Follow The One Who Has Authority

Foxes have dens, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

Jesus doesn't seem to be that encouraged by the scribe's zealous, fantastic promise that he'll go with him wherever. He seems to respond to it with some suspicion. He seems to want to make sure he understands what he's really committing to and to count the cost, He first tells them, you need to know that foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests. There's a resting place for these different animals, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. I'm inclined to interpret this the way the Gospels are usually presenting Jesus as a surgeon. Just like the rich young ruler. Jesus tells him, sell everything you have, because Jesus is putting his surgical knife right on the man's idols. That's not a universal command, it's a surgical diagnosis and prescription. This is your idol, repent of it. As this scribe is saying, I will go with you everywhere, I believe Jesus is getting out his scalpel. You're willing to go over there, but are you really willing to give up all the comfort, convenience, Stability, Jesus being a good king, he's inviting this scribe to count the cost before he makes a commitment. Let's make sure we apply this well. Some monasteries and movements have denied themselves a pillow based upon this passage. If that's your interpretation, that's a fine personal application, but I don't think you should bind that on others' consciences. You should feel free to have a pillow if your conscience allows. Others have actually applied this and other passages in the New Testament to say Christians should not have personal property. Again, if that's your personal conviction, that's fine, but I don't think that's a universal or clear application of this passage. More so, Jesus is calling his disciples to recognize it's going to be costly. There's going to be an inconvenience. It's not always going to be comfortable. We've studied idolatry this past week with the interns. We have to realize we live in a culture where the American dream has moved beyond just prosperity. It's ease, comfort, convenience. We need to be connected when we desire it. We need to have Wi-Fi on demand all the time, but we also need to make sure we don't have to be bothered by real people when we don't want to. the comfort of not being bothered, the comfort of always having whatever we want whenever we want it, or a fear of missing out. Jesus is making it clear to this would-be disciple, to follow me is going to be costly. To follow me is going to be costly. Count the cost. The danger of why Jesus would want him to count this cost is that Cheap discipleship is built on cheap grace, and there's no cheap grace in the Bible. It's costly. The Messiah, who is coming to die on the cross, to purchase his own people, to rule them in love, is going to give a costly grace, and it's going to be a costly discipleship. A commitment to follow Christ means you might go through some real trouble, called a sacrifice. tied to follow me is

deny yourself, carry your cross and follow me.

The beauty of the gospel, the beauty of being a citizen of the kingdom is God is always with you. He's always comforting you, he's always caring for you, providing for you, protecting you. But that doesn't mean we get all the earthly blessings we might think we deserve. Everything with this text, if you're a young believer, do not lose your zeal to do or go wherever Christ might command. Do not lose the zeal that hears that Savior say, I've saved you, and you're willing to say, whatever you say, I will do, Lord. Understand that zeal needs to be protected with steady, healthy patterns of faithfulness. But do not lose that zeal and excitement to say to the Lord, I'll do whatever you say to do. That should be the posture of every Christian at all times. If you're a seasoned believer, do you still have that kind of zeal for Jesus? Do you still hold out your hands when you go to scripture and say, Lord, what are you gonna tell me to do today? I'm zealous to hear from you. I want to hear what you would have me do and where you would have me go. See, my concern is that new young believers start with a zeal, but it gets crushed before it has wisdom. We get into a pattern of comfortable Christianity. where we don't think we need to count the cost, we try to find a way to coast. I believe what the disciple is saying is true. He should be willing to follow Jesus wherever he would go, but Jesus as a good savior wants to make sure he understands that cost. Notice this next disciple. Verse 21. He says,

Lord, let me first go and bury my father.

