Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Matthew chapter 8, verse 18, says that when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders

to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, teacher, I will follow you

wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests.

But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

Another of the disciples said to him,

Lord, let me first go and bury my father.

And Jesus said to him,

follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead. This interaction with these two guys

is humbling to say the least. It almost seems like Jesus is trying to talk these guys

out of following him. They're eager saying, we'll follow you wherever you go, but Jesus

looks back at both of them and challenges

them to count the cost before following them. This first guy, he says, you follow me. You're not

even guaranteed a roof over your head. If you follow me, Jesus is saying, I'm all you've got. Jesus is making

clear here, he is worthy of unconditional trust.

Like, you may lose everything in this world. You may not be guaranteed a roof over your head.

In that moment, will Jesus be enough for you? Does he have all your trust? And then the second guy, does Jesus have all of your

affection, this picture of undivided affection? This disciple says, I need to go back and bury my

father. And there's a lot of discussion about this meaning in the text. Does this mean the man

just wants to give his father a proper funeral,

or is there more here? Some think this involved getting an inheritance from his father first

before following Jesus, but regardless, Jesus says, leave him behind and follow me.

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