Luke 9:57-62

Luke 9:57-62

And after they travelled along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow you wherever you should go.”  And Jesus said to Him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have nests.  But the Son of Man does not have anywhere that He should lay His head.”  And He said to another, “Follow me.”  But the man said, “Permit me first to go and bury my father.”  And He said to him, “Leave the dead alone to bury their own dead.  And you, after leaving proclaim the kingdom of God.”  And still another said, “I will follow you, Lord.  But first permit me to say goodbye to the ones in my house.”  Jesus said to Him, “After putting his hand upon the plough and while looking backwards is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Each of the three people in this passage give us an incredible circumstance.  This first man is perhaps the least incredible.  When he tells Jesus that he desires to follow, Jesus responds by telling him that He has nothing.  In other words, material possessions aren’t going to be a big part of the game.  Following Jesus means feeling like we don’t really have much of a home in this world.  That’s a reality that all of us should accept if we follow Jesus.

When have you felt the pull between the things of this world and the things of God?  Which are the things that last the longest?

Second Thought:

The second man gives us the most incredible circumstance.  Certainly Jesus is not telling us that it is bad to bury our loved ones.  But Jesus is telling us that doing the bidding of the Father takes precedence.  The work of the Father is more important; although the two are certainly not mutually exclusive.  Jesus is also teaching us a highly symbolic lesson.  In Christ, who is truly dead?  Nobody!  The dead – symbolically speaking – are beyond our ability to help them.  We should be focused on the living, not the dead.

When have you had to make a tough choice about obeying God?  Have you ever been criticized because of the choice you made?

Third Thought:

This third situation gives us another incredible circumstance.  Jesus is not telling us that it is bad to love our families and want to say goodbye.  What Jesus is doing here is giving us a lesson on priorities.  First of all, if we are truly doing the work of God, no follower of God should get offended.  True followers of God will know that the greatest priority is following God, not making family happy.  Jesus is also telling us about perspective.  For those of us who belong to God, there is no such things as goodbye.  How will we ever be separated when we have an eternal life together with the Father?

Have you ever put the needs of your family ahead of the desires of God?  Have you ever forgotten to live with an eternal perspective on relationships instead of a temporal perspective?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 10:1-3