Stay or Run? - A Reflection on Luke 9:57-62



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

 

Have you ever been to a meeting with leaders of a parish, or prayer group, or church committee where they talk about how they can increase their numbers? The ideas are diverse. Make the worship more lively. Get better preachers. Serve more refreshments. Arrange baby sitters for the kids. Have a fun fair.  And, of course, there is the fail safe: organize a healing retreat. That will draw the crowds in for sure. It may not keep them in, but at least we will have people in the church for one day!

 

And then I look at a passage like this and I marvel at Jesus’ method of drawing people to him; it’s almost like he wants to drive them away. Jesus in on his way to Jerusalem and crowds follow him. There is this one dude, undoubtedly impressed with the glamor that seems to surround Jesus. He says, “Jesus I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus says, “Really? Where? I might eat at a rich man’s house tonight, but tomorrow I might share a bowl of rice with a beggar woman. The day after tomorrow I might be in jail. The following day I might be dead. You sure you wanna follow me?” What do you think this guy did? Follow Jesus or run for his life? 

 

Then Jesus turns to another man and says to him, “Hey you! You follow me.” Now, I know there are different ways in which we can look at his response, but let us consider it literally here. This poor chap has just lost his dad and he replies, “Ok, Lord, but first let me go and bury my father.” And Jesus says, “He’s already dead. You can’t do anything more for him. You go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” What do you think this man did? Followed Jesus or ran away too?

 

Then a third guy, possibly somebody who has been hanging around Jesus for the past three years, starts to get a little nervous listening to all this. This isn’t quite what he was expecting. So he says to Jesus, “You know what? I’ll follow you but I need to think about this a little more. I got parents to look after, a wife to satisfy, kids to provide for. Let me take care of all of them and then I’ll come, maybe when I am 80 or 90 years old, you know.” And Jesus says to him, “Buddy, you go, you stay gone.” And what do you think this fellow did? 

 

Now it might seem like I am exaggerating this — ok, I am; a little — but if you look at Scripture you will find at least two occasions where people actually did leave him because of the things he said. One was a rich young man I have spoken about a gazillion times. Jesus told him to sell all his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, then follow him. And Scripture says he went away sad (see Matthew 19:16-22). At another time, when he told his disciples they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood, almost everybody with the exception of his apostles left him! (see John 6:51-66).

 

So do you want to follow Jesus? Or do you want to run? Read about all the things he said and then you decide.

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/h_u5NhaGNZI

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