8:19,20
Matthew has given the baptism of Jesus with the affirmation of the Father, the great teaching of the Sermon on the mount, the healings of individuals, and then many people. Matthew now introduces two vitally important warnings. The previous verse was about needing time away from crowds, now there are serious warnings about the cost of following Jesus. The way of Jesus and the way of the world are diametrically opposed and we need to remember this. And we need to be upfront about the cost. Two people are mentioned in these few verses. The first is a teacher of the law, which shows the reach of Jesus’ ministry. Teachers of the Law were respected people in the society of the day, they were part of the “elite” of the time. If the man truly followed Jesus he would find that he was no longer part of the elite. For, as we shall see, this would happen very quickly. A feature of the rest of the gospel will be the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders, and their attempts to kill Jesus.
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