“I’ll Follow, But . . .” -- Luke 9:57-62

Most people, if they’re smart, will have a Plan B. Most are aware that things don’t always go to plan, and so have an alternative in place just in case. Sometimes, the Plan B turns into a C or a D, requiring us to change on the go. But that’s part of life, and it’s part of who and what we are.

The exception to this is in our obedience to Jesus’ call to follow Him. When Jesus calls us, He expects us to put Him first and only. He expects us to prioritize our world in that we are always seeking His will and His way. Anything short of that is to fall short of our calling.

Central Truth: We can only follow Jesus when we give Him our all.

Background

This part of Luke’s gospel account is unique to his account. There are some corresponding passages that can be found in Matthew and some also in Mark, but for the most part, this part contains teachings that are not found elsewhere. It isn’t until Jesus enters Jerusalem that Luke again joins with Mark and Matthew.

Luke starts this part of the gospel with the statement, “As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (9:51). In reading over this journey to Jerusalem, though, we find that it doesn’t seem consistent when we consider where Jesus is said to be and how He is traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem. It is possible Luke is combining two journeys to Jerusalem. It’s more likely that Luke is making a theological statement.

Jesus knows the time is near when He will be turned over to the religious leaders in Jerusalem and then be crucified. It’s important that Jesus teach His disciples the things they need to do to further the kingdom once He is returned to the Father. In this way, Luke’s passage is similar to the Upper Room Discourse John records in John 13-17. If we consider this passage as Jesus’ last words to His disciples, then we can see that Jesus resolutely sets His face to Jerusalem and to the events that await Him there.

In today’s passage, we find Jesus has an encounter with three different men. Each of the encounters focuses on what it means to follow Jesus. The first encounter shows us a man who has a vague awareness of what it will mean to follow Jesus, while the latter two deal with men who say, “Yes, but . . .” to Jesus’ call.

In each of these encounters, we find excuses that prevented all three men from doing what they said the wanted to do, which is follow Jesus. The excuses we make today can also hinder our calling and our walk.

The excuses we use:

We don’t understand the cost (57-58)

In this first instance, a man comes to Jesus and makes the grand proclamation, “I will follow You wherever You go” (v. 57).

On the surface, the man’s dedication would seem worthy of affirmation. Here was a man who was making no outward reservations about following Jesus. He said he was prepared to go wherever Jesus went, and implied he would do whatever Jesus said.

The problem arises when we consider Jesus’ answer to Him. Jesus’ words can best be summed up with, “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

Realize that Jesus is not in the habit of turning followers away. His invitation is to anyone who would follow Him: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus was always calling people to follow Him, and He seldom turns people away.

Having said that, Jesus is not afraid to tell someone that there is a cost to following Him. To the rich young ruler, Jesus told him to sell everything and follow Jesus. To this man, Jesus says, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (v. 58). In the verses immediately after we read that Jesus resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem, Jesus sought a place to stay in a Samaritan village. Rather than welcoming the Son of God, the villagers wanted nothing to do with a group of Jewish men in their midst. The village turned them away. Whether Jesus was reflecting on this when He gave the man His answer or not, we do know that Jesus is telling the man that the call to follow Him can be and often is a call to suffer in His name.

A review of the lives of Jesus’ apostles lets us know that this was the case. All but John died a martyr’s death. Read Paul’s description of his life in his letter to the Corinthians: “I have worked harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concerns for all the churches. Who is weak and I do not feel it? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (2 Corinthians 11:23b-29). Paul continues, but you get the idea.

The call to follow Jesus is not an easy one. It is not a promise of easy living, fine dining and fancy clothes. It is a call to follow Him, become like Him and face the same hardships and persecutions that He faced. Jesus had resolutely set His face on Jerusalem, knowing the suffering and pain that awaited Him there. Are we prepared to do the same? Are we prepared to set our faces resolutely on the road that Jesus calls us to follow?

We have other responsibilities (59-60)

The second man is different from the other two in that Jesus specifically called the man to follow Him. Instead of following immediately, the man tells Jesus that he has a duty to perform before he can give himself to Christ.

The man’s response is, “Lord, first let me bury my father” (v. 59b). The burial of a person was one of the most sacred duties of the Jewish faith. Burying the dead took precedence over almost every other rite and practice of the Jewish law and faith. It was a son’s greatest duty to his father—to care for him and then to arrange the appropriate burial. It’s not unusual, then, for the man to ask Jesus this request.

The problem is that the man’s father was still alive. What the man was asking was, “Let me wait until my father has died. Then I will follow You.”

Jesus’ response may seem harsh, in light of the importance of burial. Yet, Jesus wants our all; we cannot wait for even important things to happen before we commit to Him. Jesus tells the man to let the dead bury the dead. What He means by this is that those who are not a part of God’s kingdom—those who have not been called to follow Jesus—can do the things that the world deems important. There is no higher calling; either we follow Jesus or we don’t.

Think of it this way. “I’ll follow Jesus, but first let me graduate from college.” “I’ll follow Jesus, but first let me raise my children.” “I’ll follow Jesus, but first let me establish my career.” There are a lot of areas in our lives that we use to justify our delay in following Jesus, but when we fail to put His calling first, we risk the very real possibility of losing the calling entirely.

There can be no excuse to delay our obedient response when Jesus calls us to follow Him.

We have other loyalties (61-62)

The last example from the Bible is similar to the previous one in that it comes with a qualifier in promising to follow Jesus. “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family” (v. 61).

On the surface, again, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this request. When Melissa left for Indonesia, Kim and I took her to the DFW airport and stayed with her as long as we could before she boarded, just so we could say goodbye. People leave family, friends and loved ones all the time in following Jesus.

The difference here was the man wasn’t saying he just needed to grab some change of clothes, kiss the parents goodbye and head out the door to follow Jesus wherever He was going. Instead, this man’s loyalty to Christ was compromised by his appreciation for the things of his world. Similar to the seeds that fell on weedy soil, this was a man whose commitment to Christ would be choked out by the cares of this world. He was similar to the seeds that fell on the rocky soil in that his commitment wasn’t deep-rooted enough to withstand the challenges that come with following Jesus. He was a man that wanted the best of both worlds.

Jesus’ words about gaining the world only to lose one’s soul applied to this exchange. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Jesus references the need to plow a straight line. The way to do it is to focus not on the row immediately before us, but to focus attention on something in the distance. Similar to driving a car, we don’t stare at the windshield to keep on the road; we look past the windshield and focus on the road ahead. Jesu’s admonition is to the man who has no focus on what he really wants in life. Does he want to follow Jesus, or does he want to maintain ties with the family? It’s not a mutually exclusive thing, but it is when the devotion to family comes into conflict with our devotion to Christ.

No one can truly follow Jesus when there are other loyalties.

Conclusion

It all seems so easy, on the surface. We hear the Gospel and it sounds good to us. We want to embrace the promises of the Gospel—the freedom of sin’s consequences, the promise of eternal life. These things are promised us, it’s true. The problem comes when we assume that these promises are the end result of following Jesus.

But following Jesus means more than all the promises that do come true in Him. It also means devoting our lives to learning His will and putting it into practice. It is being constantly aware of the temptations that surround us, and in surrendering ourselves completely to Him. It is giving it all up to gain the prize that is knowing Jesus.

The question we need to ask ourselves is not, do we want to go to heaven, but do we so believe in Jesus that we are willing to give ourselves to Him and do His will? Will we really follow Him?