Luke 9:57-62

4/22/2007

“Follow Me”

We have affirmed many times that simply believing in Jesus Christ is not enough. Many heresies and cults have come into existence, which have made Jesus in their own images. Therefore, it has become increasingly necessary to examine whether the object of our faith is the true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of the apostolic testimony. This is so especially because the danger of believing in a wrong Jesus is not confined to heretics and cultists. Our heart is a perpetual factory of idols, as Calvin said. We are prone to twist and tweak the truth to fit our preferences, even the truth of who Jesus is.

We do not know Christ right if we do not recognize His absolute, sovereign authority over our lives. Yes, He is full of grace and mercy, full of love, full of patience, full of understanding--we know this from our daily experience. But that doesn’t mean that He should be taken for granted, placed at the bottom of our priority list. Because His love is so great, we should feel compelled to honor Him all the more. And if we cherish and treasure His love above all things, it is because His love is the love of the most glorious God directed to the most unworthy, wretched sinners like us. The true Jesus cannot be respected merely as an ethics professor. His words cannot be treated merely as recommendations of a spiritual adviser. It is to our great shame that the people of the world take the words of the fortune-tellers more seriously than many Christians do of God’s word. This should not be! Jesus Christ is the sovereign King of heaven and earth, whose authority demands our unwavering allegiance, whose words demand our most ready, persistent and joyful obedience.

I am not saying that we are saved by our obedience. But we must not think of our obedience to Him as optional. We cannot think of our obedience to Him as optional in view of at least three things: in view of His glory and honor; in view of His great love for us; in view of who we are in Christ Jesus. We cannot think of our service to Him as doing Him a favor. He is not a luxury that we can afford only when we have some spare time. Think about it: it is not He who needs us; it is we who need Him most desperately. The privilege and honor are ours if we can serve Him, if we are allowed to serve Him, no matter how great the cost or sacrifice. So exalted and glorious, so worthy and desirable is Jesus Christ our Lord! Our passage affirms this truth and shows what Christian discipleship entails through three interactions Jesus has with His would-be disciples.

Let us first take a look at the context of these interactions, particularly three incidents that just took place. The first is the disciples’ confession that Jesus is the Christ of God (9:20). The second is what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. There Moses and Elijah appear and they with Jesus spoke of “His departure” (literally in Greek, “His exodus”; 9:31). But soon the two giants of the Old Testament disappeared and only Jesus remained. The third is the statement that Jesus, after these things, set His face to go to Jerusalem. Why? To accomplish the new exodus through His death and resurrection. These three incidents show what kind of Messiah Jesus was. He did not come to revive the Davidic kingdom: He came to usher in the kingdom of heaven. It is in this context that Jesus speaks of what it means to follow Jesus as His disciples.

The First Interaction: “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’” (v. 57). How should Jesus respond to his words? Do we expect Jesus to readily and gratefully accept this candidate? These days Christ is often presented as nothing more than a non-profit organization always in dire need of volunteers, taking in whoever is willing to donate his time and grateful for whatever help they can get. We treat our Lord like that sometimes, don’t we? Instead of giving Him our first and best, we give Him only what is left over. Oh, how we do injustice to His honor and glory! Should we be surprised when Jesus says to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (v. 58)?

What Jesus does here is clear: He is calling on the man to count the cost of discipleship, to think about his motive for wanting to follow Jesus, to know who it is that he wants to follow. Why was he drawn to Jesus? What was it about Jesus that he was willing to abandon whatever he was doing to follow Him? Jesus tells him in no uncertain terms what kind of life he can expect if he were to follow Him--a lot worse than those of foxes and birds. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but not Jesus. But how can that be? How can a man’s lot be worse than those of animals? Man was created in the image of God. Man was given the authority to rule over other creatures. Man was the apex of all creation! Yet Jesus did not have what even animals had!

And what kind of animals does Jesus mention? Foxes and birds. Why foxes and birds? Jesus says in Luke 12:6, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.” Here, sparrows are used as an example of the most insignificant creatures. And Jesus must be using the generic term “birds” to refer to the most common kinds of birds, such as the sparrows. How about foxes? In Luke 13:32 Jesus refers to Herod as “that fox”. It is obvious that Jesus is using the title not in a most favorable and respectable sense. Foxes must have been looked down upon for some reason. You can see, then, the impact of what Jesus is saying in v. 57: the most insignificant creatures of nature, even the ignoble animals, have it better than Jesus the Son of Man. For the Son of Man does not have what even the least of the animals have.

