No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, 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."   Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

- Luke 9:51-62

 In Saturday's reading, a great multitude met Jesus after He had come down from the mountain of Transfiguration with Peter, John, and James.  A man told Jesus, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." Jesus said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  Even as Jesus approached, the demon threw down the boy and convulsed him.  But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and gave the boy back to his father, and all marveled at the majesty of God.  But while they marveled, Jesus said to the disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then the disciples began to dispute who would be greatest among them.  Jesus told them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  My study bible says that "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem marks a turning point in Jesus' life and ministry.  From this point in the Gospel, Jerusalem and the Passion is the next step of Jesus' journey.  The Greek verb received up describes the Ascension, the ultimate goal of His Passion and Resurrection."  His ministry is no longer in Galilee, a place of mixed peoples (Jew and Gentile), nor among the Samaritans, but rather it is time for Jerusalem and the Passion, in the center of the religious authority.

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  James and John are known as the brothers Boanerges - "sons of thunder" - no doubt because of their tendency to fiery passion!  As with all things within us, we will see this passion turned to God and for the use of God.  Here, Jesus corrects them for us to see:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of."  His mission - and theirs, as apostles - is to save.  As He instructed the Twelve on their first mission, when they are refused they simply go on to another village.  My study bible says, "Jesus does not exclude the Samaritans from salvation, even though this village refuses to receive Him.  Other Samaritans welcome Him."  Such an example - and a splendid one - will be written about by John himself, see John 4.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, 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."   As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem, the adversity to this ministry is showing itself; discipleship isn't an easy task.  John and James learn that this ministry is not one of powerful "success" in material terms, but saving and healing takes on a completely different aspect to understand in this work.  Here, Jesus points out to another who would be a disciple that He Himself has nowhere to lay His head.

Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  Here, Jesus calls another to discipleship.  But the powerful statement is in this idea that nothing comes first before this call, and where it asks us to go and what it may ask of us; all things are placed before this saving mission.  My study bible points out that there is a cost to discipleship, and here Jesus talks of three such costs.  Above, "provision for personal security does not mix with true discipleship.  The disciple will be no more secure than the Teacher.  If the Teacher has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciple."  And here, in this example, "Discipleship demands singular commitment to the Kingdom of God.  A disciple must be willing to let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead."  While the family relationship makes this teaching seem harsh, we can see in it a parallel to walking on to the next city rather than remaining where Christ hasn't been received, in the example of the Samaritan village, above.

And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  Of this example, my study bible says, "Discipleship does not look back to reconsider, or operate by delayed response.  It means taking hold of the commission given by Christ and moving forward."  Again, we see the similarity to the example of Christ Himself and the Samaritan village where He isn't welcomed.  Onward, there is a current positive movement, a place to go forward in discipleship, whatever that may mean for each one of us.

What does it mean to make a commitment to this journey of discipleship?  I think first we have to ask ourselves the question, as it is framed by the examples in today's reading, of what it means to be "saved."  How do we save others?  Can we convince someone else to believe, to change their heart, to love something if they aren't ready to make that choice?  Ultimately, it comes down to a focus on our own discipleship, what is the next step toward which Christ calls us.  We keep on going forward.  It's not up to us to force others to faith, to use coercive power (as in the example of the Samaritan city and Jesus' words that He is not here to destroy but to save).  We can't really do that anyway.  God wants hearts to come to Him; that's how we're made as human beings.  But what we can do, ultimately, is work on our own discipleship and commitment, and put all things into the hands of God, finding the positive way in which we're called to go forward, to deepen our commitment, to learn God's love better for ourselves and how to move forward within the dynamics of this Kingdom and its work in the world.  While we may meet adversity, while everyone around us may not follow this nor welcome it (and even its saving work in us), we may be called back into our old ways of life and thinking, there will be all kinds of pressures to somehow give up what we're doing -- to forget what manner of spirit we're about, or to be called back into a life we've left.  What we remember is that Christ is always calling us forward into His love, His kingdom, and into discipleship.