The Ones Who Were Left Behind

By Mary Vee
Matthew 8

From Matthew's Journal 

On the Sea of Galilee where Peter, Andrew, and others fished.
Photo by Mary Vee

My name is Matthew, I am a follower of Jesus. I have recorded some of what I witnessed in this post. 

Jesus finished explaining the lesson in the last parable to us as the crowds noticed Him and moved our way. They seemed interested in listening to more, but Jesus had other tasks that needed to be done at the time.

We boarded a boat set to cross the Sea of Galilee. 

A teacher of the law approached the boat and said to Jesus, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus answered him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 

It seemed to me that Jesus wanted to help this man understand that following Him would not include a rich lifestyle. There wouldn't be fancy houses or any other lavish perks. Those of us who had been following Jesus saw this to be true.

Jesus turned to another man approaching the boat and said, "Follow me."

The man said, "Lord, I will, but first let me go and bury my father." He wasn't saying that his father had died and needed burial right then. He meant that he wanted to wait until his father grew old and died. That could take several years.

Jesus answered the man, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Another man approached the boat and said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family."

Jesus answered, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.

By the time evening came, Jesus said, "Let's go across the sea." 

And so the boat set sail, leaving those who did not choose to follow Jesus behind with the crowd.




If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section.


Next time I will write about amazing miracles performed by Jesus.

 Come back to read the next story.

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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.