The Cost is Real
The other day, I was doing a devotion with my wife, Stacey. During that devotion, we came across the following verses. Something in those verses spoke to me. There was a question and then Jesus answered, and I was intrigued by his answer. I wondered why he chose to answer the way he did, so I decided to look into it further. That’s how tonights study came about.
First question – is anything totally free?
Is salvation free?
In the New Testament, Jesus says “follow me“ 22 times.
Is following Jesus and salvation from Jesus the same thing?
Following Jesus has a cost. Let’s dig into it.
Luke 9:57-62 – ESV
57. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58. 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.” 59. To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60. And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61. Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62. Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
This is another one of the stories that I have read many times, but I’ve never really thought deeply about it. Put yourself in this world right now and imagine:
you walk up to Jesus, all excited and eager, and you say “Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go!“
You might not even walk up to him. You might be running to him. You’re not going to say this out of the blue. Clearly, you know who Jesus is. Clearly, you’ve heard him speak. Something has said has gotten you so excited that you’re willing to run up and say this.
And then…
Jesus stops walking, he turns and looks you in the eye, and he says “foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
You run up to Jesus, all excited, and he turns around and says this to you. What do you think right now?
Huh? That seems like a weird thing to say… Should I respond? How should I answer that. Does he want me to follow him, or is he telling me to leave? Can he ever just say yes or no??
Imagine what you would think in this spot. (Take responses)
Lets dig in…
1st Person:
57. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58. 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.”
Anything stand out here?
Why did Jesus use foxes and birds? (This is the question I had when I read the devo with Stacey)
The Song of Solomon 2:15 – ESV
15. Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
Judges 15:4-5 – ESV
4. So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
Luke 13:31-32 – ESV
31. At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32. And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.
The word fox or foxes is only found in the Bible a handful of times.
In the song of Solomon, the fox is here is representing sins.
Samson caught 300 foxes and tied their tails together and lit torches in there. Probably because the foxes would runoff and going to their den which are in the middle of wheatfields and he would burn them down.
In the other instance, Jesus calls Herod a fox. Why? The foxes known to be crafty or cunning.
Genesis 1:20 – ESV
20. And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
Matthew 10:29-31 – ESV
29. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Genesis 8:10-12 – ESV
10. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
Matthew 3:16 – ESV
16. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
In contrast, birds are mentioned in the Bible many many times. Birds are represented in positive ways. God cares for birds as part of his creation, the Bible says that God knows the actions of sparrows, and cares for us as his children. The Holy Spirit can be depicted as a dove. A dove is used to check for land from Noah’s Ark. When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. Eagles are depicted as symbols of strength. God uses birds to show of his constant care and provision. They have been used to symbolize faith and hope.
I don’t think we really have an answer here why Jesus of all the wild animals in the world he could’ve chosen used foxes and birds. Is he saying to the scribe that he is cunning and crafty? Is he saying that both good guys and bad guys have a place to call their own? Or is Jesus just using to random wild animals?
This first conversation happens after Jesus has been preaching in Galilee. Matthew 8 also has this story. There it explains that Jesus and the disciples are preparing to get into a boat to cross the sea of Galilee because the crowds were too huge as he was preaching. Before he can leave, he is approached by this man. Matthew describes this man as a scribe. A scribe would be associated with the Pharisees and responsible for teaching and regulating the law. The Pharisees, of course, were mostly in “the church business“ for themselves.
John 2:24-25 – ESV
24. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25. and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Based on Jesus‘s answer to this man, and because we know from John 2:24-25, that it is possible Jesus suspects this man’s motive is not fully pure, or at least not fully thought through.
I think he is telling the scribe that if he really wants to follow Jesus, it will be a permanent road trip…
Son of Man…
Why doesn’t Jesus just say foxes have dens and birds have nest, but “I” have no place to lay my head?
Why does Jesus refer to himself here has “the son of man“?
Remember that Jesus is talking to a scribe here who is in the group with the Pharisees. This means that he is well-versed in scripture. Turn to Daniel.
Daniel 7:13-14 – ESV
13. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This is a verse that refers to “the son of man.“ By Jesus, calling himself the son of man he is calling himself, the awaited Messiah. He is saying this to someone who would know this. How is this significant?
2nd Person:
59. To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60. And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
What is the first thing you notice in this second conversation?
In the first conversation, a man comes up to Jesus and says he wants to follow him. But in this conversation, Jesus picks out a person and said follow me.
What do you think the man meant when he said let me first go bury my father?
It’s not crystal clear what he meant. He could’ve meant:
His father has died, and he needs to go take care of him.
His father is old, and he needs to go wait until he dies and then take care of him.
