33  Barriers to True Discipleship  (Luke 9:57–62)

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (9:57–62)

During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly called people who were attracted to Him to follow Him permanently as Messiah and Lord. Some singularly responded to His call and became His true disciples; others rejected it when His demands were stringent and left Him (John 6:60–66). Whenever Jesus called people, such as Matthew (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27), Philip (John 1:43), Peter (John 21:19, 22), as well as the rest of those who became His disciples (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; John 12:26), He used the same word, akoloutheō (“to follow,” “to accompany,” “to be a disciple”). He always employed that verb in the present imperative tense, to indicate He was not seeking a momentary following, but a continuous, lifelong commitment.

The Lord’s approach is very different from contemporary evangelism, which views becoming a Christian as an emotional and even impulsive decision; a feeling-induced act to which people are led by fiery preaching, heartrending stories, and emotion-stirring music. The goal of contemporary evangelistic methodology is to induce people to seize the moment, pray a prayer, and make a decision to accept Christ. But Jesus never tried to move people emotionally into a moment of crisis in which they would accept Him. There is no record in the New Testament of Jesus or the apostles counseling someone to make such a momentary choice, or pray a prayer in order to be saved. When the Lord invited a person to receive forgiveness and salvation by faith in Him, He did not want the emotion of a moment’s feeling of guilt, fear, or desire for a better life, but a carefully thought out (cf. Luke 14:28–33) lifetime commitment to Himself as Lord. To Jesus, and the apostles as well, following Christ salvifically was not an event, but a way of life. Martin Luther captured the essence of that principle in the very first of his famed Ninety-five Theses: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said ‘Repent,’ He called for the entire life of believers to be one of penitence” (cited in John Dillenberger, Martin Luther, Selections from His Writings [Garden City N.Y.: Anchor, 1961], 490).

In keeping with that principle, Jesus often made things extremely difficult for superficial followers. In His conversations, He would deliberately put up barriers between them and salvation. Like those in John 6, many exposed as uncommitted false disciples “withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66). In the present text, Jesus confronted three would-be disciples. In each case He put up an insurmountable barrier that uncovered their lack of genuine faith and insincere commitment to Him. And in each case, the demands drove them away

The setting of this account is not clear; Luke merely places it on a road along which Jesus and those accompanying Him were traveling. Matthew, however, places the Lord’s conversations with the first two individuals near Capernaum, as He was getting ready to cross the Sea of Galilee to Gadara (Matt. 8:18–22). Luke may have included the incident here because it fit thematically into the Lord’s training of the Twelve, which is a major theme of His journey to Jerusalem. In 9:46–50 Jesus gave them a lesson in humility; in verses 51–56 He gave them a lesson on mercy; in this section He gave them a lesson on the cost of discipleship. As has been noted in previous chapters of this volume, it is not unusual for Luke to arrange his material topically rather than chronologically

As always, the crowd accompanying Jesus ranged across thespectrum from genuine disciples who, by the Holy Spirit had repented of their sins and affirmed Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah, to the other extreme, those who hated Him and sought to kill Him. In the middle were the rest, who were at varying levels of non-committal interest. Matthew’s reference to the second individual as “another of the disciples” (Matt. 8:21) places him in that large group. But as this incident makes clear, he and the other two individuals did not demonstrate saving faith. They sought not forgiveness and salvation, but self-fulfillment as they looked for the things they desired. When Jesus confronted them with what is required of those who truly follow Him as Lord—self-denial, self-sacrifice, and submission to His authority—that was not acceptable to them.

The passage illustrates three things that hinder people from following Jesus: desire for personal comfort, desire for personal riches, and desire for personal relations.

DESIRE FOR PERSONAL COMFORT

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (9:57–58)

Somewhere in the vicinity of Capernaum as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” Matthew identifies this man as a scribe (Matt. 8:19). Scribes were highly esteemed experts in the Mosaic and rabbinic law, which they interpreted authoritatively for the common people. Scribes were qualified and authorized by the Jewish religious leaders, and were hostile to Jesus (Matt. 9:3; 12:38–42; 15:1–2; 16:21; 20:18; 21:15–16; 23:1–36; 26:57; 27:41; Mar k2:6–7, 16;3:22; 12:38; 14:1, 43; Luke 6:7; 15:2;20:19;23:10).

Given that hostility was so common among them, it is surprising that this scribe approached Jesus and said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” Having no doubt witnessed the miracles recorded in Matthew 8:5–18, he was attracted to Jesus and eager to attach himself to such an unparalleled teacher. Traveling rabbis frequently had groups of students that accompanied them and learned from them. This scribe acknowledged Jesus as his rabbi and wanted to join His entourage. According to Matthew’s account, he addressed Jesus as “Teacher,” thus offering himself as a willing pupil of the miracle worker from Nazareth. Moreover, his willingness to follow Jesus wherever He went suggests that there was the notion of long-term loyalty in his decision. And even though he knew that Jesus condemned the narrow legalism of thescribes, He was nonetheless the most impressive teacher this scribe had ever met and was thus worthy of his devotion.

Seemingly a prize convert, this respected scholar would appear to be a welcome defector from a group that was openly hostile to Christ. To have a converted scribe as a follower would seem to have been quite a coup for Jesus. But as He does with all men (John 2:23–25), Jesus saw beneath the outer veneer of enthusiasm to his heart and refused to embrace his eager offer. The Lord knew that the scribe, having seen the crowds and the miracles and having heard Jesus’ incomparable teaching, wanted to be associated with the one in the center of all the action, who had an unequalled potential future of elevation.

