The document discusses why some men reject Christ based on an analysis of Matthew 8:16-22. It provides context on Jesus' miracles and healings. It then examines two main barriers that prevent men from following Christ: 1) The barrier of personal comforts, as exemplified by a scribe who wanted to follow Jesus but did not want to give up worldly comforts. 2) The barrier of personal riches, as shown through a man who wanted to follow Jesus but first bury his father, which was actually a reference to inheriting his father's estate. Both put worldly things above fully committing to follow Jesus.

1. Why men reject Christ
Mathew 8:16 to 22

2. I – INTRODUCTION to the topic and
contextual background
After the first three miracles of verses 1 to 15,
Jesus did a lot of healing again the purpose of
which is to show proof his divinity. Jesus healed all
unconditionally. Through his healing Jesus
empathized with human pain and sorrow, showed
compassion & love for man because the cause of
pain, sickness and death and sin and this was
never part of God’s plan and through healing
Jesus gave us a preview of His coming kingdom
where there will be no sin, no death and no pain.
But despite the wonderful miracles and hearing the
marvelous teachings of Christ men continue to
reject the Messiah not only in Jesus time but even
until today. In the next verses Mathew shows us
what keeps men from rejecting Christ.

3. 1.) The barrier of personal comforts (vs. 18 to 20)
• The scribes were authorities in Jewish law, and
were closely associated with the Pharisees. They
were highly educated and were the scholarly class
of Jewish society. They were fiercely loyal to the
system of religious traditions Typically the scribes
were teachers, not followers of teachers, and they
were especially reluctant to follow a teacher such
as Christ, who not only was not educated in a
rabbinic school but actually denounced the
traditions they held sacred. For a scribe to address
Jesus as didaskalos (Teacher) was therefore a
considerable concession in itself,

4. •The scribe may have sincerely thought that Jesus was the greatest Teacher
he had ever heard and the greatest miracle worker the world had ever seen. He
probably sincerely recognized that Jesus’ teaching and power were from God
and that He was in some uniquely special way God’s man for the hour. He
found Jesus appealing and wanted to be associated with Him. I will follow You
wherever You go, he said to Jesus.
Jesus responded to the scribe’s statement by making a statement of His own.
He did not verbally question the man’s sincerity but simply mentioned some
demands of true discipleship the man had never considered. At first glance
Jesus’ words seem unrelated to the scribe’s affirmation. He was saying, in
proverbial form, that in spite of His divine authority and miracle-working power,
self-indulgence was not in His plan, and He had fewer physical comforts
than many animals.

5. “The Son of Man” - in Daniel 7:13. Jesus is called by that title over eighty
times in the gospels and it was the most common name that He used for
Himself. It was a term of His humiliation, and was especially appropriate in the
figure of His having nowhere to lay His head. In His humiliation He did not even
have the basic comforts of life. Jesus had no place of His own—no house or
property, not even a tent.
Jesus’ purpose in making such a statement was obviously to make the scribe
take stock of the genuineness of his commitment. Many people are initially
impressed with Christ upon seeing the miracles hearing his teaching. But a few
really considered to count the cost. Jesus illustrates this in Mathew 13:5-6,
20-21. Jesus knew the scribe was too eager to declare his allegiance. He did
not count the cost of discipleship, which involves self-denial, sacrifice, and quite
possibly suffering. (2 Timothy 3:12,, Mathew 10:18 to 22, Mathew 16:24)

6. 2.) The barrier of personal riches (vs. 21)
• This man, like the scribe of verse 19, was one of Jesus’ disciples in the sense
of being a follower who was unofficially identified with Him. He was not one of
the twelve, but a hanger-on who had perhaps followed Jesus about the
countryside for a few weeks or months.
• At first glance the request seemed legitimate request. Since the Jews did not
practice embalming, a dead body had to be quickly prepared and buried. Not
only that, but Jewish tradition required that a person mourn for his deceased
father or mother for a period of thirty days. The final act of devotion to parents
was seeing that they were properly buried. Since Jesus was about to go to the
other side of the Sea of Galilee, a burial obviously could not wait until His
return.

7. • The man’s asking for permission to bury [his] father, however, did not mean
that his father was already dead. The phrase was a common Near Eastern
figure of speech that referred to a son’s responsibility to help his father in the
family business until the father died and the inheritance was distributed.
Obviously such a commitment could involve a long period of time, thirty or forty
years or more if the father was relatively young. A man’s inheritance was
customarily lost or reduced if he did not fulfill his expected responsibilities to the
family.
This person did not want to risk losing his inheritance by committing himself
fully to Jesus. He wanted to be associated with Jesus in name, but the focus of
his life was on his personal prosperity and well-being, not on serving the Lord.
Jesus therefore said to him, “Follow Me; and allow the dead to bury their own
dead.” the seemingly nonsensical expression allow the dead to bury their own
dead was a proverbial figure of speech. It meant, “Let the world take care of the
things of the world.” The spiritually dead can take care of their own things.