Now, the title is significant. This would be a greater title than teacher. My sovereign Lord. Now, I'm not clear he knows that he's Yahweh yet, but at least a more authoritative rule is implied there with Lord. Let me first bury my father. Now, that request sounds so honorable, doesn't it? Let me bury my father. One of God's great commands is that you honor your father and your mother. This sounds like you would be applying that particular passage and saying, Jesus, I will follow you, but let me obey the law that says honor my father first. Now, a big question though, is his father dead? It's actually very unlikely that his father's even dead in the passage. Because if his father's dead, he's at the funeral and he's mourning already. If he's really honoring his father, and his father's already passed away, he would not be away from his father. He would actually be preparing for the funeral, at the funeral, or the funeral would be over. So there seems to be this hypothetical, well, my father, maybe he's sick, maybe he's nearing death, but it's kind of a, well, whenever this happens, then I'll be ready to follow you. The dangerous operative word is first. Let me first go and bury my father. I believe he's making an excuse. Jesus' response makes it clear he's not buying this excuse. Jesus responds, it sounds cold, doesn't it?

Let the dead bury their own dead?

He's confronting it. If you're going to follow my way of life, Jesus says, the way of his life, the way to life, the grand narrow way of life, you're going to have to leave behind your previous life. You're going to sacrifice other things. Jesus makes it very clear in other parts of the gospel. Some will have to deny their mother, father, and brother, sister. Christ does come to divide, to begin a new kind of people. Jesus is calling him to follow the Lord of life. Again, this should challenge us. What kind of priorities are we making? It's the most basic level, procrastination. I hear the call, and I see it's important, but let me first do something else. He's delaying obedience. But I believe it's worse than just procrastination. He has an excuse for why he's not going to follow Jesus now when the reality is he's probably going to have an excuse to never follow Jesus. This is beyond procrastination. It's idolatry because he's talking to God and saying, let me do something else first. Again, I want to be very clear. God ordains the relationship of father, mother to child. You're supposed to honor your parents. The concern here is he's making a good thing more important than the great thing that is God. Maybe even more twisted, he's using God's word against God as an excuse for not obeying God. That's twisted. I want to back out here and say, he calls him follow me. Don't delay, follow me. And when he says, leave the dead to bury their own dead, I believe he's actually alluding to the fact that his father's not dead yet. It's probably, I think, the spiritual realm. Let those who are spiritually dead bury the spiritual dead. You come and follow me the way to life. Each one of these pictures, from 18 to 22, and then 23 to 27, and 28 to 34, reveals something unique about Jesus. I want to point out who Jesus is here in this section. Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. That's one of the more confusing titles, but it's very important to know what this means because it's the title Jesus gives himself most often. It's the way he alludes to himself most regularly. And as a reference back to Daniel, and we sang of Ancient of Days earlier, the great sovereign king, The one who is mighty and will destroy the enemy kings. When Jesus refers to himself as Son of Man, he is not referring to himself in his humanity. He's referring to himself as the absolute sovereign Messiah King who has all authority. Now last week, we saw that the King who gave the Sermon on the Mount also comes to fulfill the work of the suffering servant. That's the dynamic of the gospel. The great king comes to fulfill the healing that the suffering servant has been promised. Here, the son of man, he comes with full sovereignty to provide for his disciples all that they need. I believe we're supposed to see here the importance of following Christ, faithfully knowing that it's costly, and with a priority, not making excuses for why we will not follow him now. Christian, I ask, what would be that excuse that you know you're saying, I'll be more obedient when this happens? I'll be more faithful when this stage of life is over. Here's a reality that needs to be clear. If Jesus isn't worthy of your full devotion now, he never will be. There's always gonna be something else. If you do not see Jesus as worthy of your full devotion now, you'll never see him that way if you keep the pattern of finding something else to be first. The next picture is why we would follow Jesus, because he has authority over all creation. Again, the structure here is this kind of set, all built around a boat trip, and we see the preparation for the boat. Now we're on the boat. He got under the boat and disciples followed him, verse 23. The word behold is always supposed to catch your attention in scripture. Behold, while they're on a boat,

there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep.

And they, the disciples, went and woke him, saying,

save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, why are you afraid? Oh, you of little faith. Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, what sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea abound?

