Daily Devotions
Matthew
A Scribe as a Disciple of Jesus?
Text: Matthew 8 : 19 - 22
The significance of Jesus leaving the shores of Capernaum did not go entirely unnoticed by all. There were some who appeared to have comprehended the reasons why Jesus planned to leave His nascent yet thriving ministry in the city of Capernaum. One of those was a scribe and he approached Jesus concerning the matter of following Him.
“Then a certain scribe came and said to Him,
‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.'”
Matthew 8:19
In order to appreciate the significance of this text, we need to know more about “scribes”.
1. They were closely associated with the Pharisees
The Synoptic Gospels record 57 mentions of the scribes. Most of these mentions were made in close relations to the Pharisees.
2. They were Torah scholars
The scribes belong to a professional class of scholars who devoted their lives to studying the Torah. They copied the ancient manuscripts by hand. They were sometimes called “lawyers”.
3. Interpreters of the Law of Moses
They were generally held in high esteem by the public for their knowledge of the Torah (Law of Moses).
One of these scribes actually declared that he would follow Jesus as His disciple! That was an amazing declaration indeed!
REASONS FOR FOLLOWING JESUS
We would expect that different people would have their individual reasons for desiring to follow Jesus as disciples. What were some possible reasons why people followed Jesus?
1. Because of Gratitude
There would be some who would choose to follow Him because of gratitude. Those who were healed and who really appreciated their restoration to complete health might be moved to follow Him out of sheer gratitude.
2. Because it was a popular thing to do
Multitudes followed Jesus. He was the latest folk hero! Who had not heard about Jesus? Thousands followed Him, even if at some distance. Many may not even fully comprehend what Jesus taught or even what He stood for, but following Him was always interesting if nothing else. No harm came out of following Him anyway, so why not do the popular thing?
3. Because of curiosity
The miracles of Jesus were exceptional. What a wondrous thing to behold people being restored to complete health. An even more amazing thing must be the exorcism of demons from certain people!
4. Because of Jesus’ Teaching
Some who were deeper thinkers, like this particular scribe might have been drawn to Jesus because of the teachings he heard.
a) Did Jesus’ teachings jolt him?
b) Did they cause him to re-examine his knowledge of the Torah?
c) Did His statements that challenged the traditional teachings hit home and hard?
d) Then there were His powerful miracles! None of the religious leaders of the land could perform a single miracle. Yet, here was this hitherto unknown itinerant Teacher teaching profound truths and performing miracles as well! Surely He was worth checking out. Surely He was worth following even!
The scribe called Jesus “Teacher”. In this one word, he gave to Jesus the respect that was at least due to Him. However, we need to contrast this approach against that of the leper who prostrated himself before Jesus and called Him “Lord”. We also need to remember how the Roman centurion exhibited a praise-worthy faith when he approached Jesus. He too called Him “Lord”. The scribe obviously was not quite convinced about Jesus’ lordship at this point of time!
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A DISCIPLE
In order to be a scribe, you would have had to devote your entire life to the study of the Torah. A scribe was essentially a scholar. He probably felt that he had all it took to be a disciple of Jesus. Perhaps, he had in mind the ways in which famous teachers in those days imparted their knowledge to their pupils. He probably thought that Jesus was like one of those teachers. If so, then he would like to be one of those disciples. All he needed to do was to look after the needs of his teacher. The teacher in turn would then impart his wisdom to the pupil.
He was in for a surprise when Jesus uttered the following words to him.
“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Matthew 8:20
Would the scribe be really satisfied with such a Teacher? Would he be able to accept His way of teaching, and His way of life? Would he be prepared to leave his comfortable home and walk in this Teacher’s footsteps? Jesus gave this would-be disciple no illusions concerning what it means to follow Him. Did he respond positively?