Luke 9: 59 And He said to another, Follow Me. But he said, Lord, permit me to go first and bury my father. (60) But He said to him, Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and announce the kingdom of God everywhere (61) And another also said, I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say farewell to those in my house. (62) But Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand on the plow and looks behind is fit for the kingdom of God.
[Part 2 of 2]This one [in vs. 59] was called by the Savior to follow Him, but he considered his duty to his dead father and would not follow Him immediately. Hence, the Savior encouraged him to pay the price that he might become a follower in His great commission to publish the kingdom of God (v. 60). The answer of the one who asked to first go and bury his father indicates that he overly considered the cost of following the Man-Savior. This was the reason the Lord answered him in the way of encouraging him to follow Him and set aside his considerations of the cost and to leave the burial of his father to others. The third one volunteered to follow the Savior, but he would not do it before bidding farewell to his family. Hence, the Man-Savior warned this one not to let anything hold him back from the kingdom of God. In verse 62 the Lord speaks of not putting one's hand on the plow and looking back. Plowing requires one to concentrate all his attention on the line plowed. Just a little distraction, to say nothing of looking back, may lead the plower off the straight line. To follow the Savior requires us to forget everything else and to press straight forward for the kingdom of God.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 198-199. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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