" All right, so we get to the boat. There's a transition. The disciples follow. And assuming this is the 12, this is going to be a smaller group because it's a boat. Behold, not just any storm, a great storm. This appears to be an unusual storm. Many of his disciples were professional fishermen. They were used to storms. The Sea of Galilee, it's similar to Florida, where at a certain time in the afternoon, there's a storm going to happen. You just know it's going to happen. It happens every day, and you move on. But this one seems to be different. This is a great storm that has career fishermen afraid, and the waves are crashing over the boat. There's a fear of being sunk. You notice, but he was asleep. Now we are seeing that human nature of Jesus Christ in the forefront. And just curiosity, he just said, I don't have anywhere to lay my head, but wherever I do lay my head, I sleep like that. This is not a permanent housing situation, but he can sleep anywhere apparently. Proverbs 3.4 says,

to the righteous God gives sweet sleep.

Psalm 4,

lay down in danger and sleep, God will keep you safe.

Psalm 127,

God gives sleep to those he loves.

Well, this is the only begotten son whom he loves, who is perfectly righteous. That must really produce some sweet sleep that doesn't care about any circumstances. He's asleep in the midst of a storm that is so unusual there They're terrified and so they go to him. They went to him and woke him up saying, save us, Lord, we're perishing. There's a desperation, we're going to die, Lord, save us. There's a sense of do you not know, do you not care? How can you sleep through this? There's a frustration and a fear, save us. And notice, while still laying down, Jesus says, verse 26, why are you afraid? Oh, you of little faith. His response to their terror is to not even get up yet, but to simply say, why are you afraid? You have very little faith. This is not very sensitive of Jesus. He's not showing empathy. He's not trying to put himself in their shoes. He isn't showing compassion right here in the midst of this danger. Why are you afraid? He's almost dismissing their feelings. He points out it's a lack of faith. They are surrounded by a real dangerous storm. It is a great, unusual storm. But Jesus is pointing out their real problem, that they lack faith. Their experience is ruling their thoughts, feelings, behavior. He is pointing to them, they need to have faith. Now, I don't know if there's meant to be a connection here, but we did just see at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, that house built upon the rock, that great storm will come and you won't be moved. But the life built on the sand, that great storm washes away. Here we see that these disciples, they believe, but they're still learning to believe. They have a weak faith, they have little faith. They're learning how to see who Jesus is. Jesus confronts them that they are not yet truly, fully believing. Then he rose up. Then he gets up and he rebukes. That word does have with it a sharpness, a corrective aspect, an authority over something. He rebukes the wind and the sea. And we're probably mostly familiar with this passage, but just think about the disciples who are with him, and many of them are fishermen, they're used to the waters, they're used to this kind of raging, this is an unusual storm, and he just gets up and he speaks to the elements. That itself has to be somewhat wild after they're still kind of reeling about their feelings being hurt because their feelings didn't matter to Jesus as much. And notice what happens. that great storm became a great calm in an instant. The great storm that is causing them to be so afraid, he gets up, he speaks to his creation, and it's a great calm. The disciples' response is helpful. They marvel. They were amazed. They're impressed. But they don't have categories for this. What sort of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey him? The winds and the seas, they heard the voice of their creator and they stopped. We actually, I think, start to see their faith grow a little bit in that declaration, verse 27. They're starting to see something a little bit more about Jesus. They don't have an answer yet, but they're asking the right question. Who is this? I really liked his teaching. I really like when he heals people, but all right, well, this is getting a little much. What kind of man is this that can speak to the sea and the winds and they obey? Anyone could go out and tell the wind to do something, but the great storm just stopped. They marvel. They're amazed. How can he speak with such authority? That leads us back to that command to follow him without excuses. Do we hear him speak with that same kind of authority? We go back to the Sermon on the Mount. Will we hear his instructions for what the blessed, happy life as citizen of this kingdom, will we hear his instruction and seek to obey him? Will we trust him and submit to his authority? You see, we're human beings made in the image of God. He made us with an incredible ability to create, to think, to love, to know God and be known by Him. We're humans, we're created smarter than the wind and the sea, but we're dumber than a rock if we don't listen to our Creator. You're designed to hear the voice of God and know Him by believing what He says is true, by obeying all that He says. but how foolish we are to resist his instruction. When we hear even the winds and the sea obey, do we? You see, he is the sovereign creator. He is the king who has come to purchase us and redeem us. We must hear his voice and obey. No, there's a bigger picture here. As we saw earlier, Christ, the son of man, he has authority, and that authority is going to be built up as the one has authority to save us from our sins. He's the great ruler who will bring about a new kingdom and a new reign. This passage points to him as the creator who calms the storm. To pull together a thread that is throughout scripture There's God's good creation, and then there's chaos. There's a chaos motif throughout scripture. And that's why in Revelation it says,

in the new heavens, new earth, there will be no sea.

