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Luke Lesson 33 (2009)

THE PRIORITY OF FOLLOWING JESUS
Luke 9:57-62
Key Verse: 9:62

“Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”

While my two sons were growing up, I never imagined that they would join the military service, especially the US Marine Corps. I learned that Marines are to follow three core values; honor, courage and commitment. These values give Marines strength, regulate their behavior and bond the Marine Corps into a united force that can meet any challenge. Through today’s passage, I also learned that being a disciple is like joining the military service or any type of special task force. This passage is tough to deal with. In fact, the more I study it, the more uneasy I feel. I was actually tempted to skip this passage because it seems to be too difficult to understand and too challenging to our values and contemporary culture. But I realized that if I skip it, I would be guilty of suppressing the truth of God. We must address the core value of Jesus’ discipleship.

Today’s passage introduces us to three well-meaning volunteers who seemed to be willing to follow Jesus. They only had some minor issues, like “first let me bury my father” and “first let me go back and say ‘good-bye’ to my family members.” But Jesus said “Nope!” to them all! He didn’t seem to welcome any of their terms. Rather, his words to them were very disturbing. Why did Jesus discourage those volunteers? Wouldn’t it be better to take any volunteer with him? If not, what kind of discipleship does he want? Let’s listen closely to the words of Jesus, being careful not to take them beyond what he really meant. Most all, let’s learn from Jesus what it means to follow him.

Look at verses 57a. “As they were walking along the road…” At that time Jesus and his disciples were traveling toward Jerusalem where Jesus had repeatedly announced that he would suffer many things, be rejected, killed and raised to life. (9:22, 44) While traveling through Samaria, Jesus was rejected by most Samaritans because of racial tensions between the Jews and Samaritans. It seems more than just the twelve disciples were traveling with Jesus. Perhaps, these disciples expected Jesus was going to establish the powerful messianic kingdom in Jerusalem. That’s why the disciples argued among themselves as to which of them would take the highest position in the new kingdom. (9:46)

Last year, when Presidential Candidate Barak Obama’s victory was becoming evident, a lot of people endorsed him. The media immediately suspected that these people might be considering their own chances in Washington. Likewise, as Jesus was getting close to Jerusalem, many people who used to hang around him made an attempt to get into the inner circle of Jesus with some ulterior motives. Look at verse 57b. “A man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Matthew wrote that the man was a teacher of the law. (Mt 8:19) This man volunteered to follow Jesus anywhere as his intimate disciple. This seems to be an unlimited commitment. How could Jesus hope for a better disciple than this guy? But Jesus didn’t say to him, “Welcome on board. Come and follow me!” Instead, he said in verse 58. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Why did Jesus say this? It seems that Jesus saw what most people could not see. Even though this man did not say what he wanted from Jesus, Jesus knew what this man was expecting from him. Perhaps, Jesus noticed that this man wanted a secure home and physical comfort by following Jesus. But this man said that he would follow Jesus anywhere, without calculating the costs of discipleship. So by saying “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,” Jesus clarified for him what would really be involved in following him. The man definitely didn’t realize that following Jesus meant leaving everything behind, his own country, his friends and relatives and even his household. (Gen 12:1-3) One might have to experience rejection and move constantly from one place to another, like the Pilgrims. (Heb 11)

Luke did not say how the man responded to Jesus’ challenge. Do you think he still followed Jesus? I hope so. Perhaps, the man backed off, shaking his head saying “Gush, I didn’t know”, like the rich young ruler who left Jesus very sad because Jesus told him, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Lk 18:22-23)

Look at verse 59. “He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’” This man also wanted to follow Jesus but he had an unsolved issue. But his excuse was an understandable one; either his father had just died or was about to die. At that time, burying one’s father was one of the most important tasks of the children in Israel. Maybe, this man was the oldest son. Most children tend to neglect their old parents. Then they are full of regret when their parents suddenly die. Showing respect and love for their parents is even in the Ten Commandments. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your god is giving you.” (Ex 20:12) So, burying his father looks like a perfect excuse for this man’s delayed commitment. Jesus could have said, “Well, what a good son you are! I will give you 24 hours, so get your father buried first and make sure to catch up with me on my way to Jerusalem as soon as possible, okay? Cool!” Jesus didn’t say that.

Look at verse 60. “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” When I first heard what Jesus said to the man, I was shocked. Does this mean that Christians cannot even bury their own parents? It sounds too unreasonable. Soldiers are allowed to come home to attend their parents’ funerals. Sometimes even prisoners are allowed to visit their sick and dying parents. Some people might think that Jesus was not allowing his disciples to bury their parents. And his words “let the dead bury their own dead” sound very offensive. How can the dead bury their own dead? What did he mean? When Jesus said “Let the dead bury their own dead”, he meant that burying the dead is a job that anybody can do, but not necessarily the disciples. Jesus wasn’t saying that disciples should not bury their own parents, but an unbeliever can handle a burial as well as a disciple. (Acts 8:2)

Burying the dead seems to be the most important task in all cultures of the world. But the disciples have a special task which is more important than burying the dead, which is proclaiming the gospel of eternal life. Jesus didn’t just say “Let the dead bury their own dead.” He also said, “But you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” In some cultures, a funeral and its rites can take months and years. In ancient Korea, it took at least 3 years to complete the funeral for the dead. There is a possibility that some people might be hindered from following Jesus Christ. Some parents may want their children to take over their family duties or businesses instead of following the will of God. But for most of us, we don’t have to make this kind of choice. After all, often a funeral is a wonderful occasion to preach the good news of resurrection in Jesus. But if we have to make a choice between burying the dead and proclaiming the message of eternal life, we should keep the priority of preaching over burying the dead. So what Jesus was talking about here is proclaiming the gospel over all things as our priority, so that eternal life can be extended beyond the grave.

