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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
On Saturday, we read that after His Transfiguration, when they had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "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." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His 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 a dispute rose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to 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 in 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. My study bible says that this 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." After the Transfiguration, in which Jesus discussed His "exodus" with Elijah and Moses, Jesus has now set His sights for what is to come; His Passion and crucifixion -- leading to Resurrection and Ascension -- are voluntary.
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. My study bible tells us that "Jesus does not exclude the Samaritans from salvation, even though this village refuses to receive Him. Other Samaritans welcome Him." Again and again, Jesus will come to the theme of the purpose for His Incarnation. He is here to save. Let us go back to His question to the leadership in the temple: "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?" In all of God's revealed ways of grace, we see the purpose is to save - and saving is akin to healing, for the purpose of life in abundance. Here we see one more aspect of what that means. As my study bible points out, there will be other Samaritans who believe.
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." My study bible has a long note on this passage, detailing its points about discipleship: "There is a cost to discipleship. Jesus talks of three such costs: (1) 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. (2) Discipleship demands singular commitment to the Kingdom of God. A disciple must be willing to let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. (3) 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."
Today's sayings may seem harsh for the disciples. But there's a kind of contrast between how one delivers the message of the Kingdom, the good news, and what discipleship means. Discipleship may mean a growing difficulty as one goes forward, a greater commitment, a deepening faith. But in the message of salvation and healing, the impact is one of mercy. In the picture that we receive today, we see that the ones who have truly made the commitment -- even for greatness in this Kingdom -- are the ones on whom the strictness of discipline is made: a refraining from vengeance, first, in the first half of the reading, along with the wise use of spiritual gifts. But development of those gifts, including that of discernment, comes with great discipline. First of all, with humility; this we can infer from Jesus' teaching about His own habitation, a lack of grandeur in His own residence or place to lay His head. Secondly in the discernment required in following: there will be those who cannot follow, and entrance into discipleship may mean a kind of commitment that allows those former associates, no matter how close, to remain behind us. At least the work of discipleship may take priority over all other types of commitment and social pressure. The implication is that there are others who may do that job; while the disciple has his or her own duties and commitments. Finally, this commitment is forward. It doesn't look back, but moves on into the commands of discipleship -- always forward, on His Way. I find in my life that there are many ways in which these teachings in today's reading must be applied. They take many and diverse forms in dealing with family or social matters, in leaving old considerations behind and adopting new ways of thinking as I attempt to move forward in discipleship. It also involves a willingness to forgo some necessities I formerly thought were all-important, but in so doing I find that God provides in ways I hadn't been able to foresee. I think that when we trust, in faith (and we must remember as always that the Greek root of the word for faith -- "pistis" -- is one of trusting) then God provides our own ways forward, new lessons and things to learn, and especially the results of learning detachment. It's the trust part that's hard: How can I go forward without making sure of x or y first? How can I not make sure this is done first? What about z . . . and a and b and c? Trust involves learning a certain kind of use of time, parceling out importance and priorities and allowing things to be taken care of when they need to -- and letting them go when our prayer or obedience directs us to. We don't all have to be formally in a monastery to appreciate and come to know these things, but we do need to make the commitment and to do the things that grow our faith. Letting go and trusting becomes a kind of lesson of discipleship in learning patience, humility, and maybe especially what is essential. Jesus has also recently taught the disciples about anxiety, in the reading last week that skipped ahead to chapter 12 in preparation for Ascension Day, "Consider the lilies, how they grow." Discipleship teaches us about trusting God, moving forward, and learning how He wishes us to proceed. Seek first the kingdom of God, He said, and all these things shall be added unto you.
