From time to time, people develop a process of “weeding out.” For example, employers simply do not have the time to digest fifty resumes in order to hire one position, so they employ different criteria of “weeding out” candidates. They may "weed out" those who don't have the right educational experience. Having a cover-letter addressed "To whom it may concern," as opposed to a real person, might put you in the "No" pile. Even a resume having been printed on cheap paper may decide which candidates make it to the next stage and which one are “weeded out.”
Even some prestigious universities may “weed out” those who aren’t that serious (or are simply too lazy) by having prospective students fill out a thirty-page questionnaire. The university may not even use that questionnaire in the admissions process, but they know that only those who truly want to study at their institution will take the time to fill it out. The rest go play X-Box and are “weeded out.”
Matthew 5-7, widely known as Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” was not intentionally designed to “weed out” half-hearted prospective disciples, but it certainly would have had that effect. In it, Jesus lays out what he expects of true disciples, those who would consider themselves as citizens of “the Kingdom of Heaven.” It is, on some level, Jesus’ way of saying, “If you are going to follow me and be my disciple, you had better know what you are signing up for.”
There is a hint of this when Jesus calls his first disciples in Matthew 4. “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (v. 19). He said this to Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, and then to James and John. These four literally turned their backs on their old lives: James and John even left their father. Following Jesus meant a very dramatic life change. When the story picks up in chapters 8 and 9, similar things happen. Jesus is perfectly clear about what it would cost to follow him, and Matthew himself follows suit by leaving his occupation.
This alone would have “weeded out” would-be disciples who might only half-heartedly follow Jesus. Those who truly want to follow Jesus would be willing to give up everything in order to do that.
So Jesus wants his disciples to know what they are in for. He wants them to know what he expects out of someone who is going to be his disciple. The message is the same for us as well: If we are to accept his free gift of grace by faith, that should have a dramatic effect on our behaviors and how we treat one another. People lie, cheat, steal, kill take revenge and so on; but you are to be different! Perhaps the whole point of the Sermon can be summed up in Matthew 6:8 - Do not be like them.
This is, in fact, a reiteration of Leviticus 18.3 where Moses commands God’s people, “You must not do as they do,” both in reference to the Egyptians, whom they had just left, and the Canaanites, whom they would soon encounter. They do things a certain way, but you are to be different.
In particular, Jesus has two groups that serve as good examples of what not to do: The “pagans” and the “Pharisees.” “Pagans” would include anyone who serves a different god, or no god; someone with no ties to the ancient Jewish faith. “Pharisees” would include those with very strong ties to the ancient Jewish faith, but whose hearts are nevertheless far from God. Pagans might do what they can to appease a false “god” while Pharisees attempt to appease the True God in inappropriate ways.
The distinction between what Jesus expects out of his disciples as opposed to what pagans and Pharisees already do is laid out explicitly in Matthew 6, verses 5 and 7. On the particular matter of prayer, Jesus says, “Do not be like the hypocrites”. They have no interest in true conversation with God, but pray out loud so people will be impressed by them. Jesus also says, “Do not keep on babbling like the pagans” who think that the more they babble on, the more likely their god is to hear and answer them. Don’t be like the Pharisee-Hypocrites, and don’t be like the Babbling Pagans: You are to be different.
This comparison is meant to apply elsewhere throughout the sermon. Pharisees and pagans have specific practices with respect to murder, adultery, divorce, revenge, fasting, worry, and judgment, But you are to be different. Disciples of Jesus are to act differently. Disciples of are to love their neighbors, remain faithful in relationships, give pray and fast discretely, and ultimately maintain confidence in God.
At the end, he leaves the decision open to the hearer. There are two ways: a narrow way which is more difficult but leads to life, and a broad way which is easier but leads to destruction. Which “Way” will you take? There are two trees: Bad trees which produce bad fruit and good trees which produce good fruit: Which “Tree” would you like to be? There are two foundations: a foundation of sand which is shaky and unsteady, and a foundation of stone which is strong and secure: On which foundation will you build your life?
If you would like to follow Jesus and become a disciple of His, that is wonderful! He wants you to do just that! The one who chooses such a life will experience the incredible reward of safety and security from all spiritual harm and the promise and hope of life in a world that has been conditioned by death. However, Jesus does not mince words about what it will cost you do to so. Following in Jesus’ footsteps will require a radical change in the way you live and in the way you think. Following Jesus will require a change in allegiance. It will require a change in how you treat other people. It will require a change in how you approach God. Holding anything back will not suffice.
Once the sermon ends, the crowds are amazed “because he taught as one who had authority” (Matthew 7.29). Yet, as the book of Matthew continues, those would-be disciples who aren’t sure they want to leave everything are "weeded out." Jesus warned an eager “Teacher of the Law” that following Jesus meant he would have no place to lay his head (8.20). Another would-be disciple wished to put his house in order and then follow Jesus. The response was, “let the dead bury their own dead” (8.22).
Later in Matthew, the point is reemphasized in response to yet another would-be disciple, a rich young man. He asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and the answer is simple enough: obey the commands. The man had done all of that, but still felt he was missing something: “What do I still lack?” Jesus then shed some light on the man’s true allegiance by telling him to sell all of his possessions. It appears this was the price the man wasn’t willing to pay.
Later in the same chapter, Peter was reasonably concerned about whether or not leaving everything will have been worth it. Peter and the other disciples had done what the rich young man was not able to do: they left everything. They completely changed their allegiances and made a radical life-change, all because they bought into a hope that life with Jesus is better than life without Jesus. Will they be disappointed? Will they feel gypped, ultimately concluding that giving up everything wasn’t worth it? Or will Jesus prove them right? Will they truly have been better off because they followed him?
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, those same questions could be raised: If we give up everything to follow Jesus, in order to be different, will it prove to have been worth it in the end? Jesus’ answer to Peter in Matthew 19 also answers the questions raised by the Sermon on the Mount:
I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19.28-29).
The Pagans do this, and the Pharisees do that, but you are to be different. Following Jesus may require a radical adjustment to how you live your life, and that life-change may mean you stick out like a sore thumb. But leaving everything in order to follow Jesus will result in blessings far greater than you could ever imagine.
Perhaps I could paraphrase the blessing of Matthew 5.11:
Blessed are you, if you pay the price, give up all you have to follow Jesus, and endure the scrutiny of being very different from those around you: Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!
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