Bible Questions Answered:
“In Luke 9 why would Jesus be
indifferent to a man's wishing to bury his father or saying goodbye
to his loved ones?”
Barry/ Melbourne, Australia (Victoria)
Bible Answer:
These three
examples given us, hardly are inconsiderate actions by our Lord, but
examples of the cost of following Him.
Bible Text:
Matthew 8:18-22 NLT
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around
Him, He instructed His disciples to cross to the other side of the
lake.
19 Then one of the teachers of
religious law said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you
go.”
20 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have
dens to live in, and birds have nests, but The Son Of Man has no
place even to lay His head.”
21 Another of His disciples said,
“Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow Me
now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.”
Luke 9:57-62 NLT
57 As they were walking along,
someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have
dens to live in, and birds have nests, but The Son Of Man has no
place even to lay His head.”
59 He said to another person, “Come,
follow Me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord,
first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the
spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach
about the Kingdom of God.”
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I
will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who
puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the
Kingdom of God.”
(First
Individual:)
Luke 9:57,58 NLT
57 As they were
walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever
you go.”
58 But Jesus
replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but The
Son Of Man has no place even to lay His head.”
It may seem at first that our Lord, did not address the petitioner,
but to the contrary, that is exactly what He did.
Our Lord, spoke to the eagerness of the individual, as to one who had not “counted-the-cost” of discipleship, and so Jesus spoke of His own
sacrifices in doing God's service.
Foxes have dens
to live in, and birds have nests, but The Son Of Man has no place
even to lay His head.”
In his exuberance, he was reminded that there is a “cost,”
in serving The Living God!
Luke 14:25-35 NLT (Cost of discipleship.)
25 A large
crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,
26 “If you
want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by
comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers
and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My
disciple.
27 And if you
do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My
disciple.
28 “But don’t
begin until you count the cost. For who would begin
construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see
if there is enough money to finish it?
29 Otherwise,
you might complete only the foundation before running out of money,
and then everyone would laugh at you.
30 They would
say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t
afford to finish it!’
31 “Or what
king would go to war against another king without first sitting down
with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could
defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?
32 And if he
can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while
the enemy is still far away.
33 So you
cannot become My disciple without giving up everything you own.
34 “Salt is
good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it
salty again?
35 Flavorless
salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is
thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
Are you a disciple of The Lord Jesus, and if so "at what cost?"
Wealth (i.e.that is never willing to give it up.), popularity, social
position, friends (i.e. not at the expense of loosing them.), life
(i.e. not willing to do so at the cost of your own life?)
Revelation 12:11
NLT
And they
have defeated him (Verse 9 "the Devil...Satan")
by The Blood Of The Lamb and by
their
testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they
were afraid to die.
This is the three fold defeat of Satan:
Christians who know and believe their victory is through The Blood Of
The Lamb
Christians who have and who profess a Godly testimony. (In their
life, and what they profess.)
Christians who are willing to lay down their lives in service to The
Lord Jesus Christ.
The cost of serving The Lord Jesus Christ is , Self-Denial, Cross
bearing, and Willingness to forsake everything for the cause of
Christ, even life itself.
(Second
Individual:)
Luke 9:59,60 NLT
59 He said to another person, “Come,
follow Me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord,
first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus
told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty
is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
Christ and His call were, Second Place in the life of this
individual.
God, and His call in our lives must always, be first place!
There would be others to bury a dead father, but Christ's call spoke
of spiritual urgency!
Time and time again The Word warns of urgency!
Psalm 32:6 NLT
Therefore, let
all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they
may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
Psalm 95:7,8 KJV
7 For He is our
God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
Today if ye will hear His voice,
8 Harden not
your heart..."
II Corinthians
6:2 KJV
(For He saith,
I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation
have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Hebrews 3:7,15
KJV
7 Wherefore (as
the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear His voice,
88 Harden not
your hearts..."
15 While it is
said, Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your
hearts..."
Hebrew 4:7 KJV
"...Today
if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.
(Third
Individual:)
Luke 9:61,62 NLT
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I
will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my
family.”
62 But Jesus
told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back
is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Again, Christ was to this person, second rate.
True following The Lord Jesus Christ, speaks of Sacrifice, and
Self-Denial.
Matthew 16:24
KJV
Then said Jesus
unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Mark 8:34 KJV
And when He had
called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto
them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23 KJV
And He said to
them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and
then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.
The plowman, in order to dig straight and true furrows, must of
necessity, look to the distant goal.
And the same is true for God's servant, we must look to the distant
goal.
Hebrews 12:1-4
NLT
1 Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life
of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with
endurance the race God has set before us.
2 We do this by
keeping our eyes on Jesus,The Champion who initiates
and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured
the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of
honor beside God’s throne.
3 Think of all
the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become
weary and give up.
4 After all,
you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Personal sacrifice, self-denial, counting the cost, and knowing the
urgency of God's work, this is the call of the servant of God!
Any work of self-interests, disallowal and fortuitous service, are
not accepted by The Savior, who gave His all for us.
Philippians 2:5,7,8 KJV
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
7 "...made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Genesis 19:23-26
NLT
23 Lot reached
the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon.
24 Then the
Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and
Gomorrah.
25 He utterly
destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the
plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation.
26 But Lot’s
wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into
a pillar of salt.
To love the things of this world, to long for and to look back at,
earthly things, means being lost, to the things of Christ.
I John 2:15-17
KJV
15 Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of The Father is not in him.
16 For all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of The Father, but is of the world.
17 And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will
of God abideth for ever.
