Luke 9:57-62; 10:1-20

     As Jesus moves toward Jerusalem, Luke tells about some encounters with potential followers. One person says, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.” Jesus tells him that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

     The brevity of this story leaves us with questions. Was Jesus telling this person not to follow? Was he recognizing a desire for comfort and security in the individual, so mentioned the difficulties that would come with the choice to follow? Did this person still follow after hearing what Jesus said?
      To another person, Jesus made the invitation to follow. The man said, “First let me go bury my father.” Jesus’ told him that he should let the dead bury the dead, but this person should go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus’ words may seem harsh. Why not let a man bury his father? Wasn’t that a part of respecting his mother and father (one of the ten commandments)? One speculation is that father was living and the man was saying, let me wait until after my father is gone. Yet, again, it doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable. A son was expected to be the support of his parents and if he was the only son, the responsibility was all the greater.
     There were occasions when Jesus put the priority of discipleship over the responsibilities of family. When his own mother and siblings came to see him, he commented that his family were those who did the will of God.  In the same way the apostle Paul spoke of leaving the past behind (Phil 3:13). Yet, at other times, Paul gave the advice that a Christian didn’t need to separate from a non-believing spouse. On the cross, Jesus gave the care of his mother into the hands of the one disciple standing close by.  His brother James became bishop of the church in home. It doesn’t seem as though he was advocating the breaking of family ties, only the prioritizing of them. In the situation of the man who wanted to wait for his father’s burial, the man may simply have been procrastinating or making excuses, and Jesus was calling him on it.
      In the same vein, another person says “I’ll follow you, but first let me say goodbye to those at my house.” This seems a reasonable request, but Jesus says what may have been a proverb (and certainly became one), that whoever puts a hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Again, the potential follower may have been making excuses or delaying his discipleship.
     Jesus had a clear understanding of human nature. He knew how easily we procrastinate, make excuses, rationalize or otherwise justify half-hearted commitments. As he moved steadily into the controversies that would lead to his crucifixion, he needed followers who were willing to put everything on the line. As it was, they still scattered and nearly fell apart once he’d been arrested.
      But along with the potential danger of discipleship, Jesus also knew the fulfillment and joy that comes with utter commitment. Why accept anything less?
      Luke doesn’t tell us what the results were of these encounters with potential disciples. Did they abandon their excuses and follow or did they stand back and watch wistfully as Jesus and his committed followers continued on their way? Perhaps Luke didn’t tell us the result so we could recognize ourselves in them.
     After this, Jesus sent out seventy of his disciples with similar instructions that he’d given when he sent out the twelve (Luke 9:3-5), although he speaks in greater detail. And the seventy return with joy because their work has been so successful.
      It is quite possible that Luke deliberately followed the story of potential disciples with this one about the results of committed discipleship. The gospel stories are not simply history books. They were written to communicate the good news. Luke may have been telling all who would read his book, that making excuses to avoid discipleship is like (in modern terms) cutting off your nose to spite your face. It’s turning down the prize. Yet even here, the dangers of discipleship are not forgotten. Jesus tells the seventy that he’s sending them out like lambs in the midst of wolves.
       The woes Jesus proclaims on the cities are more obscure, even on Capernaum, which some scholars speculate had become his home as an adult. The words seem to pronounce judgment on them for rejecting him. (Yet many in Capernaum seem to have heard Jesus with favor). Except for theological traditions often described as “hellfire & brimstone,” it is difficult to know what to do with these words of Jesus. But it is all right to find things in the bible to be challenging and uncomfortable. It is a tribute to the integrity of those who passed on these writings that they didn’t take out the things that are difficult to understand or that do not seem consistent with the rest of what Jesus taught. (After all, he wouldn’t let John call down fire upon another village and forgave those who crucified him).  One theologian has suggested that difficult passages can be put into a mental drawer of things we don’t understand.
      But it is also true that the difficult passages shouldn’t be ignored entirely. Sometimes, in wrestling with it, we can learn and grow. Ultimately, whether Jesus was judging these villages or whether he was simply engaging in hyperbole (overstatement to make a point) or was saying something else, one point might be said to emerge. This is the truth that a choice for Jesus is a choice for goodness and a decision for life-giving reality.

What are the excuses you see being made to avoid fuller discipleship?
How would you express to other people the importance of making that decision?