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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
Yesterday, we read that it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that 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 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 arose 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 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 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. Here is the firm resolution, Jesus knows where He is headed, in every sense of the term, and He has His mind fixed to go to Jerusalem. That is the journey He and the disciples undertake. The response of James and John Zebedee is entirely in character; they are called "Sons of Thunder," and the text as a whole shows us what this thunder will be turned into through the coming of the Spirit (John will be called "the apostle of love," while James is by tradition considered to be the first apostle to be martyred). The disciples, as in yesterday's reading, are still coming to terms with power and its uses in the context of the Church, of being disciples of Christ. The 'manner of spirit they are of' is one of salvation. In a sense, we are all sinners; salvation won't work if the objective is to destroy. According to Cyril of Alexandria, this experience was for the disciples' own good: "Christ rebuked them for their own good when they were enraged beyond measure at the hatred of the Samaritans. He did this so they might learn that as ministers of the divine tidings, they must rather be full of longsuffering and gentleness, not revengeful. They must not be given to wrath or savagely attack those who offend them" (Commentary on Luke, Homily 56).
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." Of this passage, which begins with the statement, "I will follow You," my study bible says: There is a cost to discipleship. Jesus reveals three: (1) The disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security -- if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciple. (2) Nothing, not even the honor due to parents, can be an obstacle to serving the Lord. (3) A disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands."
Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. It is a frank acknowledgement of what is coming. These disciples will be the ones the world will rely on to carry Christ's church into the world. Jesus, in the flesh, will not be present, although Christ and the Kingdom will be with them. So will the Spirit. But ultimately, it is the quality of our discipleship that really and truly bears the burden of the Church, becomes the foundation of the Church, constructs the Church in the world. Let us consider that. I think that, too often, we don't give credit to discipleship as perhaps the most important thing we can be a part of. Being good disciples (that is, "learners") is the same as being a good parent, or being an exemplary man or woman, being an example of taking responsibility for your life and the way you live your life. It's the quality of our discipleship that makes all the difference in the world and to the world, to whatever community we are a part of. Jesus gives several examples in today's reading that are all about the teaching of discipleship. How are the disciples to handle rejection? He's already told them that their rebuke to those who will not receive them (on their first mission) is simply to shake the "very dust" off of their feet, and move on. Losing ourselves in anger and rage -- but more particularly, in vengeance -- isn't going to help. It's not the proper discipline of a disciple of Jesus. To follow Him, we must be prepared for all conditions, to endure in faith. All these things are a product, once again, of humility. Our lives are not judged by the quality or expense of the home we have. They're not judged by how many people think we're just great. Our value and worth comes from somewhere else, Someone else, far beyond the world and the interactions we have and problems we have with one another. This is the "higher power" we cling to in order to see our problems in their right perspective. Even family, even cultural commitments, do not come before this duty of discipleship. Jesus is giving us the perspective that we need. Nowadays, we hear about many broken families, all kinds of problems of abuse. But Jesus gives us the cue for healing: He comes first. The Kingdom comes first. Discipleship comes first. Thereupon is a higher and greater perspective to which to take all our healing and brokenness, no matter what it is. He comes first in our lives; there may even be a kind of spiritual "deadness" in your life that you need to acknowledge and take to Christ for His way to handle it; His way to learn your discipline in life -- a peaceful taking of responsibility for what is of true value and what is essential. Finally, Jesus says, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Elsewhere He reminds the disciples, "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). We don't look back, we go forward. All of this constitutes the discipline of a follower of Christ. From my personal experience, God's forgiveness is endless; our faith need not be utterly perfect and we may make many mistakes, as the disciples do. God wants us on that road, to turn back to Christ, and 'follow Him.' That's discipleship, and how He teaches us the discipline of what it is to bear His kingdom into the world. It is the most important job we have. It intersects everything else in our lives. We each have a journey to make, cultivating the good ground for the seed of the Sower, and new things to learn.
