Today we will finish Luke chapter 9 (vs. 57-62). Jesus has been teaching his disciples what it means to be great in God’s eyes, in contrast to what they believed. The capabilities of Christ seem wasted in merely dying on a cross. This last section looks at three different men who are going to follow Jesus, but something gets in the way, whether they know it or not. Jesus as a teacher points these barriers out to them, but also wants his disciples and us today to recognize the cost required in order to follow him.
The first guy is found in verses 57-58. He makes a bold statement of following Jesus “wherever you go.” Jesus responds by reminding the man that he doesn’t even have a place to lay his head. Now Jesus doesn’t mean that literally. He is saying he doesn’t have a place of his own. He is at the mercy of what God provides. This issue of provision can become a stumbling block to many. Christ makes no promise of earthly comforts to his disciples. “Come follow me,” but I don’t know where I am going to sleep tonight. The person who wants to follow Jesus is going to have to deal with the worry that rises in the heart of a person regarding provisions.
This man desires to follow Jesus; however, Christ sees something in his heart. He is a man who is us attached to certain provisions in his life. It will be difficult for him to follow Jesus long if he doesn’t face the reality up front. His good desire to follow Jesus is mixed in with many other desires. The desire for comfort and certain provisions will eventually be challenged when following Jesus. “Pick up your cross and follow me,” is no promise of great provisions. It is a promise that he knows where he is headed and if we follow him God will take care of us. God always provides, just not what we always desire.
Look at the life of Jesus. He had meager origins and he lived by meager means. Those who followed him in those days shared in that. Even though he had donors who gave gifts to help him out, this is still a worrisome proposition for our flesh. Thus if we are going to follow Christ then we need to sit down and count the cost. This man only saw what he would gain in following Jesus. But, Jesus wants him also to think about what he will lose, or at least might lose. Jesus promises that if we lose anything in this world for his sake, God will make it up to us with so much more of something better. Whether in this life or the life to come is not our concern. God is more concerned with our spiritual growth than he is with our material prosperity. Though it may serve His needs from time to time to bless a person with material prosperity, it is a test of faith as much as the times of little. If my heart is overly attached to the material things of this world I will have trouble following Christ in difficult times. The person who has little is tested in learning to trust the goodness of God. The person who has much is tested in learning to give God the credit for the goodness and to use it for His glory. Where your heart is there your treasure will lie.
The second guy is found in verses 59-60. We see some of the same issues in the next two guys. So I will focus on the timing issue in this situation. Here it is Jesus asking the guy to follow him. Yet, the guy asks for more time in order to deal with his aging father. Apparently he wants to follow Jesus, but the timing isn’t good for him. Though the text says he needs to bury his father, it is highly unlikely that he means his dad is already dead. People were buried very quickly after death. Most likely his father is old and failing in health and he wants to go back home and wait until this situation has ended. Of course then the estate will be divided and since he is following a man who can’t promise any provisions… Well, you get the picture.
God often calls us to do things that are not good timing from our perspective. “Go talk to your neighbor about their soul.” Answer: But Lord, I’m not ready yet. “Follow me.” Answer: But Lord I have too many things I want to accomplish first. When I’m retired I will really get down to business in serving you. It is this “lack of timing” that causes to surface precisely what we need to deal with. God’s timing is not bad.
We also see that here that good things can get in the way of God’s things. There is nothing wrong with caring for family, burying those who die, and inheriting an estate. However, such things can also divert us from doing what God is calling us to do. In some cases, like missionaries, we have to say goodbye to many good things and simply trust the Lord. In other cases, we must learn to do those things AND serve the Lord; at the same time. We must be careful of thinking, “I will do this first and then serve God.” If God is calling you today, then you either don’t need that which you will have to leave behind. Besides, maybe he is calling someone else in the family to step in and care for dad.
The response that Jesus gives sounds strange. “Let the dead bury the dead, but you follow me.” Jesus is speaking spiritually here. If the spirit of God is speaking and you are spiritually alive then you need to obey and follow God. But if you are dead to the Spirit of God then by all means stay and do what you want. There are many spiritually dead people in this world pursuing the joys and pleasure of this life without a thought for what God wants them to do. But if you are alive then you can’t live like that. What are God’s purposes in this world? And, how do I fit in with those purposes? These are the questions we need to answer and then act upon.
The third man is in verses 61-62. This man also wants to deal with his affairs and say goodbye to his family. His seems to be less of a wait and yet a wait nonetheless. Let’s focus on the things we have to leave behind. Sometimes family ties can hold us back from God’s call. Even the mother and brothers of Jesus tried to restrain him from doing what He knew God was calling him to do. So Jesus understood this problem well. Dad and mom may not always understand what God is calling you to do. If you let your good attachments to them get in the way, you may never follow Jesus for yourself. It is not wrong to love family. But our love for family should not be greater than our love for our Lord. We use the phrase, “inordinate love.” It is a love that is not given the correct order in relation to God.
Jesus also uses an image from farm life: plowing a field. This metaphor demonstrates the importance of not looking back. We must keep our focus on the task before us in order to do it well. Distracted work is not done well. Jesus does not want us to be distracted workers. God is worthy of our undivided attention in the task that He gives us. Thus learning to serve God with a whole heart is primary. When the Lord calls us to salvation we can be tempted to look back to the pleasures of this world. Those friends of the world will not be our friends any more unless they follow Jesus too. It can be difficult to accept such things. Even in service to the Lord we can be looking back to easier days and “better” things. We can pause or even stop in our following of Jesus.
In each of these cases, Jesus is not trying to dissuade these men in following him. But, precisely because he knows the path ahead is difficult, he requires us to count the cost in advance. We do a disservice to people when we try to remove all the barriers to getting saved and following Jesus. This is not real life. Later, when you are not there to remove those barriers for them, they will falter. God gives us truth so that we can make a decision that is based upon reality rather than fantasy. May God help us to follow him regardless of these things to which we too easily become inseparably attached.