We’re going to look at a second story from the Bible this week, this one about Jesus in Luke 9:57-60
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Just like yesterday’s story, this is a tough one to interpret, since we probably didn’t expect this kind of response from Jesus. It sounds to us like the man’s father just died, and Jesus says he can’t mourn. He comes across as cold and even cruel, but mostly because we lack cultural understanding. There are again two possibilities for why he responds this way:
One option: The man’s father is actually dead, sometime in the recent past. He’s been put in a very hot middle eastern tomb. The son wants to wait up to a year, so he can go and place his father’s bones in a bone box, an ossuary, for secondary burial in a family tomb. This would have been a very important duty for a Jewish son, but Jesus says it’s not as important as God’s kingdom.
Another option: This is a stall tactic. The man’s father is not dead. The son wants to wait until his father dies and leaves him the inheritance. He only wants to follow Jesus when there will be no financial risk.
Following Jesus looks different today – it’s not as simple as joining his entourage on a dusty road. It changes us in many other ways, and we’re going to explore lots of those changes in the next few weeks.
Either way, we’ll be tempted to delay. We’ll want to put off financial changes until we retire, service changes until we have more time, and so on. But Jesus’ response to this man should inform us that Jesus needs to be first in our daytimer.
Question: What aspect of following Jesus are you tempted to put off?
Read the Bible in Sync Today
Loading Content...
Share a Link to this Message
The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it.
We're looking at the final section of the Sermon on the Mount this week:
"When Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29 ESV)
Jesus' teaching is widely thought of as being the greatest and most original human teaching to have ever existed. No one is quoted more than Jesus. Many people, even those who are not Christians, have the greatest respect for Jesus and try to live by his teachings.
A friend of mine once proudly quoted to me: “Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand’” I had the joy of telling him that Lincoln was actually quoting Jesus!
When I began a Masters degree – I read through the grading structure – what constitutes an A, B, C, etc. Description of an A+ was "Profound and Creative - Strong evidence of original thought." This is a rare thing indeed – someone who can come up with completely original ideas, rather that simply quoting, or worse, stealing the work of others.
Jesus dared to do this - in the Sermon on the Mount, he regularly started with, "I say to you." or "I tell you." Whenever he says “they say” and quotes another religious teacher, he is about to say they’re wrong!
He was acting as if he could just say these things under his own authority, as if he was the source of all wisdom, knowledge and morality. Because he was! But they didn't know that yet.
Question: Reflect on all that Jesus has been teaching and what we have studied in the Sermon on the Mount through the last several months. What has amazed you about his teaching? What has confused you?