8. Ug kaniya nangutana ang usa ka punoan nga nag-
ingon, "Maayong Magtutudlo, unsa bay buhaton ko
aron makapanunod ako sa kinabuhing dayon?"
Si Jesus mitubag kaniya, "Nganong giingnan mo
man ako nga maayo? Walay bisan usa nga maayo
gawas sa Dios lamang.
Ikaw nahibalo sa mga sugo: `Ayaw pagpanapaw,
Ayaw pagbuno, Ayaw pagpangawat, Ayaw
pagbakak sa imong pagsaksi, Tumahod ka sa imong
amahan ug inahan.`“ - Luke 18:18 – 23

10. Commandment no. 9
“Thou shall not lie”
Dili ka mamakak

11. Commandment no. 8
“Thou shall not steal”
Dili ka mangawat

12. Commandment no 6.
“You shall not
murder”
Dili ka mo patay
Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of the judgment . . . (Mathew 5:21,22)
Kamo nakadungog na niini nga gikasulti ngadto sa mga tawo sa karaan, nga
nagaingon, `Ayaw pagbuno; ug bisan kinsa nga makabuno mahiagum sa
hukom.`Apan sultihan ko kamo, nga bisan kinsa nga masuko batok sa iyang
igsoon, mahiagum na sa hukmanan;

13. Commandment no. 7
“You shall not
commit adultery”
Dili ka manapaw
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit
adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Mathew
5:27, 28)
"Nakadungog kamo sa giingon, `Ayaw pagpanapaw.`Apan sultihan ko kamo,
nga bisan kadtong magatan-awg babaye uban sa pagkaibog kaniya,
nakapanapaw na kaniya diha sa sulod sa iyang kaugalingong kasingkasing.

14. Nganong gi ingnan siya ni Hesus
nga tanawa ang mga sugo ?
Ang pag tuman ba sa sugo ang
maka pahimo nato nga matarung
?

15. Para maka pa
namin ta sa
atong ka-
dautan !
“Kay sa atubangan sa Dios walay tawo nga
pagamatarungon pinaagi sa mga pagtuman sa
kasugoan, kay pinaagi sa kasugoan nagaabut hinoon
ang kahibalo mahitungod sa sala.” (Romans 3:20)

16. Sanglit nakasala man ang tanan ug nakabsan sa himaya sa
Dios – Romans 3:23

17. Ang silot sa sala . . .
Apan alang sa mga talawan, ug sa mga dili matinoohon, ug sa
mga malaw-ay, alang sa mga mamomono, ug sa mga
makihilawason, ug sa mga lumayan, ug sa mga magsisimbag
mga diosdios, ug sa tanang mga bakakon, ang ilang bahin mao
ang paghiadto sa linaw nga nagasilaob sa kalayo ug asupri, nga
mao ang ikaduhang kamatayon (Revelations 21:8)

18. Apan ang Dios nagapadayag sa iyang gugma alang kanato
pinaagi niini, nga bisan sa mga makasasala pa kita si Cristo
nagpakamatay alang kanato – Romans 5:8

19. Unsay angay nimong buhaton . . .
Ang saktong pamagi sa kaluwasan

20. Kay kon pinaagi sa imong baba magasugid
ikaw nga si Jesus mao ang Ginoo ug
magatoo sa sulod sa imong kasingkasing
nga siya gibanhaw sa Dios gikan sa mga
patay, nan, maluwas ikaw. Romans 10:9

21. 1.) PAG HINOLSOL !
(REPENT OF YOUR SINS)
Angkona ang imong pagka
makasasala, pagsakit sa
imong sala, og isalikway
imong sala !
Busa, paghinulsol kamo, ug pamalik na kamo kaniya, aron
mapala ang inyong mga sala, aron ang mga panahon sa
kahayahay magaabut gikan sa atubangan sa Ginoo –
Acts 3:19

22. 2.) Tuohi nga ang
pagpakamatay niya sa cross
sa kalbaryo bayad sa imong
sala !
(Believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ died for your sins)
“Siya gayud mao ang midala sa atong mga sala diha sa iyang
lawas ngadto sa kahoy, aron kita mamatay ngadto sa sala ug
mabuhi ngadto sa pagkamatarung. Pinaagi sa iyang mga
samad kamo nangaayo.” – 1 Peter 2:24

23. 3.) Angkona si Cristo nga
mao nay masunod sa imong
kinabuhi, og i-tugyan imong
kinabuhi niya
(CONFESS JESUS AS
LORD OF YOUR LIFE
AND SURRENDER YOUR
LIFE TO HIM)
Kay kon pinaagi sa imong baba magasugid ikaw nga si Jesus mao ang
Ginoo ug magatoo sa sulod sa imong kasingkasing nga siya gibanhaw
sa Dios gikan sa mga patay, nan, maluwas ikaw. Romans 10:9

24. Ug siya miingon, "Kanang tanan ako nang
ginabantayan sukad pa sa akong pagkabatan-on."
Ug sa pagkadungog niini ni Jesus, siya miingon
kaniya, "Usa pa ka butang ang imong kulang.
Ibaligya ang tanan mong kab-tangan ug ang halin
ipanghatag sa mga kabus, ug makabaton kag
bahandi didto sa langit; ug unya umanhi ka ug
sumunod kanako."
Apan sa iyang pagkadungog niini, siya nasubo sa
hilabihan gayud kay siya dato man ugod kaayo.
(Luke 18:18 – 23)

25. Ug sa iyang mga tinun-an misulti si Jesus nga nag-ingon,
"Kon adunay buot mosunod kanako, kinahanglan magdumili
siya sa iyang kaugalingon, ug magpas-an sa iyang krus, ug
magsunod kanako.” – Mathew 16:24