No Turning Again: The Urgency of Discipleship
After Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) and started to rely the times to His arrest and crucifixion, the Gospel of Luke tells us of three males that He and His disciples encountered “as they had been going alongside the street” (9:57). We don’t know who these males had been, nor do we all know what their historical past with Jesus was. However we all know that they had been at a second of choice: Would they observe Jesus, or would they go house once more?
Every of those three males acquired a hanging phrase from the Lord, and it rapidly grew to become obvious that to observe Jesus includes value. The discipleship that Jesus calls for is neither a sort of unfastened affiliation nor a marginal curiosity from the periphery. It means the sacrifice of our comforts, our pleasures, and even our most treasured relationships for the sake of God’s kingdom.
The Keen Would-Be Disciple
The primary man Jesus encountered was keen: “As they had been going alongside the street, somebody mentioned to him, ‘I’ll observe you wherever you go.’ And Jesus mentioned to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, however the Son of Man has nowhere to put his head’” (Luke 9:57–58).
When folks see a crowd, it’s simple to get caught up within the motion. Our feelings can run away with us, main us to make commitments we don’t totally perceive. In fact, Jesus deserves such a dedication. That in itself is just not unsuitable. However a spur-of-the-moment promise is just not the identical factor as Christian religion.
To observe Jesus includes value.
Jesus says to this man, in impact, “When you assume you’re going to observe Me wherever I am going, you must know the place I’m going.” There’s a value to following Jesus. It’s not a pleasure cruise. The truth is, it means giving up lots of life’s “fleeting pleasures” (Heb. 11:25).
When Jesus mentioned this, did He forbid house possession (or pillows) for all of His followers—or, as His reply to the subsequent man will recommend, funerals? Does His reply to the third man contradict Paul’s educating about caring for relations (1 Tim. 5:8) or remaining devoted to unbelieving spouses (1 Cor. 7:12–13)? Completely not! Jesus typically gave solutions tailor-made to the person and the state of affairs, and that is no exception. His days had been numbered, and He was on His path to the cross. The occasions to come back would rapidly flip again the would-be disciple.
But these phrases are recorded in Scripture for the good thing about all Christians, and so they have one thing essential to show us: We don’t stroll within the footsteps of Christ anticipating worldly comforts to be the end result. The truth is, we must anticipate the alternative. On condition that, will we observe the one who has “nowhere to put his head”?
The Accountable Would-Be Disciple
The primary man had been a volunteer. The second was a conscript. As with Peter and Andrew, James and John, and the remaining, Jesus prolonged His private invitation: “Comply with me” (Luke 9:59). These earlier disciples had “instantly left … their father and adopted him” (Matt. 4:22). However this man mentioned, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Luke 9:59).
The person’s father might not have been lifeless. He might have been forty-five and anticipating to stay one other thirty years, in order that the person was saying, “I’ve a life to stay with my household first. I’ve a accountability to look after my father.” In trendy parlance, one would possibly say to Jesus, “If I observe You now, my father would go proper by the roof. My spouse will go utterly nuts. My youngsters received’t make it to their soccer follow.”
To such a sentiment Jesus replies, “Go away the lifeless to bury their very own lifeless” (v. 60), telling the person that he mustn’t let the truth that his household received’t observe Jesus forestall him from turning into a disciple himself.
Maybe extra seemingly, although, the daddy actually was lifeless. The delay could be only some days, and the matter was of utmost urgency. If that’s the case, then Jesus, in a dramatic and chilling name, made it completely clear that following Christ is even extra pressing. When the decision comes, even essentially the most urgent and intimate household tasks should take second place.
The Sentimental Would-Be Disciple
The third man mentioned, “I’ll observe you, Lord, however let me first say farewell to these at my house” (Luke 9:61). This isn’t so momentous a necessity as a household funeral, nor does it represent a lot of a delay. It appears to be an affordable request—and Jesus’ reply once more appears harsh against this: “Nobody who places his hand to the plow and appears again is match for the dominion of God” (v. 62).
In different phrases, neither one thing as momentous because the demise of a cherished one nor one thing as fast as a easy goodbye should be allowed to intrude with what it means to observe the Lord Jesus Christ. What issues most is just not the character of the excuse however the reality of it. The offending phrases on this case had been “however … first ….”
Real Christian discipleship leaves no room for excuse, no room for compromise, and no room for half-heartedness.
Jesus tells the person that nobody ever plowed a straight furrow whereas wanting again over his shoulder. Within the flight from Sodom, Lot’s spouse failed by wanting again (Gen. 19:26). Within the flight from Egypt, Israel failed by wanting again (Ex. 16:3). So, too, if we have now determined to observe Jesus, we should be able to say, “No turning again, no turning again.” Real Christian discipleship leaves no room for excuse, no room for compromise, and no room for half-heartedness . We should guard towards feeling a surge of emotion and supposing that to be nearly as good as really setting out on the trail of obedience.
Pilgrim’s Flight
John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress begins with a memorable scene that will assist us to grasp Jesus’ solutions to the three males. Within the allegory, the person who might be known as Pilgrim, and later Christian, hears that he could also be freed from his burden of sin and demise by setting out on a journey. His response is dramatic:
The person started to run. Now he had not run removed from his personal door, however his spouse and kids, perceiving it, started to cry after him to return; however the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on crying, Life! life! everlasting life! So he appeared not behind him, however fled in direction of the center of the plain.
Did he not love his spouse and kids? In fact he did! But the salvation of his soul was of larger urgency than any household tie. (Certainly, in the middle of the story, it would imply the salvation of his household too.) It’s this sense of urgency that confronts a person or girl when the decision comes from Jesus: “Comply with me.”
Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, and God raised Him from the lifeless as a pledge of latest life for all who consider in Him. He calls on everybody to show from sin and honor Him as Lord. Do you consider? Will you observe? Or will you say, “However first…” This very night time, your soul could also be required of you (Luke 12:20). Don’t delay!
This text was tailored from the sermon “Following Jesus” by Alistair Begg.