Besides burying the dead, we have many daily chores to do as fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. Students have to study and teachers must prepare good lectures. Many of us have to multi-task, cooking, babysitting and doing laundry. All these are necessary and require our precious time, energy and commitment. How then can we balance our lives? Can we neglect one thing at the expense of another? Not really. For example, can we neglect studying for exams with the excuse of preaching the gospel? But where do you draw the line between God’s work and secular work? In some sense, we don’t have to draw the line because we must do everything for the glory of God as Saint Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” If we think eating, drinking and sleeping are not important and neglect them, we will ruin our health and not be able to serve God’s work. But we definitely need to put our priorities in order. As disciples of Jesus, following Jesus and preaching the gospel are our top priorities.

This reminds us of what Saint Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.” We also must be aware that following Jesus and doing the ministry are not necessarily the same. Some of us might be doing many things in the ministry, but they are not necessarily following Jesus. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” Following Jesus means to imitate Jesus in every aspect of my life and ministry.

Look at verses 61 and 62. “Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’” Perhaps, this man was a very sweet person. His requested delay may take only about 30 minutes. So why not let him go? In fact, when the Prophet Elijah found Elisha, he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen in the field. But when Elijah called him to follow, Elisha left the oxen and followed him and asked, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And Elijah allowed him to say goodbye to his parents. But Jesus said in verse 62, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Why did Jesus say this when the man only wanted to go back and say goodbye to his family? It’s not because Jesus doesn’t want us to show our love to our family members. It’s because we cannot plow a straight row looking backward. During the summer, one of the major household chores is mowing the lawn. People use a lawn-mower to cut the grass. In order to cut it neatly, we have to fix on some object ahead, and aim toward it. We should never look backward. If you do, you mess up the line. It seems that Jesus knew that if this man went back to his family to say goodbye, saying that he was going to follow Jesus, there was a possibility that his father might take him aside and remind him of his family obligations. His mother might start sobbing uncontrollably. It was not his going back to say goodbye that was a problem. It was that doing so would keep him from following Christ.

Nothing should hinder our relationship with Jesus. When Jesus called Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John by saying “Follow me,” they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Jesus. (Mk 1:20) We should certainly not ignore our commitment to our family members. We should love them. Serving God should not be an excuse for neglecting our family members. We demonstrate our love for God by loving our fellow men and women. The Bible says that if we fail to love our brother whom we have seen, how can we say we love God whom we have not seen? (1 John 4:20)

However, we must never love people more than we love God. We should love God more than our children, parents and friends. Perhaps, Jesus knew that this man had a strong yearning to stay home rather than to follow Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus is similar to joining the army. Joining the army does not always make us comfortable and happy. It requires commitment. Even though we love our family members, we still have to leave them if we want to join the army. Looking back would make us weak and less focused. We should definitely not go back to our old, sinful lifestyle. But after leaving their sinful lifestyle, some people still have a yearning and go back and forward between the light and darkness. By looking backward, our hearts are not fully committed to going forward, and we cannot move.

In three examples of conflicting commitments, we notice that each of the men’s excuses for not fully following Jesus related to the home or to the family. The first man didn’t say it, but Jesus knew the person’s desire to have a nice home and family. So he said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (58) The second man said, “I will follow you, but first let me bury my father.” (59) The third person also said, “I will follow you, but let me go back and say good-by to my family.” (61) Jesus’ response to their request was “It’s either them or me. You must choose me, or them.”

What kind of discipleship does Jesus want from us? Half hearted commitment? Of course he does not. What is tricky is that our commitment to our family, children or marriage often becomes a hindrance to following Jesus. In our Christian culture, our commitment to our children, family and marriage comes as our top priority. We often become overly protective of our children, family and marriages and God becomes second to those things. Sometimes, success and prosperity become an idol that hinders our commitment to following Jesus. The bottom line is that our commitment to God cannot be hindered by anything in the world, whether it is our family, children, marriage, job or even sometimes our ministry itself.

In fact, Saint Paul seemed to discourage people to marry because there is a great possibility that marriage can be a hindrance to fully devoting ourselves to God. He said in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, “I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of the world – how he can please his wife- and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world – how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.”

Many people would prefer the broad way to the narrow way that leads them to destruction. We are not sure if the three volunteers, the disciple candidates in the passage, actually followed Jesus to the end. I am challenged to straighten up my priorities to follow Jesus. Recently, my old Mitsubishi Galant was giving me a trouble. Some mechanics say that this car has an electricity problem and might also need an engine tune-up. Many of us need our spiritual engine checked and have to tune it up. We need to have our priorities in order and restore our full devotion to following Jesus. What is hindering us from full commitment to following Jesus? The content of today’s passage is difficult to understand and difficult to practice. But it is the core of discipleship, the undivided devotion to God. Many people prefer not to think about it as much as they should. But this is something we should never ignore and never forget. Following Jesus is the greatest blessing we can receive from God, for Jesus is the greatest treasure in heaven. Jesus the Son of God is worthy of our full investment and full devotion. Let us read our key verse, verse 62. “Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”

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