Jesus' followers in the first century understood that being the Messiah was no picnic. They either witnessed Jesus' struggles directly or knew of them from people who had. Thus, we saw in Matthew 8:17, the author cites the suffering servant passage from Isaiah 52 and 53 to describe the true nature of Messiahship. The next verses, Matthew 8:18-22 follow up with a warning to the faithful that being a disciple is no picnic either. Jesus here is portrayed as being homeless with the clear implication that the "teacher of the law" who said he'd follow Jesus anywhere better be prepared to be homeless, too. Then, another disciple said that he was with Jesus 100%—but, oh, hey, Dad is dead and I really need to see to his funeral arrangements. Sorry, but I gotta do this first. Then, Jesus, I'll be right there with you. Jesus' response was that discipleship means putting everything else second including the most important and pressing duties and relationships. Jesus was the suffering Messiah. His disciples were expected to suffer with him.The message to the gospel's audience is clear. Joining the Jesus Movement does not mean that your problems are all over. Discipleship means making sacrifices. We can speculate that the author may well have had those in mind who jumped on the Jesus bandwagon, all enthused and fired-up—only to give it up when things got tough. Following Jesus meant a re-ordering of priorities that could be hard sometimes. It meant a new way of living that didn't make you any better off financially, in fact it could cost you income. If you're poor and living in a Roman urban center when you join up, you will still be poor after joining up.
Why would people have joined the little, mostly urban churches of the Jesus Movement in the face of such warnings? As I've said before in this series, they became followers of Jesus because it made a difference in their lives, at least for most of them most of the time. They learned that their discipleship was not a way around problems and challenges, but it was a better way through them. They may not have had a larger income, but they had a richer life. It was a life that demanded humility rather than the prideful arrogance of the Pharisees, which generally worked better than a dishonest pride. Following the Jesus Way was nine times out of ten a better way to live and to work through the problems and challenges of life. Nothing is 100%, but Jesus' way was a better way.
So, bring it on, Jesus. We'll sleep under the stars with you. We'll let someone else bury Dad. We're game to give your way a try. That's the attitude that the gospel called for.
