At the church
where I serve, we have been spending our time together looking
at various encounters that people had with Jesus that are recorded for us in an
account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. And as we look at
these encounters with Jesus, we are going to discover several timeless truths
that will have the potential to powerfully impact our lives today.
This week I would like for us to
spend our time together looking at another encounter that Jesus had while here
on earth. And as we jump back into an account of Jesus life that is recorded
for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke, we are going to discover another
timeless truth that can occur when we encounter Jesus. So let’s discover that timeless
truth together, beginning in Luke 9:57:
As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow
You wherever You go."
Luke begins
this section of his account of Jesus life by explaining that as Jesus and His
disciples traveled along a road, they were followed by large crowds. Luke then
explains that as they headed down the road someone in the crowd cried out to
Jesus “I will follow you wherever you go.”
In another
account of this event from history that is in a letter in the New Testament of
the Bible called the gospel of Matthew, we discover that this man was a scribe.
This scribe, who was considered an expert on the Law, which are the first five
books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today, was proclaiming his desire
to follow Jesus as one of His disciples.
This scribe
was basically saying to Jesus “I am willing to leave my home here in Capernaum
and follow you wherever you go. Jesus wherever you go I want to go because I
want to follow You and learn from You”.
You see,
this scribe viewed following Jesus as an opportunity to learn from Jesus. This
scribe viewed following Jesus as a disciple as being an exercise in gaining
knowledge from Jesus. However, this scribe was probably not prepared for the
answer that he would receive as a result of his encounter with Jesus. An answer
that Luke records for us in verse 58:
And Jesus said to him, "The
foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His
head."
Luke tells
us that Jesus responded to this scribes request to follow Him wherever He went
by stating "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Now, I don’t know about
you, but isn’t that a weird way to respond to this scribes request? Why didn’t
Jesus just say “yes you can follow Me” or “no you can’t follow Me?”
I mean
doesn’t Jesus response here leave you scratching your head? So what is Jesus
doing here? Why would Jesus respond this way? You see, Jesus wanted the scribe
to clearly understand what he was getting into if he wanted to follow Jesus.
Jesus wanted this scribe to clearly understand that following Him was not
simply an academic exercise to gain knowledge. Jesus wanted this to clearly
understand that he would be leaving behind any sense of home and stability or
security to follow Him.
You see, at
this point in His public life, Jesus was basically a homeless itinerant
preacher who went from town to town proclaiming His message and teachings. So
Jesus wanted this scribe to clearly understand that to follow Jesus would
result in the loss a residence, the loss of roots, and a lack of routine that
this scribe was so familiar with. Jesus wanted this scribe to clearly
understand that by following Him, he would be living as a stranger in a strange
world that required placing his confident trust in Jesus instead of the things
of this world. Jesus wanted this scribe to clearly understand that following
Jesus was to take priority over the things of this world.
And, in the
same way, encountering Jesus calls us to understand that to follow Jesus
results in us living as a stranger in a strange world that requires us to place
our confident trust in Jesus instead of the things of this world. And
encountering Jesus calls us to understand that following Jesus is to take
priority over the things of this world. Now if you are here this morning and
find yourself scratching your head after this first encounter with Jesus, just
look at what happens next, beginning in Luke 9:59:
And He said to another, "Follow
Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my
father."
After
engaging a person who has sought out Jesus to express his desire to follow
Jesus, Luke tells us that Jesus then sought out another person in the crowd and
invited that person to follow Him as a disciple. Upon being asked by Jesus to
follow Him, Luke tells us that this person in the crowd responded to Jesus
request with a request of his own: "Lord, permit me first to go and bury
my father."
Now this
request, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, probably
sounded like this: Lord, I want to follow You but first allow me to wait long
enough to first bury my Father”. Now this morning that sounds like a reasonable
request doesn’t it? We see how Jesus responded to this man’s request in verse
60:
But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for
you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."
Now a
natural reaction that occurs at this point is “Really? Did Jesus really say
that to this man? I though Jesus was about grace; I thought Jesus was about
love and compassion. Well, Jesus doesn’t seem to be very compassionate and
caring here. Instead, Jesus seems to be acting like a jerk here.” So, is Jesus
being a jerk here? Is Jesus lacking compassion and concern here? Or is there
something else going on here?
To
understand Jesus response here, we first need to understand what the phrase “permit
me first to go and bury my father" meant in the first century. You see,
the phrase “to bury one’s father” was a standard idiom in the culture of the
first century for fulfilling one’s family responsibilities for the remainder of
the father’s lifetime, even when there was no prospect of his imminent death. Think
of it this way: If this man’s father had already died, why would he by outside
in the crowd hanging around and following Jesus? Even if this man’s father was
near death, wouldn’t he be with his father and not with Jesus? In the culture
of the day, this man would be responsible for keeping vigil over his father.
You see,
Jesus responded to this man’s request the way that he did because this man’s
priority was his family over following Jesus. This man wanted to put following
Jesus off until later in His life while he placed following his family first in
his life.
Now when
Jesus says "allow the dead to bury their own dead” this phrase, if
communicated in the language we use in our culture today would have sounded
something like this: “Let those who are so spiritually stubborn and insensitive
to the things of God that they are separated from God bury their own when they
die.” Jesus then calls the man who wanted to postpone following Him to follow
his family to go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.
So Jesus is
basically saying to this man who He invited to follow Him “Allow those who are
far from God and have rejected me take care of themselves. Instead you follow
Me and engage those who are far from God but are open to me with My message and
teachings so that they can experience the relationship with Me that they were
created for”. You see, Jesus wanted this man to clearly understand that
following Jesus was to take priority over delaying for the sake of one’s
family. Jesus wanted this man to clearly understand that following Jesus was to
take priority over putting Jesus off until a time when Jesus would better fit
into his family’s schedule.
And in the same way, encountering Jesus calls us to
understand that to follow Jesus is to take priority over following our family.
Jesus invites us to follow Him not only when we do not have anything better to
do as a family. And encountering Jesus calls us to understand that following
Jesus is to take priority over putting Jesus off until a time when following
Jesus fits better into our family schedule. Jesus invites us to place Him first
in our lives and not simply give Him the leftovers of the time that is not
taken up by other activities.
Now, if you find Jesus words hitting a little too close
to home, Friday we will see what happens next…
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