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.”
Luke 9:57-62
Jesus’ personality never ceases to amaze me. In so many instances compassion is the foremost trait we see from Jesus. When it comes to prioritizing God we see a different side. Reflect about his time turning tables in the temple (Matthew 21). Remember that Jesus died for sinners. He came for the sick. The gospel message requires Jesus to have compassion on all people including those trading and selling in the Temple that day. Yet, compassion is not the trait we assign to Jesus in the temple. We see that Jesus does not tolerate placing the marketplace above God.
This morning’s passage has the same type of tone. Jesus is approached by two people. We can safely presume that these two individuals had been following and listening to Jesus teaching for longer than just a day or two. It was customary for Jesus to attract large crowds of the same people. These two want to join in following Jesus but they have some things holding me back. I want to focus on the second excuse given.
The second person approaches Jesus with a willingness to follow him. The man’s response to Jesus not only signifies that he desired to take leave of his friends, but his response also shows that s/he also desired to set in order their family affairs, relations, and friendships in the best manner possibly. Then they would have the leisure and liberty to follow Christ.
Does this request not seem incredibly reasonable? Anyone who has moved to a new house (even in the same town) understands how difficult the process is to get up and leave. Any HR director understands there needs to be an amount of time between job acceptance and start date especially if there is a move involved. This person was asking to follow Jesus around on foot in sandals. I am assuming they wanted to get a couple things in order. Sounds reasonable to me.
Yet, here is Jesus again showing that side to him that often takes us back. Listen to how I would translate Jesus words to him, “following me does not include prioritizing your leisure or liberty.” I do believe this is a hyperbole by Jesus. I do not believe he literally wants us to abandon our family or responsibilities, but I do believe this hyperbole has lasting impacts in our life today.
Never put your own leisure or liberty ahead of God’s call in your life. Sometimes I wish things like Netflix didn’t exists. Why? Because how easy is it come 8 pm to choose our leisure over Jesus. I could read my bible. I could spend 20 minutes praying. Or, I could watch Netflix. We are all lying to ourselves if we say our natural inclination is to not prioritize our leisure of Jesus.
The way to stop this? Choose Jesus. Choose Jesus today. Pray right now that God gives you the strength to choose Jesus over yourself.
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