Saturday, April 20, 2013

The Cost of Discipleship Pt 40 - Called to leave all


Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes

Mat 5:1  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus sees his disciples. They have publicly left the crowd to join him. He has called them, every one, and they have renounced everything at his call. Now they are living in want and privation, the poorest of the poor, the sorest afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry. They have only him, and with him they have nothing, literally nothing in the world, but everything with and through God.'

My thoughts-

It's true, the disciples left all they had, even if it wasn’t much, to follow Jesus who had NOTHING. Jesus wasn't offering them a life of prosperity, of wealth, of happiness, of freedom from want.  Jesus didn't have a place to sleep, let alone anything else.

Luk 9:57  And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
Luk 9:58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Foxes have holes.
Birds have nests.

These animals have homes, Jesus did not.

Think about that for a moment, a long moment. It's easy for us to gloss over the fact that Jesus didn't have a home, but then we have to stop and think realizing He had HUMAN needs like we all do. He had to sleep, He had to eat, He had to use the bathroom, He had to bathe, He had to have clean clothes, didn't He? We talk about the homeless today with great pity because we can't really imagine being homeless. I have a sister who in her youth set out on her own with her husband and they had nothing. They left New York to go to Texas, hoping to find work and for a while they had to live out of their car, she still talks about that today many, many years later. She tells us she knows what it's like to have nothing, no possessions, no food, no real shelter with conveniences like a bath and toilet. This was an experience etched into her mind because it wasn't something pleasant at all it was great deprivation, and probably a bit of despair. I've never been homeless, by the grace of God. I've never gone more than a few meals in a row for lack of money or means to get food, by the grace of God. I may have worn, and still wear worn out clothes, but I've never had absolutely nothing but the clothes on my back. I've always had access to a bathroom (outside of various normal situations- being in a car etc) and all its facilities, by the grace of God. 

The disciples all had their lives situated.  Most of them were working when they were called to follow Jesus. They were working- earning a living, a means to pay/barter for whatever they needed. No, none were called from rich mansions, but they had their homes they went to every night, they had their families they mingled with every night, they had a life- none were mere nomads wandering about aimlessly here and there.  These men were called to leave every comfort however small or great that they knew, all in order to follow Jesus and Jesus didn't promise them comfort when He called them.

Mat 4:18  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Mat 4:20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Mat 4:21  And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Mat 4:22  And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

Joh 1:43  The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
Joh 1:44  Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Joh 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Joh 1:46  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Joh 1:47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Joh 1:48  Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Joh 1:49  Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Joh 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Mat 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Thomas- no mention of his calling.
James the son of Alphaeus- no mention of his calling.
Simon the Canaanite- no mention of his calling.
Thaddaeus- no mention of his calling.
Judas- no mention of his calling.

Jesus did NOT offer them material things.

If a man came up to you as you worked at your job and said, 'Follow me.'  What are the chances of your doing that? Slim to NONE, right? Of course they wouldn't be Jesus Christ the Son of God, you say.  And that's true, but Jesus didn't use special powers to compel them to follow Him. Jesus didn't hypnotize them, He didn't use any underhanded means to force them to leave all and follow Him. So, why did they go with Him?

They'd heard of John the Baptist.  The one who would go before Jesus.

Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Mat 3:5  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan

Luk 7:24  And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
Luk 7:25  But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts.
Luk 7:26  But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
Luk 7:27  This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Luk 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Luk 7:29  And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
Luk 7:30  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
Luk 7:31  And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
Luk 7:32  They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
Luk 7:33  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Luk 7:34  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
Luk 7:35  But wisdom is justified of all her children.

John the Baptist was well known. John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus.  These disciples more than likely had at the very least heard of John the Baptist, if not personally through others that had. John had his own following, but John said this..

Joh 3:26  And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
Joh 3:27  John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Joh 3:28  Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
Joh 3:29  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.
Joh 3:31  He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
Joh 3:32  And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
Joh 3:33  He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
Joh 3:35  The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John said those words magnifying Jesus, testifying that Jesus would INCREASE, while he, John, decreased.

The disciples knew there was something in the wind, so to speak. They'd more than likely heard about John, he'd been at his ministry in the wilderness for at least six months or so and word of him had to have spread, like the word of things strange and unusual, the things that are out of place, often do. No, they didn't have the internet to spread the news, but word of mouth worked just fine.  Afterall, John was baptizing and to baptize you had to have people to baptize. Those people didn't remain quiet about their baptism, John didn't remain quiet. He was calling on people to REPENT and be baptized, and it wasn't a whisper cry but a loud one.  With this strange baptizing man going about and then Jesus comes on the picture, Jesus whom John said this--

Joh 3:28  Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
Joh 3:29  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

--was now on the scene, and truly the way had been prepared for Him by John.  I imagine that the disciples had all heard of John's teachings about the one coming after Him so when Jesus came and told them to follow Him, they had to have been ready, they had to have been prepared for this in some manner because otherwise it would have been Jesus using a power of compulsion and Jesus would NEVER do that! NEVER.

Bottom line-  the disciples were told to follow and they left ALL to follow. They went with Jesus who had NOTHING material to offer them at all.  Come follow me and sleep outside wherever we can. Come follow me and we'll eat as opportunity provides. Come follow me and have no pay.  Come to this life of poverty and be RICHER than all spiritually.

The things that matter are HEAVENLY, not earthly, yet Satan has corrupted us to believe the opposite-worry about heaven later, and live for now.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus sees his disciples. They have publicly left the crowd to join him. He has called them, every one, and they have renounced everything at his call. Now they are living in want and privation, the poorest of the poor, the sorest afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry. They have only him, and with him they have nothing, literally nothing in the world, but everything with and through God.'

How do we view our own discipleship?  Are we expecting to be called to a life of riches? A life of contentment? A life of ease even if it's not in what we'd call excess? Are we called to a life of self-denial no matter our wealth or lack thereof?

More tomorrow from this book by Bonhoeffer- The Cost of Discipleship.

All by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ and His LOVE.

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