The Cost Of Discipleship
Luke 9:57-62 NKJ
57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
59 Then He said to another, "Follow Me."
But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."
61 And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."
62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
I borrowed my title from a heading in my New King James Bible. These are considered to be some of the harder sayings of Jesus. They imply that there is a cost to being a follower of the Lord. And though we don't proclaim that from the housetops, it is the truth.
Someone said to the Lord that he would follow Him wherever. Jesus spoke of animals and birds that had homes, but He had nowhere to lay His head. I am taking cues from Bible scholars and an author named F.F. Bruce, who wrote the book Hard Sayings of Jesus. Bible scholars have come up with various answers, but the one that makes the most sense is that Jesus was referring to the challenges of following Him. He was not advocating for being homeless. But in constantly traveling, sometimes the normal accommodations were simply not there. The disciples were so hungry one day that they were eating grain directly from the plants as they walked. Jesus is telling this man that following him is not an easy life. Matthew tells us in chapter eight that the man was a scribe who offered to follow Jesus. Following the Lord would be a challenge for a person accustomed to an easier life.
Let the dead bury their own dead. This has been a tougher saying to discern. If the man's father had just died, of course, it would be appropriate for him to bury his father. The implication here is that the man had a father and was waiting for him to die so he could fulfill the duty of a son and bury him. Jesus put a higher priority on Kingdom business by saying, dead bury the dead." Again, biblical scholars differ, but I am going with the spiritually dead are to bury the physically dead. The higher priority was for this man to preach the Kingdom of God. Remember, Jesus in Luke 8:19-21 did not answer the demands of His mother and brothers but declared His mother and brothers were those who hear the Word of God and keep it. I confess that I have never taken that passage as a text, but Jesus puts a higher priority on spiritual realities than physical, natural ones, including family. People often quote it's God, faith and family, but Jesus lived it.
The last one is the man who wanted to follow the Lord but wanted to say goodbye to his family first. The idea of a man who is plowing and looking back will not plow a straight furrow makes sense. In quoting F.F. Bruce, "Here the ploughman who looks back is the would - be disciple whose mind is still partly on the life he left to follow Jesus. The work of the kingdom of God requires singleness of purpose." I do not believe that Jesus is ever requiring a follower to abandon responsibility to family and those under his authority. Paul later wrote that if a believer did not provide for his own family, he had denied the faith and was worse than an unbeliever.
Following Jesus is not an excuse for shirking responsibility. But following Jesus will at times conflict with family expectations. Both Joy and I had to go against the desires of our parents following the Lord. My parents were not for me moving to Texas to start a church. But we made the decision to follow the leading of the Lord Jesus. Joy's mom was totally against Joy leaving the Catholic Church, but Joy was determined to obey what she sensed the Lord had asked her to do. There will be times when following Jesus will put us at odds with friends and co-workers. But if our heart is to obey, in the end, following Jesus is always the best decision.
Prayer
Lord, I am willing to follow You regardless of what others may think or say. You and Your kingdom are the highest priority in my life.