This sermon is a continuation from last week as Matthew 8:18-34 is a single unit as Matthew wants to show us about having the faith to follow Jesus. We noticed that great crowds are following Jesus. They begin following after he preached what we commonly call, “The Sermon on the Mount.” In Matthew 8:18 we see the crowds continue to be with him. Seeing the crowds Jesus orders for his disciples to take a boat to go to the other side of the sea. Jesus is doing this to see who has the full dedication to follow him wherever he goes. A scribe tells Jesus he will follow wherever Jesus goes. But Jesus challenges him by telling him that it will not be comfortable to follow him. Jesus does not have a home. Jesus does not have a place to sleep. The faith to follow Jesus requires doing what is uncomfortable. Another disciple comes to Jesus and tells him that he just needs a short delay and he will follow Jesus. But Jesus will not wait. We cannot wait to follow Jesus until a more convenient time because that time will never come. Following Jesus must be immediate. So that is where we left off in our study of this gospel. Matthew will continue to challenge us to see if we have the faith to follow by recording two miraculous events in the life of Jesus…
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