Chaos will end. The sea represents fear, because it's an unknown. A storm could come up and destroy you. There is no C as a declaration that there is a chaos and there's creation accounts of other nations of the chaos and how monsters were at war and demons were at war and this is what brought about creation. Our good creator is coming to bring about goodness and order where our sin and our rebellion has led to chaos. There's a way in which our great king has come to bring goodness and order back to this world that we led into chaos and sin. The third story, we see him arrive where he was going. It's the country of the Gadarenes. It's also a Decapolis, the story is described as a city, 10 different cities of Gentiles. And we see that these are Gentiles, they're pig farmers, herdsmen. This last one, he doesn't just have authority over creation, he has authority over demons. He's gotten the boat ready, he's been in the boat, now we get to the other side and, well, we're introduced to new characters right out of the boat.

He came to the other side, two demon-possessed men met him. coming out of the tombs so fierce that no one could pass that way.

They were demonized. They had an unyielding strength because these demons had come upon them and had some kind of control over them. And they were causing what demons do, and it's chaos, fear, destruction. People are afraid of them, and rightfully so, these demons were greater than all the other men of the city. Angels are greater than men in terms of the power they would have. Notice, Jesus says the one word, go. Everything else, the demons are talking. Incredible what they say. Behold, again, you're supposed to be paying attention, the demonized men, they cried out,

What have you to do with us, O son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?

Two really important declarations that we can unpack here because the demons are saying something that is true and helpful that we need to understand regarding who Jesus is. What have you to do with us, son of God? have you come here to torment us before the time? First, these demons would know the Son of God as their creator. We know this as Christ's own full, eternal title, as in the baptism, the Father speaks, and he says,

this is my son, my beloved son.

We know it's where he's the only begotten son. eternal name of the second person of the Trinity. His true, real identity, they call him this. This is them affirming his deity. They, heavenly creatures, know who this heavenly Son is. He's the Son of the Father, the Son of God. They come out, having behaved fiercely with other men, and they come out, kind of interpretation, what have you to do with us, Son of God? They know who he is as the perfect God, their creator. Second, have you come to torment us before the time? The time would be the big question. What are they referring to? Through this last week in Matthew 8, 4, I mentioned the secret Messiah motif. Jesus is constantly saying, do not tell anyone, do not tell anyone. And the reason being, the more the crowds gather, the more they're pressing in, it's time for him to go to the cross. And Jesus is regularly declaring he is sovereign over his time to die. It is not yet time, it is not yet time. Now's the time he will go to Jerusalem, the last time, and die. plan of salvation that is perfect, that Jesus has come to fulfill, and these demons appear to have some idea of time, and that makes me scratch my head, but that must be what they're referring to. Have you come to torment us before the time? It's interesting that, trying to figure out, what does Satan know? Because the promise that he'll be crushed goes all the way back to Genesis 3. Satan being crushed goes all the way back to Genesis 3, and we see it again in Psalm 2. Then they're wondering, have you come out to torment us before the time? And Jesus doesn't give a direct answer here.

Now a herd of pigs was feeding at some distance, and the demons begged him, saying, if you cast us out, send us away to the herd of pigs.

So the demons are declaring something to Jesus. We don't know what his immediate, or if he even spoke then, or if they're just frantically saying, if you cast us out, go see those pigs, send us there. Again, the simple authority. We don't know what he said to the winds here in the text. We just know they obeyed his voice. Notice these demons that everybody else is afraid of that overcome these two men and then overcome every citizen that passes by. Jesus just simply says, go.

