Context determines the meaning is one of the important principles of biblical interpretation that is to be put into practice. Without proper consideration of the context, we might read Luke 9:57-62 and suppose Jesus followers were homeless and estranged. But context unveils the wrongheadedness of such an interpretation.
Luke tells us that Jesus experienced rejection in His own hometown of Nazareth (Lk. 4:16-30). The folks of Gerasa also asked Jesus to leave their place (Lk. 8:26-39). Even a village of Samaritans rejected the Lord (Lk. 9:51-56). But the Lord’s earthly ministry had yet to finish its course, and potential followers needed to be informed of the potential conflicts they would experiences as disciples.
“I will follow you wherever you go,” announced one prospect (Lk. 9:57). [1] He is identified as a scribe by Matthew (Matt. 8:19). This prospect proactively declares his intention to follow the Lord. But Jesus responds, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Lk. 9:58).[2] Put simply: “Even animals have a place to sleep, but Jesus experiences homelessness and rejection.” [3]
Following Jesus is still a live option. Nothing in the Lord’s response communicates, “No, you’ve been rejected, mover along.” But traveling with the Christ meant staying in places faraway from the towns and villages where they were born and raised. Nights without lodging could very well happen. Foxes had holes and birds had nests but the Son of Man had no place to call home. This was something the Lord wanted prospects to understand.
The first generation of Christians who herald the good news were strangers in foreign lands. Recognizing this truth, Gregory of Nazianzus said, “What of the Apostles? Were not they strangers to the many nations and cities among whom they were divided?” and “Be it that Judea is Peter’s home; what has Paul in common with the Gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, John with Ephesus, Thomas with India, Marc with Italy, or the rest, not to go into particulars, with those to whom they went?” (Oration 33.11). [4] Yet, Gregory acknowledged, “Every one that is of high mind has one Country, the Heavenly Jerusalem, in which we store up our Citizenship” (Oration 33.12).
Luke mentions two other prospects whom Jesus bidden “Follow Me,” but both give positive replies with conditions attached. One said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Lk. 9:59). This appears to be a reasonable request for a fella who lost a parent and had familial duties to carryout with respect to caring for the deceased. But there is likely more to this picture than meets the eyes. The ancient Jewish custom involved an initial burial and final interment of the bones into an ossuary. This prospect then “could be asking for as much as a year’s delay” and one of an eldest son’s most important responsibilities was his father’s burial.” [5]
But Jesus answered, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (Lk. 9:59-60). The Lord essentially “overturns social conventions, insisting that the kingdom of God has priority over family loyalties” and telling the prospect to let the dead bury the dead meant for him to “leave the task of burying the ‘physically dead’ to those who are ‘spiritually dead.’” [6]
My thought is that Jesus already had in mind the plan to send out the seventy-two disciples into every town and place He would be visiting, heal the sick, and announce the nearness of the kingdom of God (Lk. 10:1ff). Moreover, within a very short time Jesus would arrive in Jerusalem, experience betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection, then give His disciples the Great Commission (Lk. 24:45-49; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:19-20). All this made it impossible to grant any wish to delay becoming a disciple until after burying one’s father. The prospect had to realistically assess which future obligation had priority. Following Jesus was still a live option, but that would mean passing on the duty to bury his father. The higher calling in this situation would be to “proclaim the kingdom of God.”
The other prospect responded, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home” (Lk. 9:61). Nothing appears to be wrong with the request. Even Elijah prior to finishing the course allowed Elisha to bid farewell to his family prior to becoming the next anointed prophet (1 Kings 19:19-21).
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,” replied Jesus (Lk. 9:62). This horticultural hack for straight plowing has application to life as a whole: “No one can plow effectively if he or she looks back, for the furrow will be crooked and the wooden plow tip might break. So too, no one can follow Jesus without making him the absolute and exclusive center of life.”[7] No farewell banquet like illustrious Old Testament prophet Elisha.
Yet, again, the seventy-two were going to be sent out, Jesus would very soon finish the journey to Jerusalem, the cross, and the resurrection, and the disciples would receive the Great Commission. The Son of God was on verge of crossing the apex of redemptive history. Circumstances called for the prospect to reconsider the gathering of family and friends to eat, drink, say goodbyes and give blessings.
Three prospects are told of the real social conflicts they could face as Christians. They would face being mistreated and shunned by antichrists. They would have to give a greater incumbency to the Lord’s calling than family obligations, like burying one’s own father or giving proper farewells.
Of course, this is far from complete severance from family relationships. Honoring parents still mattered (Mk. 7:9-13; Eph. 6:1-3). Neither is the call tantamount to vagrancy. God would supply their needs (Phil. 4:19). But following Jesus is the highest calling, and when conflicts with other obligations arise, the response is to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus…
Tho’ none go with me, I still will follow…
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus…
The world behind me, the cross before me,
No turning back, no turning back.[8]
— WGN
Notes:
[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.
[2] Jesus’ self-reference as “the Son of Man” is an illeism. Illeism has been employed by many people. Richard Nixon, Bob Dole, and the Sesame Street character Elmo. There is even the popular pro-wrestler tag lines: “Cause Stone Cold says so,” and “If ya smell what the Rock is cooking?” But why did Jesus refer to Himself as the Son of Man. Whereas there may be in some secondary sense the idea of Son of Man being a reference to the genuine humanity of God incarnate, Gleason Archer indicates “The principal reason was unquestionably the identification with the sublime figure of Daniel 7:13, who is destined to come in clouds of glory, sitting on the right hand of Power, and assuming absolute dominion over all the earth, after He has meted out justice to all who in this lifetime refused God’s mercy” (Gleason L. Archer, New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Zondervan’s Understand the Bible Reference Series [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982], 324).
[3] Thomas Schreiner, The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 1081.
[4] Cited from Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church,vol. 7, trans. Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow, (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1894).
[5] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 9:59–62.
[6] Schreiner, 1081.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Logos Hymnal, 1st edition. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).
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