Luke 9:62
Records words that were spoken by Jesus,
"No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back,
is fit for the kingdom of God.”
These are serious words.
They are spoken at the end of several discussions
Jesus had with three of His disciples.
Apparently each disciple first told Jesus
that they would follow Him
(Luke 9:57-61).
Jesus told the first one that He did not have the physical comforts of life.
He told the second to forget about the urgent things of this world and
his reply to the third one was about looking back at the things of this world.
And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him,
“I will follow You wherever You go.”
And Jesus said to him,
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 (NASB)
He is talking about a farmer using a plow on a field. The man put his hand to the plow to start plowing. The goal of the farmer is to make straight rows in the earth. He does this by looking at a distant object. Jesus creates a picture of a farmer who rather than looking straight ahead at a distant object is constantly looking back at things.
The Greek words for “looking behind” have the picture of
constantly, continually looking back at things. The result is
crooked and curved rows in the earth – a mess!
The Message
Jesus’ message is
"follow Me”
and do not let the things of "this world" get in
The Way
We are too easily distracted by the urgent things of this life, our physical comforts, and our material desires.
There is an old story about a farmer’s son who wanted to plow his father’s field. The father eventually agreed to let him try one day and told his son to look straight ahead at a far away object while he was plowing. This would result in straight rows in the earth. His son said he understood and so the father left.
After awhile the farmer came back to see how his son was doing only to find that the rows were not straight but curved and crooked. So he walked out to his son and asked what had happened. The farmer eventually discovered that
his son kept looking at a cow in the field.
His eyes were distracted.
This is a picture of our relationship with Jesus.
True followers of Jesus constantly, continually fix their eyes on Him and keep them there through the urgent, the tragic, and in spite of the desire for wealth, comforts and acceptance in this life.
Paul, the apostle, illustrates the message with this
comment about a Christian who was working with him.
. . . for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica . . . 2 Timothy 4:10 (NASB)
There is also another danger among Christians of fixing our eyes on our past failings. God encourages us to forget our past and press on
(Philippians 3:13).
Jesus wants us to move forward in total commitment to Him.
Conclusion:Yes, Jesus is talking about our fitness to serve Him. It is a heart decision that counts. Failure to follow Jesus with a totally committed heart has cost many believers spiritual blessings and opportunities for greater ministry. But it is never too late to follow Jesus.
Paul had these words about His
own desire to follow Jesus,
. . . one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and
reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of
the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13
We need to ask ourselves, “Am I looking back?” “Am I really committed to Jesus?” Jesus wants both your heart (Matthew 22:37-39) and your action (James 2:14-26). It is easy to conclude that Jesus just wants our activity. Most say Jesus wants us to spend time in prayer, study of the Word and attending church. We forget that He wants our confession of sins (1 John 1:9) and He wants us to be filled with His Spirit
(Ephesians 5:17-18).
But the major point we miss is that Jesus wants both – your heart and a commitment that results in action and service to Him.
To be dead to the law (Romans 7:4), to be dead to sin (Romans 6:11),
means that the law and sin have no influence or control over us.
We are free from them and act as though they are not.
So people of the world are dead to Christ. They do not see His beauty,
nor do they hear His voice
or desire to follow Him.
Only His “sheep” will do those things
(John 10:27).
The people of the world are those whom the Savior describes here as the (spiritually) dead who should bury the (physically) dead.
Let people, He says, who are not interested in My work, and who are “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1), take care of the dead.
Your duty is now to follow Me.
While Scripture, and Jesus, are clear that we are to honor others
(Ephesians 6:2),
we have to understand that Jesus is to come first, and this would have been especially so in this instance, that is, with a direct command from the Lord.
Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew recognized the Lord and followed Him at once (Matthew 4:18–22; 9:9). Christ chose to require of some of a very extraordinary sacrifice to show his sincere attachment to Him.
As regards the people of the world,
nothing is more important than
responding to the gospel.
This requires that the gospel be preached
(Romans 10:14),
so once we make the decision to follow Jesus and preach His good news,
we must deny dead, worldly pursuits and comforts, and do the Lord’s work.
Jesus wants followers, not professors, and those who are spiritually alive will be instruments in the Lord’s hands to call others to new life in Christ.
Jesus Sends Out His Apostles
Jesus summoned together his twelve apostles and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease.
Then he commissioned them to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick to demonstrate that the kingdom had arrived. As he sent them out, he gave them these instructions:
"Take nothing extra on your journey.
Just go as you are.
Don’t carry a staff, a backpack, food, money, not even a change of clothes.
Whatever home welcomes you as a guest,
remain there and make it your base of ministry.
And wherever your ministry is rejected, you are to leave that town
and shake the dust off your shoes as a testimony before them.”
The apostles departed and went into the villages with
the wonderful news of God’s kingdom, and they
healed diseases wherever they went.
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