Jesus meets 3 people:
Person 1
This man speaks out as Jesus walks past “I will follow you wherever you go”. It seems as though he wants to be a “groupie”. He has heard that being following Jesus around the country is popular. Jesus is in the limelight. He’s a star and his followers were becoming famous too.
Jesus replies “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”.
Jesus answered in this way because he knows what was in this man’s heart.
The man told Jesus he would follow him wherever he went, but perhaps as long as he could book to stay overnight in a 5 star hotel, get paid for following him, have protection and insurance and be the second best next to Jesus in the limelight. The man had a romanticised idea of the life which Jesus lived, a cushy life with no real responsibilities and loads of money. Jesus knew the man’s heart and knew that sleeping one night under the stars would put the man off totally. To commit, the man would have to overcome the need of having a good, cushy, life.
Person 2
Jesus is the one who opens up the conversation with this man by saying simply “Follow me”. Perhaps the man stood staring at Jesus as he walked by, in two minds whether to just go along with Jesus right there and then or to wait.
The man replied “Lord, first let me go and bury my father”. Jesus replies “let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God”.
This man had certainly met Jesus before. He calls Jesus “Lord”. He believed in Jesus, had seen the miracles and knew Jesus was the true way and in his heart he wanted to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God to others throughout the country, in preparation of Jesus’s visits. Jesus could see this in his heart.
The man though is torn because he may have been tied down in having a responsibility to his father. Perhaps his father was strict and treated him as a servant demanding to carry out his every whim. Jesus knew the man’s father was spiritually dead. Maybe his father even denounced the Jewish faith, or even worse - a Pharisee!!
This man felt he had an obligation to his father and therefore wanted to wait until his father died, until he was free of his responsibility, until he could begin his ministry.
Jesus challenges him to seize the moment, while the mission was hot in the man’s heart. He may have sounded callous, but perhaps there may have been others of the family who would be able to look after his father. Jesus may also have known that the man’s father would take many more years before he died. If this man waited that long, then the fire of his mission would be diminished.
Person 3
This person says he will follow Jesus. Again he believes in Jesus and wants to follow Jesus, but feels he has a commitment to his family. He feels he cannot suddenly leave them and follow Jesus without proper goodbyes. His family wouldn’t understand, would be angry and may resent or even reject him. Perhaps he has children who would need a father.
Jesus replies “ No-one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God”
Jesus knows this person’s heart. He thinks he can follow Jesus for a short while and the return to his family. Perhaps be with Jesus for the week and return to his family at weekends. Jesus knows this man starts a project and perhaps does not complete them. He does not see something through to the end and leaves if things become unbearable or takes too much time.
Perhaps the man though following and working with Jesus, may have his mind on his family, worrying about them while he would be away, and worrying how they may cope. He may often take time out to go back and check on his family.
Through these characters, Jesus indicates that he knows our hearts, our will and plans and what would hold us back from carrying out the will of God. Jesus tells us through the last two people that we need to seize the moment now and not to wait or delay lest we be distracted or lose the passion for mission. Jesus is telling us that once we start our ministry, to stay with it, see it through to the end or until God indicates otherwise and God will provide for us and look after our families as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment