Luke 9:57-58 (ESV) As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.”
In these verses, we’re going to look at some people who wanted to be Jesus’ disciples. The first one promised to follow Jesus through thick and thin. Jesus’ reply to him was that he had no regular bed to sleep in. In other words, to follow Jesus would not be easy, there would be hardship. Undoubtedly Jesus answered this way because he knew this would be disciple was not prepared for hardship.
Luke 9:59-60 (ESV) 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.”
This next person was called by Jesus to follow him. Yet, this would be disciple had an excuse, he needed to bury his father. Most likely his father was not dead now. But the responsibility of an eldest son was to stay around to arrange a suitable burial for his father. Jesus’ answer would have shocked his listeners, let the dead bury their dead. Jesus is speaking of the spiritually dead, who put family issues above Jesus. Jesus commanded this would be disciple to follow him by going and telling others about the kingdom.
Luke 9:61-62 (ESV) 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.”
This third person again says that he will follow Jesus. But he has to go home and say farewell to his family. Seems reasonable, right? Wrong, Jesus tells him that saying you’re going to follow Jesus and then going back to your previous life is not going work. This kind of thinking makes a person not fit to be in the kingdom of God. A true disciple, a true Christian puts following Jesus first.
As we study more about Jesus, we see that Jesus routinely shocked people with the truth. The truth is the following Jesus is not easy. Oh, it’s easy to say a prayer or to say that you are going to follow Jesus. However, in order to be true Christian, one must put following Jesus first.
In two of the three examples in this passage, Jesus makes it clear that He comes before family. A true Christian does not let his family distract him from obeying Jesus. A true Christian does not let his job distract him from following Jesus. And we could go on and on.
It seems as though Jesus was making it hard to people to follow Him, doesn’t it? Jesus says shocking things to get people to understand what it means to be a disciple. Maybe we should speak more like Jesus to those around us. To wake them up about what it truly means to follow Jesus. To help them to see that they really aren’t Christians in reality.
How to know you’re a Christian? You put following Jesus first in your life.