Jesus shattered the man’s ambitious expectations with His surprising response, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” which must have been puzzling to the scribe. The Lord saw through his professed commitment driven by his desire for comfort and confronted him with reality. Even the foxes that were common in Israel (cf. Judg. 15:4–5; Ps. 63:10; Song 2:15; Lam. 5:18; Ezek. 13:4) had holes to sleep in, while the ubiquitous birds of the air had nests. But the Son of Man (Jesus’ favorite title for Himself), the Messiah, God incarnate, had nowhere to lay His head. The Creator had fewer creature comforts than the animals He had created.

The Lord raised this issue because He knew that self-denial was a barrier for this man. He viewed following Jesus in terms of what he would gain rather than the reception of forgiveness of sins at any cost. He lacked the desperation from fear of judgment that characterizes the penitent poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3) who hunger and thirst for righteousness (v. 6); who, in fear of divine punishment, want grace, forgiveness, and eternal life so badly that they put no conditions on it—even the kind of rejection Jesus experienced.

In the previous passage, Jesus had been denied lodging by a Samaritan village (9:51–53). Even though He had cast the demons out of a maniac who had terrorized their region, “all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear” (Luke 8:37). The people of His hometown of Nazareth “drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff” (Luke 4:29). Capernaum, where He settled after leaving Nazareth (Matt. 4:13), also rejected Christ, causing Him to declare, “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!” (Luke 10:15). Eventually the nation as a whole would reject Jesus and the crowds would scream, “Crucify Him!” (Matt. 27:22) and, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”(v.25).

His followers could expect no better. When He sent the Twelve out to preach the gospel, Jesus warned them of the hostility and opposition they would face:

Then in verse 25 He added, “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”

This man typified the rocky soil, which symbolizes people “who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark 4:16–17). Ultimately, he was not prepared to “deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow” the Lord (Luke 9:23). He wanted to be in on the benefits of following Jesus, but not the sacrifices.

DESIRE FOR PERSONAL RICHES

And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” (9:59–60)

This second incident immediately followed the first one. Turning to another man, who had probably overheard His conversation with the first one, Jesus challenged him, “Follow Me.” But he, too, was only willing to follow Christ on his own terms, so he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” At first glance, this seems to be a reasonable request. It was every son’s duty to make sure that his father was properly cared for in death (cf. Gen. 25:9; 35:29; 49:29–50:13); only thehigh priest (Lev. 21:10–11) and those who had taken a Nazarite vow (Num. 6:6–7) were excused from their father’s funeral, since they were forbidden to go near a dead person.

The problem with the man’s excuse was that his father was not yet dead! Since the Jews did not embalm, Jewish custom dictated that burial take place immediately after death. A comparison of John 11:1, 6, and 17 reveals that Lazarus was buried the same day that he died (one day for the messenger from Mary and Martha to reach Jesus, Jesus delayed two more days, then arrived on the fourth day to find that Lazarus had been buried four days earlier). Both Ananias (Acts 5:6) and Sapphira (v. 10) were buried immediately after they died.

What this man was really saying was that he wanted to delay following the Lord until his father died and he received his inheritance. He knew that Jesus was moving out of the area, and to leave now might cause him to lose out on his share of his father’s estate. Unlike the Twelve (cf. Matt. 19:27; Luke 5:11, 28), he was not willing to leave everything and follow Jesus. He was an example of “the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity”(Luke 8:14).

Jesus replied with a proverbial saying that was a rebuke of this man’s wrong priorities: “Allow the dead to bury their own dead.” That does not mean that believers are forbidden to attend funerals or care for their dead relatives’ affairs. To say that the spiritually dead can bury their own dead is to say that there are issues that are priorities to the spiritually dead, but not to those who are alive in Christ. Jesus challenged this individual to leave temporal, earthly matters to worldly people and not make them his overriding priority Secular people are preoccupied with secular matters, but he was to go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God no matter what doing so might cost him. But like the rich young ruler, he was more committed to personal riches than spiritual truth. It is impossible to serve both God and riches (Luke 16:13), and when forced to choose the men both chose riches.

DESIRE FOR PERSONAL RELATIONS

Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (9:61–62)

Another man, probably following up on the Lord’s discussion with the previous individual, also volunteered to follow Jesus. “I will follow You, Lord” he promised, “but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” Unlike the man the Lord had just spoken with, this third individual was willing to leave his inheritance behind. He had only one request, which seemed reasonable enough: He wanted to delay joining Christ long enough to go home and say good-by to his loved ones.

But as was the case with the other two, the Lord, knowing what was in his heart, rejected this man’s proposal. Perhaps he wanted to do a little quick fundraising among his family and friends before leaving on his mission trip with Jesus. More likely, however, there was a deeper issue involved. His words revealed that his family ties were too strong for him to break away from them. Jesus knew that if he returned home, the impulse of the moment would die and he would never be able to leave. Like many people, fear of being away from or ostracized by his family would keep him from following the Lord. That is why Jesus cautioned the crowds that followed Him, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

Jesus replied by adapting a popular proverb that dates back to the eighth-century B.C. Greek poet Hesiod: “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, He declared, is fit for the kingdom of God.” This saying pictures complete dedication to the task at hand, since one could hardly plow a straight furrow while looking backwards. It is impossible to follow Christ with a divided heart, as this man’s was. He was not fit for the kingdom of God because he was holding on to the kingdom of this world. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?” James asked. “Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4; cf. 1 John 2:15–17).

Though the text does not describe what ultimately became of these three men it is obvious that they, like the rich young ruler, abandoned Christ to hold on to earthly things. The issue in view in all three of these encounters was not fitness for service by those in the kingdom, but saving faith by which one enters the kingdom. Those unwilling to part with something—comfort, riches, relationships, or anything else—cannot enter the kingdom of God; salvation is for those who have come to complete self-denial. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me,” Jesus declared, because “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it”(Luke 9:23–24).