Motives of Service

Topic: Motives
Passage: Matthew 8:14–22

April 8, 2021

Commentary

Jesus healed Peter’s Mother-in-law (vv. 14-17). When He saw her lying in bed sick with a fever he touched her, and she was healed. She immediately got up from her bed and began waiting on the Lord and the many disciples who were with Him. Matthew saw this as a fulfillment of (Isa. 53:4). He bore man’s sickness and infirmities during His ministry on earth and not on the cross. In other words, to say that there is “healing in the atonement” and that every believer has the right to claim it, is to misinterpret Scripture.

Next Matthew recorded Christ’s interactions with two men who said they wanted to follow Him. Their motives were wrong however:

  1. One Desired Fame: Because great crowds followed Jesus and there had not been much opposition up to this point, many expressed a desire to follow Him (vv. 18-20). However, they would not be willing to pay the price. One of these men was a scribe who apparently blur­ted out, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go” (v. 19). The Lord obviously knew his heart and insisted that he count the cost of discipleship.
  2. One Desired Personal Convenience: The second man requested that he be permitted to return home and bury his father (v. 21). It appears that the man’s father was not dead or even at the point of death. His request demonstrated that he thought discipleship was something he could do when it was convenient. Jesus’ response was “Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead” (v.22).

Application

What are the highest priorities in my life? How much time do I spend on physical things in comparison to caring for those who are spiritually dead?

Matthew 8:14– 22 (NET)

14 Now when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying down, sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve them. 16 When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. 17 In this way what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.”

18 Now when Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake. 19 Then an expert in the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21 Another of the 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.”