine had a post about faith and how to move from the head to the heart. The post reminds readers that this is God’s work, but we’re invited to participate with him.
What have you been reading online lately? Send us a note and let us know.