What is Required to Follow Christ (Lk 9.57-62)?
WestminsterReformedChurch.org
Pastor Ostella
7-24-2011
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.” 59To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and
bury my father.” 60And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you,
go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say
farewell to those at my home.” 62Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Introduction
The text before us today is Lk 9.57-62. In this paragraph, we have three concise
statements of Jesus. They belong together coming from the same occasion, but the brevity leaves
us wondering what they mean. However, if you were asked in a quiz about a list of quotes and if
these verses were on the list, you would most likely recognize them as sayings of Jesus. In truth,
the brevity of these statements gives them a peculiar punch and affect. The subject is following
Christ (in v. 57, we have, I will follow you, in v. 59, Follow me and in v. 61, I will follow you, Lord,
but ...first). What we find here then is an answer to the question, “What is required to follow
Christ?” Following Christ as His disciple requires heavenly mindedness, obedient kingdom
confession, and wholehearted commitment.
I. First, following Christ requires heavenly mindedness
Jesus gave a response to an unnamed person who spoke up and voiced a willingness to be
a disciple: As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you
go.” (9.57). However, the answer that Jesus gave the man causes him and all would-be disciples
(including us here today) to evaluate the requirements of true following. The man says, “I will
follow you wherever you go,” and Jesus says, “the Son of man has nowhere to go.”
This saying of Jesus is as interesting as it is blunt: Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. The words about foxes and birds present a
contrast of homes, of places of shelter and rest. Foxes have holes and birds have nests as places
to dwell and sleep, but the Son of Man, Jesus says, does not have a home or a place to dwell and
sleep. This contrast is exaggerated metaphor because people provided Jesus with food and
lodging (Jn 1.38-39; Lk 21.37). In a literal sense, Jesus did have a place to lay His head.
Rather than a statement of literal poverty and destitution, the contrast of homes tells us
that Jesus was not at home in this world. His home was heaven with the Father. The Father in
heaven planned the course of His life on earth as a messianic mission. In earthly terms, He says,
“I am going nowhere and if you are to be my disciple, if you are going to follow me, you also
must be willing to go nowhere. You must commit yourself to live your life on this earth as a
stranger and pilgrim to own nothing. Required is detachment from all earthly things.”
A question naturally surfaces: if that is the commitment of the true Christian and the crux
of self-denial for those who would follow Christ (Lk 9.23-24), then how can I have a bank
account, daily bread, a mortgage, and consider myself homeless with no place to lay my head?
The answer is that this is a call to a peculiar mindset, to heavenly-mindedness, to have the these
words of Jesus sink deep into your ears: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
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and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also (Mat 6.19-21).
Accordingly, my attitude must be that I only have what I have as a trust. Nothing I
possess is an actual possession that I own as my own. This reaches much farther than saying that
the house I own is really owned by the bank. It is saying that the house I own, even if paid off, is
really owned by the Lord Jesus. If I am His follower then I am His servant and He is my Lord;
and He is Lord of Lords as Lord of all. I cannot be His disciple and cling to anything in some
way that is separate from Him, His authority, His teaching, and His governing. All I ‘own’ I
dedicate to His service.”
Being a disciple-follower means taking the attitude of homelessness, pilgrimage, and
non-ownership. Then, what do you say about the pillow and mattress in the home where you
sleep? You say, “This is not mine, it belongs to another; this is not my home, my home is heaven
with the one I follow.” That is the heavenly mindset required by the Lord.
II. Second, following Christ requires obedient kingdom confession
Let’s now look at 9.59-60, 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.” There is brevity here, but it is packed and needs the full heading
of “obedient kingdom confession” because of the strange words about the dead burying their
own dead coupled with kingdom proclamation.
A. On one hand, we have the comment about the dead
In this interchange with Jesus, we have an emotional subject. Touching concerns of
human experience underlie this disciple’s request. The man brings up a seemingly reasonable
matter of priority and thus an apparently legitimate reason to delay following Christ. He raises
something that relates to human affections in a penetrating way; he raises the practice of burying
one who has died. Notably, it is the man’s father who died and the process of burial is imminent.
