Alexander Moody Stuart (1809-1898) was a minister in Edinburgh from his ordination in 1837 until his retirement in 1887, joining the Free Church of Scotland at the 1843 Disruption. His experiential preaching had a near affinity to that of his contemporaries Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Andrew and Horatius Bonar, and John Milne. Among his appreciative hearers was "Rabbi" John Duncan, who while a professor of theology served for twenty years on the session of Moody Stuart's congregation. After Duncan's death, Moody Stuart prepared a volume of recollections of his friend. The material presented here is taken from Moody Stuart's Capernaum (1863).

"Now, when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. . . . And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" Matthew 8:18-27. See Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25.
"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee withersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee: but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:57-62.

One of the great occasions of Christ's ministry at Capernaum is in the annunciation of the sower, the tares of the field, and other parables. In the morning he leaves the house, goes down to the sea-shore, and there delivers those parables from the ship to a great multitude of people; not only from the neighborhood, but "gathered together out of every city." He then returns home with his disciples, and opens the spiritual meaning that lay concealed beneath the various similitudes.

On the evening of the same day, Jesus gives orders to pass over to the other side; and the incidents which then occur may be thus arranged; the followers on the sea-shore, the voyage across the lake, the sleep of Jesus in the storm, and the deliverance of the disciples.

I. The Followers on the Sea-Shore

There is no necessity for supposing, that the two cases recorded by Matthew and the three by Luke occurred on different occasions; because the one might add a part which the other had omitted, as so often happens. The only descriptive note given by Luke is in the words, "it came to pass as they went by the way"; but this quite accords with Matthew's definite account of time and place in the occurrence of the incidents.

After a long day's work, Jesus is about to pass to the other side of the sea with his disciples; and between the house and the boat, he addresses memorable words to three of his followers. This he does partly of his own accord, and partly in answer to them. But they appear to be all professed disciples already, in the more general sense of the term; for the conversation refers to an attendance upon Christ, of a more express and constant character. The three may be distinguished as the hasty, the tardy, and the halting followers of Jesus.

1. The hasty follower is the first who presents himself, and he is sifted by Christ. He is a scribe, a doctor of the Hebrew law, a member of a learned and distinguished body that was held in the highest estimation by the people, one who sat in the seat of Moses. He has been with the multitude, listening on the shore to the wondrous parables spoken from the ship; and has probably been privileged, along with the disciples, to hear in the house the opening of their mysteries. He is not only astonished and delighted with the great untaught Teacher, but is deeply impressed with the all that he has heard, and his heart is moved with a tide of religious affection to the Lord Jesus. Nothing less could induce him to make such an offer of service: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. It is the offer of a man of learning and worldly prospects, to cast in his lot with the lowly Jesus of Nazareth; very humbling for him to make, apparently both highly honorable and very helpful for Jesus to receive. It is the offer of a studious and sedentary man, accustomed to comfort and respect at home with others waiting on his word, to leave it all and follow Christ about the country. Jesus is in the very act of stepping into the ship to an unknown destination on the other side; when this disciple in the warmth of his affection and zeal accosts him before all, Master, I will follow withersoever thou goest.

"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," is the cordial and invariable reception for every returning sinner. But Jesus, who receives all who apply for salvation, does not accept all who make offer of service; and gives no consent to take this scribe into the ship along with him: The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. It is not absolute penury that Jesus speaks of, or the want of necessary accommodation for the night; because there were many houses open to him with many cordial hosts, both in Capernaum and elsewhere. But it is a willing uncertainty for time, the hold of this life let go, a severance from all the ties of earth. The fox in his widest roamings has still his well-known retreat, to which he ever returns; the bird in all its wanderings has still its own secure resting-place for the night. But the Son of Man has not earth for his home, nor any home on earth; and every follower of the Son of Man leaves all, without any earthly rest or refuge in reserve. This is not his rest; but the "rest that remaineth for the people of God."

In the depths of this lawyer's heart, as in the heart of so many professed followers of Christ, there was something to fall back upon if Jesus failed. There was to be for the present, a constant and ardent following of Christ throughout the land; but there was some expected home with honor to be offered him by Jesus, or his own home to retire to in the end in case of disappointment. The ties to the world are not cut through; Jesus cuts them quite by these words, if this man is to go with him at all; or else he cuts the slender tie that binds him as a disciple.

The world to be quite given up; the nest a man makes for himself, to be forsaken for ever; the refuge in which he takes shelter, to be abandoned once and for all: such an ordeal cools many an ardent follower of Christ. It is a balance in which many have been weighed and found wanting; in which many will yet be weighed, and their want discovered to all. Can we abide it?