Or, and this is what most scholars believe, he is saying he needs to go back home, live with his father in that culture until his father is gone. Then he can turn his life to Jesus.
Is this all bad?
Exodus 20:12 – ESV
12. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
1 Timothy 5:8 – ESV
8. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
But on the other hand…
Luke 14:26 – ESV
26. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Maybe he needs to take care of his father, or maybe he needs to stay “Jewish“ until his father is gone. In which case he would be choosing culture over following Jesus.
This wasn’t just a random guy. This was a guy who was one of Jesus‘s disciples. It doesn’t mean he was one of the 12, he probably was not. But Jesus had other people that followed him at times also.
Taking care of your family is a good thing, but following Jesus is better. Following Jesus must take precedence over even your family. Jesus tells him to let somebody else bury, his father. This would be scandalous, unless the request is coming from God himself.
The man wanted to follow Jesus, but not just yet. He knew it was good and that he should do it, but he felt there was a good reason why he could not do it now. The previous man was too quick to follow Jesus; this man was too slow.
Jesus says, leave the dead to bury their own dead.
What does he mean by this?
A dead person can’t bury another dead person, so Jesus must be speaking, spiritually dead. In other words, let people who don’t care about Jesus deal with the physically dead.
Jesus says, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. The calling of Jesus is more important than your family, your culture, non-spiritual responsibilities.
Does this mean God wants us to all leave our families and go into full-time ministry?
No, being the spiritual leader of your home is a job that God gave you. There are very few people that Jesus would make this demand of. But he is saying that he is to take priority over everything even your own family.
It reminds me of another conversation between Jesus and a rich man.
Mark 10:17-21 – ESV
17. And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18. And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'” 20. And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Must we all sell everything we own to follow Jesus? No. This was the hold up for the man Jesus is speaking to here. Just like “bury his father” could’ve been the hold up for this would-be disciple. Jesus has a way of cutting through the BS.
This is cool:
It can be summoned up like this, look at the first couple words of this disciples response.… v59 Let “me first…“
3rd person:
61. Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62. Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The first two of these conversations are also recorded in Matthew. This one is a standalone. The man says I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.
Do you think he means, that he just has to run home and grab his coat and kiss his wife and leave?
The Bible doesn’t really say, but what do you think he means when he says say farewell to those at my home?
I think we can assume that it is some greater emotional attachment that the man has to this task that he’s putting before following Jesus.
Verse 62 – Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
What does this mean?
For those who don’t know, when we lived in Minnesota, both of my sons were on our high school mountain biking team. I was one of the coaches so I rode with them at all practices and on race weekends. One of the first things they tell you, when you start is that your bicycle will go wherever your eyes go. If you were riding on the trail in your eyes get fixed on odds are going to hit it. You have to train yourself to look forward not right down where your wheels are or to the sides, but ahead to where you’re going. It’s harder to do than it sounds.
Just yesterday, I was mountain biking and going down a pretty steep hill. I was getting a little nervous because the ground was completely unlevel. Anywhere after knowing this, and doing tons of mountain biking, I set my eyes to the side and I ended up crashing.
Philippians 3:13 – ESV
13. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
Genesis 19:24-26 – ESV
24. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
In plowing a field in that day, a farmer kept the rows straight by focusing on an object in front and in the distance (such as a tree). If the farmer started to plow and kept looking behind, he would never make straight rows and do a good job plowing. In following Jesus, we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, and never take our eyes off Him. “No ploughman ever ploughed a straight furrow looking back over his shoulder.” (Barclay)
So now turn inward. What does all this mean to you? Did any of this tonight make you think or affect the way you might go forward?
Summary
The section of conversations from tonight is actually the last segment in a series of four segments in Luke chapter 9 describing what it means to follow Jesus. We only dealt with one of the four parts here tonight. The other sections deal with humility and servant hood, faith in Christ over acceptance by other believers, and a belief in what Jesus says over what our treasured traditions and cultural identity is.
We dealt with three separate conversations in our study tonight. Each of the people appears to agree to follow Jesus, but with a condition. Jesus doesn’t just say “hop on board.“ He talks about the “real cost“ of following him.
The first man was told that following Jesus would bring physical hardship and discomfort
The second man was warned that the responsibilities towards Jesus must come before his worldly responsibilities
The third man was warned that Jesus’ disciples must give themselves to him completely. If your real interests are elsewhere, don’t follow.
And guess what?
We don’t know what any of the three eventually decide. The Bible does not tell us.
________________________
bibleref.com/Luke/9/Luke-9-62.html
enduringword.com/bible-commentary/luke-9/