However, the answer Jesus gives is problematic. It seems harsh. It sounds like He is
saying, “I do not care about your father or your relationship to your father. I do not care about the
fact that he died and that you now face the radical separation of his death. I do not care about
precious family relationships.” It is pointed and demanding, but is it necessarily harsh?
Here are some facts that soften the issue and help us gain perspective on burial practices.
1) Burial practices do nothing for the dead; they exist for the living for valuable reflection
on death.
2) They vary in time and place from sorrowful dirges to joyful marches.
3) In Israel, some people normally and regularly (habitually and properly) never
participated in burials. Notably, in the Law of Moses, some were not even allowed to participate
in the burial of a mother, father, or other near kin. These people were the priests of the OT. For
them, not to participate was not something disruptive to normal life or something cruel and
harsh. The variety in the OT gave instruction regarding death and pointed ahead to the coming of
Christ. The practice, or the non-practice, was a gospel sign pointing to the coming new family.
4) Therefore, the call to desist from participation in a burial tokens the greatest comfort in
life and death. It tokens the coming of kingdom salvation in Christ and the formation of the new
nation of disciples from the nations of people lost and dead in sin. How is this so? It is so in the
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fact that disciples in the kingdom are alive from the dead as believer-priests: (But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (1 Pet 2.9).
So, this is not a standard demanding that all Christians avoid participation in funerals.
Instead, it is a historical example with symbolic meaning. What it means springs from the
coming of the kingdom in which the people of God will be a nation of priests.
5) Then, what is the point? The point is that Jesus calls for uncompromising obedience.
He calls for unhesitating, unqualified, and unreserved discipleship-following. No matter what
circumstances or attending emotions may be on the table pressing for delay in following Christ,
none of them are to stand in the way of obedience.
If you want to be a Christian, you must devote yourself to all of God’s commandments in
their true spirit and intent. You cannot choose which commandments you would like to obey,
when you want to obey them, or how you want to obey. It is not a matter of your “druthers.”
Following means that you put time and family in proper perspective, in proper kingdom
perspective to regulate your life by the wisdom of Christ.
Granted, you may not be able to convince others of the appropriateness of your conduct,
and others may refuse to travel with you on this journey, but for yourself, for your own walk, you
must commit yourself to hear, study, learn, and uncompromisingly obey the will of Christ. All
conflicting challenges, and all pulls and tugs in other directions must be decisively put in place
under the authority of your teacher, the risen Lord Jesus. You seek to do this deliberately, slowly,
and wisely. You do not seek to offend just to be offensive. You seek wisdom. In other words, it is
the teaching of Christ that you seek to follow above all else, even above the closest family ties.
For that, you must learn; you must be a disciple-learner. The teachings of Christ and all His
commands must be understood correctly and applied wisely. This is the learning process that you
earnestly engage as a believer-priest in a school of lifelong learning at the feet of Jesus.
B. On the other hand, we have the comment about kingdom confession
Finally, what point does Jesus make when He says, But as for you, go and proclaim the
kingdom of God (9.60b). Is He telling us that all followers are to be preachers? No, He is making a
point about speech. Being a Christian requires obedient action, but it also requires explanation,
conversation, and confession. People will say, “You have to walk your talk” and that is true, but
followers of Christ must also “talk their walk.” You cannot remain mute; you must confess your
faith. Again Peter says, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light (1 Pet 2.9).
So far then, being a Christ-follower (a Christian) involves heavenly minded detachment
from earthly things and obedient kingdom confession. Jesus adds one more dimension.
