Count the Cost
OCTOBER 26, 2026
SCRIPTURE COLLECTION
Today's Scripture Passage
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Matthew 8:18-22
Related Scriptures:
Matthew 8:18–22
Luke 9:57–62
2 Timothy 2:3–4
Luke 14:26–33
Matthew 10:37–39
Matthew 16:24–26
Matthew 13:44–46
Philippians 3:7–8
Psalm 73:25–26
Matthew 6:19–21
1 John 2:15–17
Mark 10:28–30
Notes & Reflections
As we read this passage, we can see an eagerness and determination in the person in front of Jesus, and it’s from a scribe.
Now a scribe was someone who knew the law and who was a religious leader. Indeed, what he said to Jesus was rather gutsy.
He says, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
In this moment, he was setting himself apart from the rest of the people around him. He was even putting himself at odds to say this kind of thing openly. But Jesus’s answer suggests, to us who are reading, that this man may not have counted the cost or maybe had an ulterior motive.
Something interesting about scribes was that they could draft legal documents. Documents like contracts for marriage and divorce, but also for mortgages, which stands out when we read Jesus’s reply. He says He has no place to lay His head. He has no need for a business partner. He isn’t here to shake hands. He’s not here to overthrow Rome and set up an earthly kingdom. Maybe that was the hidden motive of the scribe. Now that’s not in the text openly, but the point is plain: we can come to Christ and say, “I’ll follow you!” and it may be shot down with a brutally honest answer.
There are two honest answers here from this text for everyone:
When you say, “I will follow,” the only thing you get is Christ. The sentence “I will follow” means “You (Christ) are all I need.”
It’s like what we hear in 2 Timothy 2:3-4:“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
We have a single focus.
A single love.
The mind of a soldier.
He didn’t come to make His home here or to fluff His pillows. He had a mission to serve and save His people. He was headed to die. And if He was headed there, then I can assume I’m headed there. Give up all you have and make Christ your treasure. Whether that means you have to give up something close and personal like family, or whatever it is, Christ is worth more than everything.
Which leads to answer #2.
2.Everything else is small compared to Christ and His work.
Family
Career
Dreams
Hobbies
All are nothing compared to Christ and what we have in Him. Let the dead bury their dead. Let what’s temporal take its place as temporal. It’s passing away. If we could see how small these things are when compared to what we are a part of, we would be very happy men and women. We need Christ and we need to lead people to Him. That should be my everything. I encourage you to believe this too.
These answers are hard and there are many objections to raise. The scribe probably had his own. “Oh, you don’t need me as a business partner? I only need you? No thanks. I thought you were a king…” Maybe that was his thought as he heard Jesus. I think he walked away sad. And maybe many will hear this and do the same, but I encourage us to see Christ as treasure, embrace His answers and count the cost.
What does it mean to follow Christ?
To follow Christ is to take Him as your only treasure, counting the cost and holding nothing back, so that family, career, dreams, and even our own lives take their place as temporal things that are passing away, while we, like good soldiers, aim to please the One who enlisted us, because the only thing we are promised for following Him is Him, and He is worth more than everything (Matthew 8:18–22; 2 Timothy 2:3–4; Matthew 13:44).
Study Questions
QUESTION 01
What did the scribe expect to get from following Jesus, and how does Jesus’s answer in Matthew 8:20 expose it?
QUESTION 02
What does “leave the dead to bury their own dead” mean, and what was the second man putting ahead of Christ?
QUESTION 03
According to 2 Timothy 2:3–4, what “civilian pursuits” can entangle a follower of Christ today?
How To Cling Today
Cling to Christ today by seeing him as your greatest treasure.
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