As our pastor pointed out recently in a sermon, it is one thing to be attracted to the teachings and life of Jesus and quite another to follow him as a disciple. So the natural question arises, “Why do some people stop short of committing their life to Him?” The two passages above in Luke's Gospel lay out some of those reasons. The respective contexts differ drastically, but similar teachings result from each one.
Luke 9:57-62
The setting here is a series of historical encounters that Jesus has with some of those who have followed him to hear his teachings and are apparently impressed by them. We are briefly introduced to three different anonymous hangers-on. The first person actually expresses his great interest in becoming one of Jesus' disciples. Jesus first warns this man that “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,” and we hear no more from him. In other words, that would-be disciple doesn't mind hanging out with Jesus as long as it can be done in comfort with no personal sacrifice involved.
Of course, today that same man would have no trouble at all in joining a “prosperity gospel” church. I have seen the same mentality in other churches I have attended in which certain people didn't mind being the ones in charge as long as others could be delegated to do the actual work. And if that congregation doesn't cater to their preferences, there is always another one down the block that will.
With the second man, it is actually Jesus who extends the offer of discipleship. Obviously, that man had also expressed interest in Jesus' teachings, but he has a ready excuse: “First allow me to bury my father.” Jesus replies in a rather unexpected and harsh way by saying, “Let the dead bury their own dead.”
Commentators point out rightly that it is highly unlikely that the man's father had just died. Otherwise the man would certainly not be out at the time listening to Jesus' teachings since burials almost always occurred on the day of death itself. The man is probably saying in essence, “I would love to follow you, but my father is rather old and he might die at any time now.” In fact, the underlying reason behind the excuse may be that the man didn't want to jeopardize his eventual inheritance in any way. In addition, Jesus' reply has been explained as referring to the spiritually dead rather than the physically dead since obviously the physically dead are in no position to bury anyone.
The third man that Jesus encounters in this passage agrees to go with Jesus, but he first wants to say goodbye to his family. Despite that reasonable request, Jesus says, “He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.”
Jesus recaps these three conversations with the words, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” Since a literal reading of this statement would contradict Jesus' stated adherence to the Ten Commandments with its teaching on honoring your parents, commentators explain Jesus' words in one of two ways:
1. Jesus is engaging in hyperbolic (i.e. purposely exaggerated) speech in order to make his point in a highly memorable way.
2. The Hebrew language had no clear way of expressing comparatives and superlatives except through indirect means. Thus, “King of kings” or “Song of Songs” is used to convey the idea of “the greatest king” and “the greatest song,” respectively. By this reasoning, Jesus' intended meaning is that disciples need to love him more than their biological family. And that is precisely what the first explanation is driving at.
Luke 14:15-24
The setting to this story is quite different from the previous account in Luke. Jesus has been invited to a meal at the house of a prominent Pharisee along with other spiritual leaders, and he is under careful observation by them to see what he will do and say. First, he shocks them by performing a healing on the sabbath day. At one point, a guest who proclaims, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” Jesus takes this as the jumping-off point to telling a parable concerning a prominent man who planned a big banquet and invited various friends and acquaintances. But each one comes up with an excuse for not attending. As in the previous passage, we are briefly told about three of these people.
1. The first man said that he had just bought a parcel of land and needed to inspect it.
2. The second man had just bought five yoke of oxen and needed to try them out.
The transparent nature of these excuses is easy to see since in each case there was obviously no such pressing need to do either of these two activities that very day. And in addition, it would be amazing if these two men had not already carefully examined their prospective purchases before buying them. But it all points to the main concerns in these people's lives: “Business comes first.” Thus, we see early examples of workaholics who let everything and everyone else in their lives take a backseat to the desire for more and more possessions.
3. And if that example was not enough to get his audience's attention, Jesus throws in the hypothetical example of a newlywed who somewhat understandably begged off of attending since he had just gotten married. It is doubtful that he had gotten married that very day, but obviously he was still on his “honeymoon.” So actually, there would have been nothing out of line with him and his bride spending a few hours attending a good banquet as part of their own celebration. But the man refuses nonetheless.
I am somehow reminded of what a fellow chemist told me years ago when someone asked him if he attended church. He replied that his philosophy was that a man was preoccupied with sex as a teenager and into his twenties; sports until the end of his middle-age years, and religion in his declining time of life. In other words, there will be time later for me to think about my death and ultimate truths; for now I just want to enjoy myself while I can. I recall Jesus' words at the end of another parable: “Fool, this night your soul is required of you!”
Going on with the parable: Faced with this noted lack of response to his offer, the house owner dragged in the poor and maimed of the village to attend, followed by combing the countryside for others who would welcome a good meal. This parable has often been explained by identifying those who refused to come as the “spiritual” and wealthy Jews; the next group of invited guests as the poor and disadvantaged Jews; and the last group as the Gentiles. If so, then it represents one of Jesus' prophetic parables foretelling the historical order in which the Gospel message was given and received.
I was especially struck by the similar closing words given by Jesus in each of these two passages:
“Nobody who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:62)
“Whoever comes to me and doesn't hate [his family], even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”
(Luke 14:26)
There is also one little intriguing similarity between the two passages in that both refer directly or indirectly to the activity of plowing (Luke 9:62; 14:19). This leads to the observation made by most commentators on the first passage in Luke, namely, the close similarity between Jesus' words and Elijah's call of Elisha to be his disciple (I Kings 19:19-21). Interestingly, Elisha is plowing his field at the time and requests that Elijah give him time to first say goodbye to his family. Here the two accounts diverge completely; Elijah actually agrees to Elisha's request whereas Jesus does not. Why the difference?
Pao and Schnabel explain: “The contrast between Jesus and Elijah not only highlights the unique authority of Jesus but also points to the eschatological urgency present in Jesus' ministry.”
However Provan points out that “the mention of the plough reminds us of Elisha's decisiveness in leaving his home (he burned the ploughing equipment, his previous means of sustenance), which in a sense demonstrates greater commitment than that of Jesus' first disciples (they 'left' only their nets, Mark 1:16-20, and were later to return to them, John 21:1-4).”
The bottom line is that whenever and wherever God's call comes to us, it must be followed decisively without wavering.
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