§ 8. Jesus' Ministry in Galilee Continued

† 6. On Following Jesus, the Would–be Followers

Overview

Summary

This episode is about priorities.

Are spiritual matters important to us, or do we allow the concerns of this life to take precedence? Consider the parable of the sower on this:

Matthew 13:22

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Matthew captures Jesus's response to a scribe and to another disciple; Luke adds one interaction to the list. Jesus responds with teaching about priorities to each of the three who were to follow Him.

‡ Matthew 8:18–22

Matthew 8

18  Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
19  And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20  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.”
21  Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22  And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

a scribe

Typically, scribes lived comfortably. Jesus's description of His own estate is likely very different from this scribe's.

Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.

This proclamation sounds positively beaming. When he sees Jesus moving on to the other side of the sea (v.18), he approaches Jesus to say, "I'm coming with You!" This scribe seems to understand there is nothing like the teaching of Jesus; he seems to place great value on it. From all appearances, he has good intentions.

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

By pointing out His own poverty, the Lord emphasizes the need for prioritizing the spiritual. The moniker, "son of man," is most famously associated with the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1); he certainly had a hard life prophesying of their impending captivity. But Abraham wandered the rest of his life, and David hid in caves (Hebrews 11:32–38). God's chosen servant must suffer rejection at the hands of the people.

Thus, Jesus's teaching here follows along the lines of "counting the cost" (Luke 14:28). It's not clear whether this scribe eventually chose to leave the relative comforts of scribal living to follow Him, but Jesus certainly gave him what he needed to make the right choice.

Lord, let me first go and bury my father.

Notice that although he calls Jesus Lord, he puts his family first. Luke points out this man was declining the Lord's invitation with this response.

The scribe must be willing to leave his comfortable life, and this man must choose Jesus over his own family. The Lord would directly address these and other concerns later in Luke's gospel.

Luke 14:25–28, 33

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
...
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead

Jesus continues to insist, "Follow Me." Sometimes we take longer than others to comply (Matthew 21:29).

"The dead bury the dead," is not a prohibition on funerals. The spiritually dead are concerned with this life only. The man's father is already dead. He is not asking leave to care for an ailing parent, but rather wishes to comfort his family after the loss.

What he does not realize is that Jesus, too, will be leaving very soon, and the opportunity to learn from Him and be counted among the number of the disciples at that time will be lost. What would be best for his family and himself is what always makes for comfort in the spirit: follow Jesus!

‡ Luke 9:57–62

Luke 9

57  As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “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  To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60  And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61  Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
62  Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

To another he said, “Follow me.”

Luke makes clear that Jesus specifically told this man to follow Him. If the Lord's language at first seems too strong, perhaps it will help to remember the man's response is effectively, "No."

But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

This man can still have a change of heart later. Even if the man won't walk with Jesus during His time on earth, he can still join in the effort to spread the gospel.

I will follow you, Lord, but

The man who wished to bury his father may not immediately have seemed to be making excuses. Luke words this man's response so that there is no missing it! Something else has priority in this man's life.

let me first say farewell to those at my home

The man's concern is overstated; it's an excuse. It's not as though following Jesus means we disappear or die. The man would be quite busy working alongside Jesus, true, but Jesus stayed in the vicinity of Judea throughout the rest of His life on earth.

No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Only Luke's gospel records this saying. It perfectly captures the entire scene. Those who are coming to Him to follow Him, or whom He Himself calls, are putting their hands to the plow. When they are challenged—the scribe by this world's comforts, one man by his grieving family, another by family loyalty—they look back.

The word translated "fit" (εὔθετος) means 'well-arranged,' 'suitable,' 'well-adapted.' It also appears in Luke 14:35—a passage which turns out to be consistent with the current theme of priorities.

Luke 14:34–35

“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”