Knowing The Word in Luke 9:57-62

Jesus speaks to three potential followers in this section. These people do not understand the nature of the demands the kingdom makes. The demands of the kingdom are more urgent than the traditions of burial. One man offers his services to Jesus but with conditions. Jesus, however, is not interested in anyone’s conditions.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 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.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Prayer:

Give us, O God, the power to go on, to carry our share of thy burden through to the end, to live all the years of our life faithful to the highest we have seen, with no pandering to the second best, no leniency to our own lower selves; no looking backward or cowardice. Give us the power to give ourselves, to break the bread of our lives unto starving humanity; in humble self-subjection to serve others, as thou, O God, dost serve the world.

J. S. Hoyland