And they went out of the men and went into the pigs. And the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

I don't know why the pigs ran down and died. A lot of fantastic theories out there. Let's not miss the main point. These demons must obey the word of the Son of God. These demons who are opposed to Him are afraid of Him. These demons who know He's the Son of God, they believe God is great and holy, But they don't obey him. They intellectually know who he is, but they know well enough to be afraid of him. They know to, when he says go, they go. But there's no obedience. The significance is the authoritative voice of Jesus. Jesus, the son of God, he's greater than these demons. He's greater than the storm. He's greater than the illnesses earlier. He's greater than every problem we have. He has all authority. He is our creator. He is our ruler. Remember last week, I want to sound like a broken record. What are the two things I want to keep telling you? Jesus has all authority. And he's perfectly good. Quiz will be next week too. We see the authority, right? The winds stop. The demons go. What about his goodness? Jesus planned this entire trip around these two men being healed. That's all he does. They ask him to leave and he leaves. Jesus goes over to the other side to the Gentiles, not his people who he came from, his kinfolk. They're gonna reject him anyway, but the goodness of Jesus, he gets on a boat, goes out of his way, goes through a storm to land to just heal these two men, and then he goes back. He uses his authority to help. He uses authority to heal. He uses authority to make us whole again. Verse 33. The whole section was built on disciples speaking and Jesus responding, and then we see Jesus acting and how those present respond. Verse 33,

the herdsmen fled, and going to the city, they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus.

Now if you just stop there, you're like, this is gonna be great. Maybe like get a couple fish, Brad will feed the masses, like this could be great, we could have a revival.

When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

They were afraid of the two demon-possessed men. They would not ever go by that way. Now they see the one who has great authority to even cast those demons out, and they beg him, please leave. Please get out of our region. We're not in reverence fear of you. We are terrified of you. They don't seek faith. If you're not a believer this morning, you might not have that same eagerness to say, Jesus, leave me. But if you hear the good news and resist him and reject him, you're going to be in the same place as these Gentiles. They're without hope. There is only one Savior, Jesus Christ. He alone has the authority and power to forgive you of your sins. He alone has lived the perfect human life, died on the cross so that you can be forgiven as He takes the punishment of your sin. The call this morning is to not resist, reject, believe. Believe you're a sinner in need of a Savior and Jesus Christ is the only Savior. If not a believer, the invitation, believe and follow. The one who has all authority to give you all you need. Please don't leave without talking to someone about what that means. So here we've seen two incredible stories. The creator who came to be a man, God who took on flesh, he rules creation, the creation hears his voice and obeys. The God who created all angels and even those demons, the rebellious angels, they still must hear his voice and obey. I wanna make sure we hear what is being presented. Jesus calls us to follow him who has all authority. He's the true and perfect king who provides everything for his people. He's perfect in power. I want to clarify, I'm not asking you to give Jesus authority over your life because He already has it. I'm asking you to trust Jesus who has authority over your life. I'm asking you to receive Him and know Him and to hear Him. who as your creator, who made you in his image, and then he became like you in every way to save you. He is your creator as an authority. He's your savior who purchased you with his precious blood. He has authority over your life. One other clarification. All the other allegiances and things we prioritize that pull us away from Christ, They do not have that authority, we give them that authority. Jesus has authority over your life. Trust him, who's proven to be all sovereign, powerful king, who gives us his own life. Recognize that when we submit to other things and prioritize them over God, we're giving them an authority they're not supposed to have. And only God is perfectly good and will provide what we need. Jesus the King, who has all authority, invites us to follow him. He commands us to follow him because it's good. He who designed us, created us, came to restore us, bought us with his precious blood, invites us to know him and enjoy all the blessings by following him. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you did not leave us in how we have exchanged your glory for lesser glories. Help us, Lord, to see how we have chosen sin over you, and even chosen good things over you, the one great God. Lord, help us to see the great authority of Jesus, His goodness, His kindness. Help us to want to be changed by Him, to be holy unto Him, to enjoy all of His blessings as His citizens. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.