Is this the Jesus we are following? What kind of Jesus are we serving? Someone to improve our earthly lot? Someone to help us fulfill the American dream? Someone to make sure that nothing bad happens in our life? If we follow Him, we will never fall victim to the kind of senseless killing that went on at Virginia Tech this past week? Jesus is gracious with us, for sure. He deals with us not according to what our many and great sins deserve. If He had dealt with us according what we had deserved, we should have died a thousand times and more. What we have and enjoy now are far more than what we deserve as sinners--so gracious is Christ.

But let us beware lest we lose sight of our Master in our indulgence in these earthly gifts. We must never forget, especially in this land of abundance, that it is Jesus we are following, not the earthly comforts and material possessions. And the Master we are following is the Son of Man, who had no place to lay His head. And He can call us any time to let go of what we have, what He has given to us. And when He does, it is not because His grace and mercy ran out and He suddenly decided to exact the punishment that our sins have incurred. He has borne our punishment on the cross once for all and there is no condemnation for us who are in Christ by faith. If He calls us to let go of anything, it is because we don’t need it in the eternal scheme of things! The love of Jesus, who laid down His life for us, is so great that He cannot deprive us of what is truly good, what is truly needful from the perspective of eternity. And the things that can be taken away from us are not the things that we can keep forever anyway: they are temporary, transient, perishable.

When He calls us away from our comforts and possessions, it is to have us follow Him even more closely, to be more intimate with Him. To borrow the words of Bonhoeffer, our discipleship is costly because it calls us to leave behind what the world treasures and values; but it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ! It is costly because it costs us our all and even our life; but it is grace because it gives us the only true life, the eternal, imperishable life in Jesus Christ! Are you a disciple of Christ, the Son of Man? Have you counted the cost? And do you still want to follow Him--this Man, who had no place to lay His head?

The Second Interaction: “To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’” (vv. 59, 60).

This must have been so shocking to the ears of the Jews at that time, as it is to us. One of the most sacred and basic duties of children is to give proper burial to their parents who loved them and dedicated their lives to raise them. Even the Mosaic Law recognized this. We read in Leviticus 21:1-4,

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself.’”

Do you see the significance of this provision in the Mosaic Law? The Aaronic priests were set apart from the world, even from the general covenant community, unto the exclusive service of the Lord at the temple. They were not allowed to defile themselves by coming into contact with the corpse. But even they were allowed to bury their immediate family! And Jesus says to let the (spiritually) dead bury their own dead. Why?

Take a look at how Jesus points out a radical distinction between this world and the kingdom of God. The two are set against each other. This world is characterized as a kingdom of death, made up of those who are spiritually dead, though they are alive physically and those that are physically dead. The man is called by Jesus to leave that world of death behind and come into the kingdom of God, which, by contrast, is a kingdom of life, eternal life. Jesus is declaring that a kingdom greater and better than this world is here! Even with all of its accomplishments and glories, this world remains a kingdom of death! Jesus is calling us into the kingdom of eternal life.

And it is likely that the kingdom of this world, as it is characterized by Jesus, is under the judgment of God. If you look at Ezek. 24:15ff and Jer. 16:5 and Lev. 10, these prophets and priests were not allowed to mourn even for their immediate families. Why? Because a judgment was imminent or upon the wayward people of God. But the kingdom of God that Jesus brings is a kingdom of righteousness and blessing, not of sin and judgment. Christian discipleship is a life in this kingdom of righteousness and blessing.

The Third Interaction: “Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” (vv. 61, 62). Do you see the intensification of Christ’s urgent call to discipleship? Jesus in the first interaction demanded (implicitly) the disciples to leave the comforts of the world. Jesus in the second interaction demanded the disciples to leave the dead behind. And now in the third interaction Jesus demands the disciples to leave even the live family members. This, of course, is not to say that we are to neglect and hate our family that God has given us. Here Jesus is highlighting the supremacy of the kingdom of God over the earthly family ties.

