The meaning of Matthew 8:19

[W2L]

I just noticed what Christ might have meant in Matthew 8:20. I believe the Lord is saying that to follow Him means to give up your earthly home.

Matthew 8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 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.”



And here again, in verses 21-22 the Lord says to let the dead bury their own dead. This seems to mean the same thing, one must give up there home to follow Him.

21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

 

[Tolworth John]

Or Jesus was testing the comitment of enthusiastic but not commited followers.
His comments would test them, as they test us.

The man asking to bury his father was saying, let me wait till he has died, then I'll follow you.

In that culture one would not leave a funeral untill everything had been finished. One simple reason is everyone in the family would be ritualy unclean and would need purification.

 

[W2L]

Or Jesus was testing the comitment of enthusiastic but not commited followers.
His comments would test them, as they test us.

The man asking to bury his father was saying, let me wait till he has died, then I'll follow you.

In that culture one would not leave a funeral untill everything had been finished. One simple reason is everyone in the family would be ritualy unclean and would need purification.

I believe he was telling His disciples how to follow Him. Yes, it tests me daily. The less we have however, the more of the Lord we gain. I believe so anyway.

 

[Tolworth John]

A lack of material things does not mean closeness to God.
It is how tightly we cling to our material comforts that we need challenging on.
Thrift is a forgotten virtue and one that would enable us to multiple our giving..

 

[W2L]

A lack of material things does not mean closeness to God.
It is how tightly we cling to our material comforts that we need challenging on.
Thrift is a forgotten virtue and one that would enable us to multiple our giving..

Yes, but an abundance of materiel things dont mean closeness to God either.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I just noticed what Christ might have meant in Matthew 8:20. I believe the Lord is saying that to follow Him means to give up your earthly home.

Matthew 8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 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.”

And here again, in verses 21-22 the Lord says to let the dead bury their own dead. This seems to mean the same thing, one must give up there home to follow Him.

21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Yes, W2L. That is pretty much it. 19-20 is a command to forsake the home. 21-22 extends the teaching to say His followers must forsake both their homes and families. The same teaching is repeated in Matthew 19:27-30, where Jesus told the disciples that if they forsook family, houses, lands, etc in following Him, after Pentecost they would receive a hundredfold of these, because they would become leaders of His church, and have a massive spiritual family. All these would welcome them into their homes and treat them like family, their new family in Christ.

 

[W2L]

Yes, W2L. That is pretty much it. 19-20 is a command to forsake the home. 21-22 extends the teaching to say His followers must forsake both their homes and families. The same teaching is repeated in Matthew 19:27-30, where Jesus told the disciples that if they forsook family, houses, lands, etc in following Him, after Pentecost they would receive a hundredfold of these, because they would become leaders of His church, and have a massive spiritual family. All these would welcome them into their homes and treat them like family, their new family in Christ.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Thank you for the reply.

Anytime (whenever I've got time).

 

[W2L]

Anytime (whenever I've got time).

Thank you.

 

[Tolworth John]

Yes, but an abundance of materiel things dont mean closeness to God either.

My second sentace dealt with that.

 

[RaymondG]

Yes I believe this as well.....But on a spiritual level, not physical. My earthly home is my body.... And my most prized possessions are my own beliefs, knowledge and thoughts. And man can give 1k to charity.....but ask him to give up a deep religious belief, and they will fight you tooth and nail before doing so............just look at any thread here.

Once I empty my home of all my possessions and leave it......God can "fill it" with his spirit and His mind. ....Christ in you.....The hope of glory.

 

[W2L]

Yes I believe this as well.....But on a spiritual level, not physical. My earthly home is my body.... And my most prized possessions are my own beliefs, knowledge and thoughts. And man can give 1k to charity.....but ask him to give up a deep religious belief, and they will fight you tooth and nail before doing so............just look at any thread here.

Once I give empty my home of all my possessions and leave it......God can "fill it" with his spirit and His mind. ....Christ in you.....The hope of glory.

Thank you for your reply Raymond.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I just noticed what Christ might have meant in Matthew 8:20. I believe the Lord is saying that to follow Him means to give up your earthly home.

Matthew 8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 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.”



And here again, in verses 21-22 the Lord says to let the dead bury their own dead. This seems to mean the same thing, one must give up there home to follow Him.

21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

I think what Christ was doing was setting the context of what it means to 'follow Him' since He is saying He has no earthly home the person would then know that they would literally be leaving everything behind and following Him whereever He went because He will not be staying in one area or one town.

I don't think it is saying we need to give up our home, per se. But that Christ expects us to be up for anything and that He is going where the sinners are, whereever that may be.

 

[W2L]

I think what Christ was doing was setting the context of what it means to 'follow Him' since He is saying He has no earthly home the person would then know that they would literally be leaving everything behind and following Him whereever He went because He will not be staying in one area or one town.

I don't think it is saying we need to give up our home, per se. But that Christ expects us to be up for anything and that He is going where the sinners are, whereever that may be.

I think i agree.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I think i agree.

I'm sure you do! lol.

 

[W2L]

I'm sure you do! lol.

 

[more4less]

I just noticed what Christ might have meant in Matthew 8:20. I believe the Lord is saying that to follow Him means to give up your earthly home.

Matthew 8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 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.”



And here again, in verses 21-22 the Lord says to let the dead bury their own dead. This seems to mean the same thing, one must give up there home to follow Him.

21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

He was forewarning them that there will be no place for them in this world that if they pick up their cross.

John 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Mark 1:20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

2 Kings 2:9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

1 Kings 19:20Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” 21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

 

[W2L]

He was forewarning them that there will be no place for them in this world that if they pick up their cross.

John 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Mark 1:20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

2 Kings 2:9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

1 Kings 19:20Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” 21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Thank you.

 

[Mark51]

Jesus was pointing out that to be one of his followers, like the original disciples, the scribe would experience hardships and not enjoy the normal comforts of life that he was currently used to.

Those that follow Jesus today do not necessarily need to give up their homes; however, for those that submit and reform their lives to Jesus’ council will experience “hardships” of ridicule and resistance from unbelievers.

 

[W2L]

Jesus was pointing out that to be one of his followers, like the original disciples, the scribe would experience hardships and not enjoy the normal comforts of life that he was currently used to.

Those that follow Jesus today do not necessarily need to give up their homes; however, for those that submit and reform their lives to Jesus’ council will experience “hardships” of ridicule and resistance from unbelievers.

Thank you for the reply.