Luke 9:57-62

Applebury's Comments

Dedication Demanded
Scripture

Luke 9:57-62 And as they went on the way, a certain man said unto him, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 But he said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, I will follow thee, Lord; but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house. 62 But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Comments

I will follow thee.Jesus had already said that whoever would come after Him would have to deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Him. Later, He challenged them with the necessity of counting the cost of discipleship, for anything short of complete dedication would not do (Luke 14:25-35). This volunteer failed to realize the necessity of following Him unselfishly.

And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes.Foxes have dens, birds have roosts, but the Son of Man did not have a place to lay His head. The Samaritans had just refused Him lodging; His own home town, much earlier, had rejected Him; before Him loomed the cross. And he said to another, Follow me.The first man had volunteered, but Jesus challenged this one to follow Him, He wanted first to go bury his father. If the father was actually dead, why wasn-'t he attending to the arrangements for the funeral? He said Let me go bury my father. In all probability the father was old and the dutiful son wanted to be present when death came so that he might properly care for his burial. He put this first, but the followers of Christ must do so unconditionally.

Leave the dead to bury the dead.Those who were spiritually dead could take care of the physically dead. The greater task was to publish abroad the kingdom of God. This will raise the dead in trespasses and sin to a new life in Christ. See Ephesians 2:5-6; Romans 6:4-5.

I will follow thee, but.Another volunteer; he wanted time to say goodbye to those at his house. But those who follow Christ must do so unintermittently.

No man, having put his hand to the plow.The plow in that day was a forked stick and difficult to handle at best. Undivided attention was necessary to do a good job. The one with the hand to the plow who looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.

The three casestwo volunteers and one who was invitedmay be summarized as follows: To the first one, Jesus is saying, Think it through first; to the second, Let nothing interfere with your following Me; and to the third, Stay with it to the end.

Summary

The incidents recorded in this chapter may be gathered up under two general headings: (1) Those things which Jesus did to extend the influence of His ministry, and (2) what He did to prepare His disciples for their work after His ascension. The importance of this preparation is seen in the fact that He was depending on them to take His gospel into all the world.
The mission of the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel was a training experience to prepare them for their worldwide mission.
Rumors of Jesus-' miracles reached the ears of Herod the tetrarch. An aroused conscience asked, Who is this? Herod answered, John the Baptist whom I beheaded. His only thought was, Kill him too. A little later, the Pharisees warned Jesus to leave the district, for, they said, Herod wants to kill you.
People by the thousands were following Jesus wherever He went. In a lonely place where no food was to be found except a boy's lunch, He fed the five thousand on the loaves and fish. Even though He had worked such a miracle, He reminded the disciples that there was a cross to be borne, a cross for Him and a cross that meant self-denial for all who would follow Him.
The Twelve were completely dependent on Him. In the Transfiguration they were taught the necessity of obeying Him. In the cure of the epileptic boy they learned the meaning of faith in Him who had given them power to perform miracles. He taught them the meaning of true greatness, and stopped their wrangling over which one was to have first place among them. He rebuked their rashness that would have destroyed the Samaritan village and left the door open for the preaching of the gospel by Philip the evangelist.
Jesus dramatically demonstrated what His demand for complete dedication meant. He rejected the volunteer who offered to follow Him but who had not counted the cost. He rejected another whom He had invited to follow Him when he said, Yes, but first let me bury my father. A third one volunteered, but Jesus demanded full-time service, for, He said, the one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.

Questions

1.

How did Jesus extend the effectiveness of His ministry?

2.

How did He train His disciples for the task of carrying the gospel into all the world?

3.

What made the difference between the power of the disciples to cast out demons and the attempts of the Jewish exorcists to do so?

4.

What were the disciples to preach on their first mission?

5.

Why take nothing for the journey?

6.

What did they mean by shaking the dust off their feet?

7.

What did Jesus say He would do before they finished the task he gave them on this first mission?

8.

Why did Herod think that Jesus was John the Baptist?

9.

What can cleanse an evil conscience?

10.

How does the feeding of the five thousand show the influence of Jesus-' ministry?

11.

Where did it take place?

12.

What lesson did Jesus teach the people after it was over?

13.

Why did Jesus tell the apostles to give the crowd something to eat?

14.

How did Jesus demonstrate the necessity of organization in carrying out His work?

15.

Why gather up the broken pieces?

16.

What was Jesus doing just before Peter made the good confession?

17.

Why did He ask, Who do men say that I am?

18.

Why would some say John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the old prophets?

19.

What does Thou art the Christ mean?

20.

What does Son of God mean?

21.

On what was the church built?

22.

Why did Jesus mention the gates of Hades? What is Hades?

23.

Why did Jesus restrain them from telling others that He is the Christ?

24.

Why was the cross necessary for Jesus?

25.

What does the cross mean in the life of His followers?

26.

How did He explain self-denial?

27.

What of the one who is ashamed of Jesus and His words?

28.

How was it possible for some to see the kingdom of God before they died?

29.

Whom did Jesus take with Him into the mountain where He was transfigured?

30.

What is the name of the mountain?

31.

What did Peter write about his experience in that mountain?

32.

Why had Jesus gone into the mountain?

33.

What was the meaning of the Transfiguration to Christ? to the apostles?

34.

Why were Moses and Elijah permitted to appear with Jesus?

35.

What did they talk about?

36.

Why did Peter want to build the three tabernacles?

37.

What is the significance of the message of the Voice that came out of the cloud?

38.

What explanation did Jesus make about the disciples-' question concerning the coming of Elijah?

39.

What had the disciples tried to do while Jesus was in the mountain?

40.

Why did they fail?

41.

What is the difference between the faith of the woman in the crowd and the faith which the apostles lacked?

42.

Why did Jesus refer to the faithless generation?

43.

Why didn-'t the disciples understand Jesus-' prediction of His crucifixion?

44.

Why did the disciples discuss the issue of greatness?

45.

How did Jesus answer their problem?

46.

Why did Jesus tell them not to forbid the unknown miracle worker?

47.

Why did the Samaritans refuse lodging for Jesus and the disciples?

48.

What did James and John propose that justifies their nickname, Sons of thunder?

49.

How did Jesus-' attitude affect the Samaritan situation later?

50.

Why did Jesus reject the man who volunteered to follow Him?

51.

What does this mean: Let the dead bury the dead?

52.

Why did putting the hand to the plow and looking back make one unfit for the kingdom of God?