Matthew 8:19

19. A certain scribe As a professional man, read in law, and probably of the tribe of Levi, he would appear to be a more eligible disciple than the fisherman or the toll-gatherer. Whithersoever He seems prepared for trials. There is no proof of any ambitious motive. Yet our Lord sees that he has not the material for a true apostle. He neither accepts nor rejects him; he only gives a vivid picture of his own poor accommodations, and the scribe’s ardour seems to evaporate. It is very probable that the scribe acted more wisely in staying than in going. He would have spoiled perhaps a good scribe, and have made a poor apostle. Not every profound Christian scholar is bound to be a preacher of the Gospel. He does not seem to have even persisted to cross the Gennesaret. There are those who have an idea that there is something in the life of a missionary attractive and romantic. When such are the motives, a most miserable failure results.