Awhile back, I was reading Luke 9, a passage about the cost of following Jesus, and it stopped me in my tracks. The passage is:
Luke 9:57-62
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
(Christian Standard Bible)
If you read that and thought “Wow, not burying your own father? Not saying goodbye to your family? That’s pretty harsh!”-you’re not alone.
I had questions about this passage, and anytime I’m confused about something in the Bible, I read a bible commentary. So, I pulled up the Enduring Word Commentary, and was blown away. Here’s some of what the commentary explained.
This passage describes 3 different people and how they go about following Jesus:
The First Man
The first man is quick to follow Jesus, telling him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”(v57), but he hasn’t counted the cost. When Jesus explains that “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”, meaning following Jesus requires saying goodbye to comfortability and living a life of sacrifice and service, the man backs out. I imagine him thinking, “Yeahhhh.. that’s not the lifestyle for me.”
The Second Man
The second man is slow to follow Jesus. He says, “…first let me go and bury my father” (v59). This is where the bible commentary came in handy for me because my thoughts were “okay, how could Jesus not be okay with that?!” Enduring Word says:
“Actually, this man did not ask for permission to dig a grave for his deceased father. He wanted to remain in his father’s house and care for him until the father died. This was obviously an indefinite period, which could drag on and on.”
He was putting his relationship with Jesus on hold for who knows how long. Jesus’ remark “Let the dead bury the dead…” may sound brutal, but I love how upfront and honest he is. He wasn’t a salesman overpromising and undelivered saying, “look how glamorous life is if you follow me!”. No, he was honest, making it clear that following him comes first, which means everything else comes after.
He made it clear that following him is quite the opposite of glamorous. It’s an all-or-nothing kind of decision.
The Third Man
The third man is also too slow to follow Jesus, but with less delay than the second man. Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach that no amount of looking back works for an all-in believer.
“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (v62)
I was curious what the plow reference meant, and looking it up was what led me to drafting this post because what I found was amazing.
Plowing is when farmers turn soil to keep it healthy. It brings fresh nutrients to the surface and buries the dead soil and crop remains.
The very definition of plowing illustrates life with Jesus– he exchanges our sins, iniquities, and DEATH, for LIFE with him! Life abundantly and for eternity!
But that’s not all.
When a farmer plowed, he typically looked at something straight ahead like a tree in order to plow in a straight line.
We as followers of Jesus must keep our eyes on a tree too- the cross.
Faithfully following Jesus means giving up what was, keeping our eyes on him, holding on to him, and never looking back. If we’re in the business of building God’s kingdom, we must first understand:
KINGDOM BUILDERS DON’T LOOK BACK.