This spontaneous sacrifice seemed by far the best of the offers of service now made to Jesus. The offerer was ready on the instant to go with him: he had no father to bury before he went; no mother or sister, to whom he must bid farewell with a parting kiss; but Christ was to be his immediate and entire portion: I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. The offerer thought his own service as sincere, as his sacrifice was great; yet the searcher of hearts discovers some unforsaken idol, in the depths of the soul within. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if any wicked way be in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

2. The tardy follower is hastened by Jesus. Suffer me first to go and bury my father: Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. The command is trying, and sounds severe; yet at the same time, it is highly honorable to the disciple. The other two make offer of service, but he is called to the work by Jesus himself; for the divine rule that "no man taketh this honor to himself, but he that is called of God," is remarkably illustrated in the whole gospel history. It does not appear that Jesus ever accepted any self-moved offer of service, but "he called unto him whom he would." The call on this occasion is not declined by the disciple; and the delay that is pleaded is neither for a mere excuse nor for a trifling reason, but for a grave and urgent cause, and even a binding duty except for the intervening call of Christ. The call comes while the disciple's father lies dead and unburied, and he pleads the necessity of interring his father first. This implies that he cannot now enter the ship with Christ, but will be ready to follow him on his return. Jesus intimates no disapproval, as if his difficulty indicated any unfitness for the ministry; but he enlightens his conscience, removes the obstacle by leaving the burden upon others, and commissions him: Go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

The command is honorable to him who receives it; but the words of Jesus convey a singularly severe, and awful reflection on the mass even of the respected members of society. "Let the dead bury their dead"; that is, Let the dead in sins bury their dead relatives. Of the maiden who dies after being committed into the hands of Jesus, he declares that she is not dead; but he pronounces all the unrenewed, who are engaged in the duties and decencies of life, to be but dead men; their living but dying bodies entombing their dead souls. These are not wild and reckless prodigals, but such as can be entrusted decently to discharge a solemn duty; yet their souls have not one spark of life in them, and they are hasting forward to the second and everlasting death. It is as sadly true in the midst of us, as in Christ's own city, that many a decent funeral is only a solemn procession of the dead burying their dead; while in some cases the dark gloom is deepened by the Lord's holy day being selected for the "dead work."

The duty, however, was a most fit one for this son to discharge, had not the Lord called him to better work. It was quite incumbent, if there had not been other relatives capable enough of discharging it; probably other sons, who were ready to bury their own dead. They could do that which was detaining him, but not that to which he was called in the gospel. In burying his father, he was only taking part in what others could perform as well without him; but in preaching the gospel he was doing what none of them could attempt. Let them attend to their duty, but let him follow his own. His call is not to the dark work of interring the dead, but to preach the living and life giving word; not to sound the sad funeral wail, but to blow the silver trump of jubilee and carry the glad tidings of salvation. His call is to raise the dead, and not to bury them. It is more important, more necessary, more urgent by far, as well as more noble. Go thou and preach the kingdom of God: by the living word, breathed on by the quickening Spirit, go and heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead from the grave of sin.

The words of Jesus carry a lasting lesson to ministers of the gospel to leave to others the many concerns of this life, of which they may be tempted to take a burden; works good and useful in themselves for the social interests of the community, but which others will discharge as well as they without interfering with higher calls. The minister's time is most precious for his own peculiar work; no other man's time in the world is so valuable as his, for no calling is so high or so important. Let him therefore leave to others, what they can do as well as he; and let him keep fast by his own holy and peculiar vocation. The rest are often only "dead works," which can be done by "dead men"; his is a living work, requiring a living man with all his time and all his life. Others also not in the ministry, but called by God into special nearness to himself in prayer for the salvation of souls or in effort on their behalf, will find in the words of Christ a helpful warrant of release from many things which they might do, but which there is no fear of others neglecting. These things they may safely leave for more spiritual, more profitable, and more lasting labor in the vineyard of the Great Husbandman.

3. The last of the three followers is halting with a divided heart, and is reproved. He desires to go with Jesus, with the homeless Son of Man, yet he cannot quite embark with him at the moment; but must first take a last look of his own cherished home ere he renounces it, and have some parting interchange of affection with his friends before he leaves them. It is not the claim of family and friends upon him in the way of duty, as in the last case; but the clinging of his own unloosened attachment, that divides and detains him. He has gone forward to the great field of the Lord's husbandry, has put his hand upon the plough, and seems ready to start in the work; but his eye is turned backward to his pleasant home, where his heart has remained all the while. Conscience urges him on under a sense of duty; hope of eternal life draws on in the prospect of great advantage; fear drives him on by the terror of the wrath to come. But love binds him to earth, his heart cleaves to the dust, his affections remain unsevered. "He is not fit for the kingdom of God"; his present disposition is unmeet, and probably the man himself has no spiritual fitness for the kingdom.

There is nothing so common in the professing church as this divided heart, though it is the very note of the man whom the King pronounces unfit for the kingdom. Often also, as in this case, the act of placing the hand on the plough emboldens the heart to cast the eye back the next moment. Till the hand is stretched out to grasp the plough and reaches it, the man both moves forward and keeps looking forward; but now it seems as if all were safe and right. The decisive effort is made, and the eye may look back without danger. So it was with Lot's wife: till she is out of Sodom and its more immediate dangers, both foot and eye are onward; but she looks back, after she seems to have fairly escaped the threatened flames. And this follower of Jesus first of all lays his hand upon the plough. He does not run home to bid farewell, and then come after Jesus; he seems afraid to take so much upon himself, and to run so great a risk of losing heaven. But he commits himself to Christ; he declares, I will follow thee; and having made the open profession, he now lets his eye instantly look back, adding, But let me first go, and bid farewell at home. There is no subtler snare than seeking to have so much nearness to Christ, and so much dedication to his cause, as will entitle and safely enable us to "love the world and the things of the world"; yet by such love, we brand ourselves as devoid of the love of the Father.

Go to the next installment:
Christ Sleeping on the Sea: Part II