13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)
Is Jesus being unreasonable? All this man wanted to do was say goodbye to his family before following Jesus. Didn’t Elijah permit Elisha to say his good-byes before leaving (1 Kings 19:19-21)? To make matters worse, Jesus’ response to the two other would-be disciples seems a little rigid, even unwelcoming. Was Jesus actually trying to discourage these people from following him?
If you’re suspecting that something deeper is going on here, you’re probably right. First, it helps to remember how this passage fits into Luke’s timeline: we have just learned that Jesus is now “resolutely” traveling to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). The hour of his passion is drawing near. Luke is showing us a new sense of urgency in Jesus’ life and message. There just isn’t time left for secondary things—even good, important things. For those individuals whom the Lord is calling, it’s now or never!
Second, we don’t know how they responded to Jesus’ words. Maybe there was more to the conversation; we don’t know that either. That’s because Luke is actually more interested in encouraging us, his readers, to follow Jesus than in recounting the details of an event long past. As one commentator has put it, we may not know how they responded, but we do know what our own response ought to be.
There’s no doubt about it; this is a hard word to hear. But Jesus knows how challenging it can be. He knows that he is asking a lot of us. He also knows how much grace he has stored up to help you. He has already determined to forgive you when you fall and to encourage you when the going gets tough. He is never one to issue a command and then wait for you to fail at it. No, he will do everything he can to help you accomplish it—short of overpowering your free will, of course!
“Yes, Lord, I will follow you wherever you lead. I trust that your grace will be enough for me.”
1 Kings 19:16, 19-21
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
