Things are going great in Jesus’ early ministry. All the healings He’s been doing and the words He’s been speaking are with authority, and many more are coming to Him and desiring to follow Him. He even heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and that brings even more people coming to Him to be healed. His popularity was rising…
And then He decided to leave the crowd, to go to the other side of the lake. And when people volunteered to join His movement He discouraged them with words that sound, well, rather harsh. Why would Jesus do that? Maybe because He understood human nature, and our desire to join in with something successful for the wrong reasons.
When we follow Jesus and join in His work, we are assured that it will NOT make our lives easy. It won’t always be fun. There will be trial, struggles, and times of great sacrifice. But it’s not about us. It’s about Jesus, and being His hands and feet and mouth where ever He might place us!