Conclusion of A Secret Trip To Jerusalem

As they are walking along the road, a scribe says to Jesus: "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you are about to go." Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have roosts," Jesus responds, "but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head." Jesus is explaining that the scribe will experience hardship if he becomes his follower. And the implication seems to be that the scribe is too proud to accept this mode of life.

To another man, Jesus says: "Be my follower." "Permit me first to leave and bury my father," the man answers. "Let the dead bury the dead," Jesus replies, "but you go away and declare abroad the Kingdom of God." The man's father evidently had not yet died, for if he had, it would be unlikely that his son would be here listening to Jesus. The son apparently is asking for time to await his father's death. He is not prepared to put the Kingdom of God first in his life.

As they proceed on the road toward Jerusalem, another man tells Jesus: "I will follow you, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those in my household." In answer Jesus says: "No man that has put his hand to a plow and looks at the things behind is well fitted for the kingdom of God." Those who will be Jesus' disciples must have their eyes focused on Kingdom service. Just as a furrow likely will become crooked if a plowman does not keep looking straight ahead, so anyone who looks behind at this old system of things may well stumble off the road leading to eternal life. John 7:2-10; Luke 9:51-62; Matthew 8:19-22.

Next time: At The Festival Of The Tabernacles

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, 1991