Jesus is slowly making his way to Jerusalem.
On the journey he is teaching his disciples.
When he gets to Jerusalem he will be rejected, he will suffer, and he will die.
The day is drawing near but it is not yet.
In the meantime, Jesus is sending messengers ahead of him and he is going from village to village.
On the way some do not receive him.
At one point, James and John are greatly angered by this.
They say to Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
Do you ever have prayers like this?
“Lord, I forgive this person but please send down fire from heaven to consume him.”
Amen.
Here Jesus is not amused.
In fact, he rebukes his disciples and dismisses their question.
In life violence for violence often makes matters worse.
Jesus said in another Gospel those who take the sword will perish by the sword.
In other words, violence becomes a mirror.
Anger, revenge, violence reflects back towards the person.
So, Jesus will have none of it.
He simply teaches his disciples to walk away.
In verse 56 it says: Then they went on to another village.
Sometimes we need to confront a situation head on.
But sometimes it is better to simply move on.
When I was a freshman in high school my family moved from Iowa to Illinois.
When you are a freshman in high school and you are a new kid, you quickly become an easy target for bullying.
And I discovered that year that if I simply walked away and ignored the bullies, they would lose interest in bullying me.
Walking away and choosing not to start a fight made all the difference.
Here Jesus teaches his disciples to move on to another village and that is what Jesus and his disciples do when they are not welcomed by the Samaritans.
They travel on.
And as they continue on their way someone approaches Jesus and says to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Here Jesus gives his famous line about his home:
“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Jesus is an itinerant preacher.
He is a traveling teacher.
He does not have a permeant place to live.
He goes from village to village seeking those who will listen to him.
And then another person approaches Jesus, Jesus says to him, “Follow me,” and he says back to Jesus, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus wants him to go immediately to another village to proclaim the kingdom of God.
And then one more person approaches Jesus.
He says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
Jesus says back to him, “No one puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Now what happens if we look back?
If we are moving forward and we stop to look back sometimes we turn back – don’t we?
Sometimes we turn around and then we never return to that which we are called to turn to.
Jesus knows the human condition.
He knows that if people turn away from him to take care of some business, they may never come back to him again.
So, when Jesus catches someone he wants that person to come to him right now.
Have you ever wanted to do something in life but never got around to doing it because too many other things came your way?
When I was a child, I really wanted to learn how to play the piano.
But when opportunities came my way to learn how to play, I would pass them by… thinking I would do learn how to play at some future time.
And suddenly before I knew it, I was an adult and my opportunity to learn how to play the piano was gone.
Yes, I can still pick it up even today but it is not the same.
Learning to play the piano is like learning a language it is much easier done when you are a child.
I may learn how to play it somewhat but I will never learn how to play the piano like I could if I would have picked it up when I had the chance as a child.
To follow Jesus means to follow him now… today.
If we put off following him today, we may put off following him tomorrow which may mean we put off following him next week… next month… next year.
So, this teaching from our Lord may seem harsh but it is actually a very gracious teaching.
It is like the song, The River, by Garth Brooks where he sings, “Too many times we stand aside and let the waters slip away til what we put off til tomorrow has now become today.”
For Jesus following him is always about following him today.
It is in listening to him, praying to him, and in responding to him today without delay.
By God’s grace, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we follow Jesus and find life in him.
Through Christ we move forward in positive and in life-giving ways as we journey with Jesus to the cross and to the life that he gives us beyond the grave.
Choose him, choose life in Christ – follow Jesus.
