Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 9: 57-62 "LORD, I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO." Luke 9:57"
Day 121 – Luke 9
Text: Luke 9: 57-62
“LORD, I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.” Luke 9:57
Do those words ring a bell? Have we perhaps also said them to the Lord, at one time or another? There must have been some who felt deeply challenged or moved to follow the Lord Jesus as Disciples.
How did the Lord Jesus respond to such words?
1. He did not reject this person who declared that he desired to follow Him.
2. However, Jesus made it clear to this would-be disciple that following Him may be more than he bargained for.
3. Was he prepared to truly follow Jesus? The humble foxes have a lair to call their home, and birds of the air have a nest to roost in at the end of the day. The Son of Man – what did He have? He had no place to lay His head (Luke 9:58 – again we are given a glimpse of the kind of life and ministry the Lord Jesus had on earth! His Disciples suffered hunger. They also had to learn to sleep out in the open if needs be)! Was the would-be disciple prepared for a life of hardship?
“THEN HE SAID TO ANOTHER, ‘FOLLOW ME.’ ” Luke 9:59
It must be said again, the Lord Jesus was not rejecting people from becoming His Disciples. This verse confirms this conclusion. Jesus was seen as asking people to follow Him. He already had His Twelve. There were others who followed Him as Disciples (Luke 6:13-17). Still, Jesus kept on asking people to be challenged to follow Him.
However, as may be expected, there were always those who were promising, but they had various excuses to offer the Lord Jesus. We look at some of these “perfect excuses”.
1. “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Luke 9:59
We must not think that the man’s father had just died suddenly, and Jesus refused to give him leave to attend to his father’s funerary matters. What the man was saying was to use a euphemism. It was a polite way of asking the Lord to allow him to wait till the decease of his father, and then he would follow the Master! The would-be disciple assumes that he would outlive his father. He also assumes that the call of the Lord can be put on hold, until more favourable circumstances presented themselves! Both were wrong assumptions!
The reply of the Lord Jesus was deep and incisive. The believer with a genuine disciple’s heart would know how to receive and respond to the challenging words of the Teacher.
“Let the dead bury their own dead,
But you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:60
Those must have been quite painful words. But the would-be Disciple must be able to recognize the depth of the Master’s words. What did the Master mean when He said, “Let the dead bury their own dead”? The would-be disciple must first seek to fathom the significance of the challenge of the Teacher.
Funerary details are not unimportant, but are they the most pressing things that decide matters? Was he worried about funerary rites? Why was he worried about such details?
What did the Master mean when he spoke about the dead burying the dead? Of course, He could not mean that in wooden literalism! He must refer to the fact that those who are spiritually dead can well take care of the physically dead. Anyone can look after funerary details.
However, not everyone is called to the great task of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. If one has been called, then nothing must deter the individual from fulfilling that task forthwith!
If the would-be Disciple cannot understand, or cannot respond to the Master’s command, then he would never make it as a faithful disciple!
2. “Lord, I will follow You, but first let me go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” Luke 9:61
By now, we must realize that there is more to these words than the plain statement. What was the would-be disciple really saying? What did the Lord Jesus see behind these words?
The insight into the meaning of these words spoken to the Lord Jesus is found in the reply given to the would-be disciple,
“No one, having put his hand to the plow,
and looking back,
is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62
The imagery of a “plow” would be well understood by those who knew something about farming. When a farmer begins to plow, he knows the first rule about plowing. He cannot look anywhere else, but straight ahead. He cannot look back, or he will not be able to plow a straight line.
This imagery was applied to the context of one seeking to serve God. If he is to serve the Lord faithfully and effectively, he cannot look back. He must have complete devotion to the Lord.
Even his basic emotions must be so consecrated that nothing deters him from following his calling! If the would-be disciple were not prepared to make the necessary sacrifices, then he would never make it as a true Disciple of the Lord Jesus!
HARD LESSONS – BUT NECESSARY ONES
These were “hard” lessons! Yet, harder ones must be that of SUFFERING. These basic issues must first be settled. If these cannot be settled, how could they ever endure suffering in later years?
How well would we fare if these questions were to be raised up today? Would we be prepared to follow Jesus… and never look back?