If family is the most basic, foundational unit of our society, Jesus’ words shake the very foundation of this world. But Jesus is not speaking as an anarchist, trying to destroy the rubric of human civilization and plunge the world into chaos! No, Jesus is pointing us to a reality that is deeper than the most intimate of human relationships in this world. And there is more.

This third interaction is strongly reminiscent of what takes place in 1 Kings 19:15ff, when Elijah anointed Elisha to be his successor, to be his disciple. When Elijah called Elisha, Elisha was plowing the field with his oxen. When called, Elisha said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you” (v. 20). Elijah granted his wish. Elisha later on returned to follow Elijah.

Do you see the interesting similarities between these two passages? In both there is a call to follow as a disciple. In both the individuals called want to say farewell to their family members. In both plowing is mentioned. But there is an obvious difference, isn’t there? Elijah allowed Elisha to say farewell to his parents. That is what seems to be implied; we are told, at least, that Elisha was allowed to return from following Elijah to do something before following him. But Jesus does not allow the would-be disciple to do the same. He goes on to say that no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God!

It is clear that Jesus is greater than Elijah! And this is exactly what we saw at Mount Transfiguration, isn’t it? Moses disappeared. Elijah disappeared. Jesus alone remained because they were but shadows and types of the great King of heaven. Jesus’ greater call, Jesus’ more urgent demand, signifies that the kingdom of heaven is here in a fuller measure to replace the kingdom of this world! What is it that we are not supposed to look back at? It is that which is contrasted with the kingdom of God! It is this world! And Jesus’ words remind us of Lot’s wife who looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah and turned into a pillar of salt.

Summary: These three interactions of Jesus with the three would-be disciples show us clearly the heavenly focus, the heavenly orientation, of Christian discipleship. To follow of Jesus Christ is to set our minds on the heavenly things. It is not for earthly rewards and comforts of this world; it is beyond the family ties of this world; it calls us not to look back at the world (which is like Sodom and Gomorrah!).

Jesus’ call to discipleship is also a call to move beyond the glories of the old covenant to the surpassing glories of the new covenant in Jesus Christ! For the context in which Jesus spoke was the nation of Israel under the Mosaic Covenant in the promised land. What the would-be disciples not to look back at was not just this world but the earthly Israel in the promised land. The family ties they were to leave behind included the ordinances concerning the Aaronic priesthood of the old covenant. They were to leave behind the blessings of the earthly promised land. All this because they were called to follow Jesus Christ.

But why did Jesus have no place the lay His head? Why did Jesus, the most righteous man, have no place to lay His head? Isn’t this contrary to the promises and blessings of the Mosaic Covenant that, if you kept the law of the covenant, you would be blessed to live long and prosper in the promised land? And the most righteous man in all of human history had no place to lay His head?

The life Jesus had chosen for Himself shows us that Jesus came to give us something greater than the blessings of the earthly promised land. Not that it was wrong for Jesus to enjoy all the earthly blessings as a reward for His righteousness. But He willingly relinquished all those to point us to the heavenly riches, the glories of the kingdom of God! Yes, He suffered in this world to bear away the punishment of our sins. But He suffered also as a heavenly Pilgrim passing through this temporary world, this world of death.

The earthly blessings we have are good gifts from God. We are to receive them with gratitude and enjoy them. But we must not make them into idols by clutching on to those things beyond the time allotted to us. And sometimes we must give up even what is good to obtain what is best! Sometimes the greatest enemy of “best” is “good”.

Yes, our discipleship is costly. But what grace! For our Master, who had no place to lay His head, is now seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places! And that is the destination for all those who follow Jesus Christ! Brothers and sisters, we have so little time to suffer for Christ’s sake. When we enter into glory, we will not suffer. This lifetime is the only time we can bear the cross. This lifetime is the only time we have to be humiliated for Christ’s sake. This lifetime is the only time. It is such a short time to suffer for Him, who suffered and died for us! And God has given us the privilege to be identified with Christ and His sufferings so that we may also share in His glory. We cannot be Christians without following Christ as His disciples. Let us gladly leave behind what we cannot keep anyway that we may possess what we can never lose! Let us gladly leave behind even what is good that we may possess what is truly best, even Jesus Christ our Lord! It will be a short time. For a day is coming when we shall enter into His glory never to suffer again! Amen.