III. Following Christ requires wholehearted commitment
The third would-be follower says, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at
my home (9.61), but Jesus replies with a caution that reveals the radical commitment of genuine
discipleship: Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the
kingdom of God” (9.62). What is wrong with saying goodbye? After all, Elisha said goodbye to his
family when God called him to be a prophet (1 Ki 19.20). What is different here? How should
we understand looking back in this saying? You might think that we have a picture of a farmer
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plowing away in his field, but leaving a zigzag pattern because he keeps looking back instead of
keeping his eyes fixed forward; so, he is not fit to be a farmer. However, the focus is not on the
process of plowing but on its beginning: having put your hand to the plow, if you look back, you
show divided attention and uncertainty about the task. The commitment to follow is faulty,
which, Jesus says, makes a person unfit for the kingdom of God. This person is not a Christian,
not a follower, not a disciple from the git-go.
Therefore, following Christ, being a Christian in truth, requires radical deep-rooted
commitment that arises from the depths of the heart. The commitment must be wholehearted, not
halfhearted, not “yes...but” with your focus and resolve divided. Your commitment to following,
to be genuine and saving, must be radical, deep, complete, unreserved. The surrender of yourself
to Christ must be total. If you would go after Christ, you must give yourself away to Him
surrendering all to Him from the depths of your heart and soul. His love demands your soul your
life your all. That is how the Christian life begins and that is how it continues.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude by asking how these teachings in Luke apply today on this side
of the resurrection of Christ? It is a fitting question because Jesus spoke these words in
anticipation of His resurrection and ascension (Lk 9.51). Consider some summary passages on
Lordship, baptism, and church membership (cf. Ridderbos, Coming, 334-443, where he discusses
the church within the scope of Jesus’ preaching of the kingdom, as “a kingdom-of-Godcommunity,” 348).
1) The Lordship of Christ
...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one
confesses and is saved (Romans 10.9-10). Being a follower of Christ means that in all things for
all time in all human relationships you devote yourself to Him as the risen Lord; you entrust
yourself entirely, from the heart, wholeheartedly to God, you give yourself away to be His now
and forever. Much is said erroneously about being saved, but here you have it: you are saved if
you proclaim the kingdom of God and thus, not being mute, you confess with your mouth what
you believe in your heart, namely, that Jesus is the risen Lord and thus Lord of all.
2) Baptism
This confession connects immediately to baptism because the confession of faith is a
commitment to obedience and thus to what we may call the first act of obedience when someone
becomes a Christian. Calling to Christ, Peter says, repent and be baptized (Acts 2.38). Baptism
stands at the beginning of the Christian life as a pledge: Baptism...now saves you, not as a removal of
dirt from the body but as an appeal [ a pledge] to God for [of] a good conscience, through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21) It is a pledge to live your life with your conscience governed by the
will of God given in Scripture (1 Pet. 3.13-17; 1.22-2.2).
3) Church membership
This pledge comes to expression in the covenant of church membership because baptism
is the way of entry into the church ( For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, 1 Cor 12.13).
Local church membership is simply the shape that following Christ takes as a commitment to
pastoral care (Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those
who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no
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advantage to you (Heb
13.17). The covenant of church membership is therefore a commitment to
regular assembly with the people of God on the Lord’s Sunday Sabbath (Heb 10.25, not neglecting
to meet together...but encouraging one another). Then you will know how you ought to behave in the
household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim 3.15) to
keep the Sabbath day holy (Ex 20.8-11; Heb 4.1, 9), and to preserve good order (all things should
be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14.40).
The teachings of Christ are like the fine print on a contract. When you sign on the last
line, you commit yourself to all that is there, even if much is difficult to read at first and hard to
understand. The commitment of a Christian is a commitment to following in the obedience of
baptism and church membership. If you would follow the Lord Jesus, you must commit to all the
fine print of His word in Scripture, to learn it and as you discover its meaning to obey it first
above all earthly things and above all human relationships.
May we fall down before the majesty of God with acknowledgment of our sins and our need of Christ;
may the Holy Spirit enable us to live a heavenly minded life with uncompromising obedience and
wholehearted commitment to Jesus Christ to the glory of the triune God, amen.