The Priority of Following Jesus – Luke 9:57-62

It’s a 10 or 11 minute video by a farmer showing us modern field plowing.  His plow has blades that cut the sod followed by curved blades that turn it over.  It is the mechanized way of plowing, a great advance over mule or oxen driven plowing, but one thing remains the same.  You have to have focus.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:57-62 ESV)

Do you really want to follow Jesus?  It will mean at times a sacrifice of basic needs, a prioritization of Jesus over family.  There is nothing higher in purpose than the kingdom of God and its King.  There is no “I will follow you, but…” in the kingdom.

Jesus was an itinerant preacher dependent on the gifts of others to cover his needs and they did not always cover his needs.  If we follow Jesus we may also find that, our priority not being on making money and comfort, could mean we live with some deprivation. 

Burying one’s dead “at this time in Judaism often involved a year-long period from the time when the body was first buried until a year later when the bones of the deceased were placed in an ossuary box” (ESV Study Bible notes).  Giving priority to following Jesus may mean we don’t conform to normal expectations concerning social obligations.

Plowing requires constant looking ahead or one will veer off course.  Following Jesus requires keeping our eyes fixed on him and his direction.  Too many times we have let lesser priorities distract us from this greatest priority of all.