We recognize that there are different personality types: people who are more prone to optimism, and others more inclined to hopefulness. There are some people who are more impulsive than others, there are some who are inclined to be super cool, and there are some people who are inclined to be extremely gloomy. The whole thing is more complicated than that because it's all mixed up with other traits: some people are optimists when the weather is good and pessimists when the weather is bad, and some people can switch around by the minute so these things cannot be really put into pigeonholes, but it is instructive to think about these three people as optimists. Optimism in the spiritual realm can be a disaster. Of course, whatever your natural traits, you are still responsible for how you handle your personality. If you're an immensely strong person physically, it doesn't give you the right to be violent. If you're an extremely intelligent person it doesn't give you the right to be cunning and devious with it. Whatever we are, we are responsible for how we handle our distinctive personality and bent. We're never excused from sin, and this is so important in the spiritual realm.
The Lord didn't put any pressure on him. He just comes bounding up and he says this. According to Matthew’ Gospel he addresses Christ as Lord, a most respectful title. He approaches Christ with great reverence as one to whom he is prepared to submit himself. He seems to be aware that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah, but only vaguely aware. This is another tendency when we are in our most optimistic moods: we are then often in our most superficial moods. We skim over the surface, and we assent to things and believing in things which we haven't thought particularly deeply about.
If you're an optimist and you come into the church and you enjoy singing the hymns and you believe in God, you may be doing all this very vaguely. What does it mean for Christ to be God? What did he come to do if he was God? Why do we need him to come? There are questions to be asked, but this scribe, teacher of the word of God to the Jews as he was, he didn't seem to have thought very deeply about all this. He says, ‘I will follow you.’ He is very emphatic about this, but the optimist often is. If you're an optimist you put yourself forward for things, and this often gets you into difficult places. All of us when we are at our most optimistic rush ahead without thinking what we're saying.