The Challenge of
Following Jesus!
Reading: Luke 9:57-62
“As they were walking along the
road, a man said to him, “I will
follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have
dens and birds have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to
lay his head…”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
…He said to another man,
“Follow me.” But he replied,
“Lord, first let me go and bury
my father.” Jesus said to him,
“Let the dead bury their own
dead, but you go and proclaim
the kingdom of God…”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
…Still another said, “I will follow
you, Lord; but first let me go
back and say goodbye to my
family.”Jesus replied, “No one
who puts a hand to the plow
and looks back is fit for service
in the kingdom of God.”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
What is the Challenge?
1. TO COUNT THE COST – The
follower of Jesus has no earthly
security.
2. TO LEAVE IT BEHIND - The
follower of Jesus has no earthly ties.
3. TO NOT LOOK BACK – The
follower of Jesus has no earthly
distractions.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
1. TO COUNT THE COST (Vs 57-58)
The follower of Jesus has no earthly security.
“As they were walking along the
road, a man said to him, “I will
follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have
dens and birds have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place
to lay his head…”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• He makes quite a bold statement “I
will follow you WHEREVER you go!”
Can you say that without any idea of
where Jesus may be headed?
• What will the journey involve?
• Jesus replies that to follow Him
“WHEREVER He’s going” will not be
an easy road.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• JESUS COUNTED THE COST: when He
stepped out of His throne in glory to come to the
earth and live and die for us, He left behind all
that He had.
• He exchanged wealth for poverty - out of the
ivory palaces into a dirty cattle shed. He
exchanged rulership for servanthood.
• He said, “Foxes have holes, and birds have
nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His
head”. What an irony the King of glory - heir
apparent to the throne of the Universe doesn’t even have a place to call “home”.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• He had no earthly security.
• He borrowed a coin to tell a story.
• He borrowed a donkey to ride into
Jerusalem and fulfil prophecy.
• He was even buried in a borrowed
tomb!
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
•Although the Christian
may have nothing to
his name in this life, yet
he is more secure than
the richest, most
powerful of men.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
2. LEAVE IT BEHIND (Vs 59-60)
The follower of Jesus has no earthly ties.
…He said to another man, “Follow
me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let
me go and bury my father.” Jesus
said to him, “Let the dead bury
their own dead, but you go and
proclaim the kingdom of God…”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• Let us cast a little further light on this
conversation perhaps. When this man
says, “Let me first go and bury my
father”, it might help us to have an
insight into Jewish funeral procedure.
• An initial burial took place shortly after
a person’s decease. This man is not
locked away in ‘mourning’, so we may
assume that that burial had already
taken place.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
…but then ONE YEAR LATER, after the first
burial, (and I won’t go into the graphic
reasons for it!), the son would return to rebury the bones in a special box in a slot in the
tomb wall. If that’s the situation here, and it
seems reasonable to assume it was, then this
man who has been called by Jesus could be
asking for up to a YEAR’S delay before
following! Jesus says, “Others can take care
of that, my friend - the demands of the
Kingdom are more urgent MY call cannot wait!
3. DON’T LOOK BACK (Vs 61-62)
– The follower of Jesus has no earthly distractions.
• …Still another said, “I will follow
you, Lord; but first let me go back
and say goodbye to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a
hand to the plow and looks back
is fit for service in the kingdom of
God.”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• Again, this seems like a reasonable
request. Would you deny a soldier
going to war one last chance to bid his
loved ones farewell?
• But again, Jesus clearly spells out the
cost of following Him. “Sir, you’ve
already declared you are ready to
follow me - YOU’VE PICKED UP THE
PLOW - “DON’T LOOK BACK!”
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• When Peter, James and John followed Jesus,
they literally “DROPPED” their fishing nets to
go after Him. And right when it looked like
business was picking up too! (Jesus had just
got them a bumper catch!) They went back for
nothing. The Master had called.
• Some have looked back when God called
them forward. Let me list some of them for
you:
• LOT’S WIFE.
• JUDAS ISCARIOT.
• DEMAS.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• If we are going to follow Jesus, there
must be no going back. Another
reason why we count the cost FIRST!
• The true follower of Jesus allows NO
EARTHLY DISTRACTIONS. If Jesus
is first we will not look back for
anything or anyone.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
• CONCLUSION: Jesus’ words are strong, aren’t
they?
• Here is what it will cost us to follow Jesus.
EVERYTHING! He calls for us to commit
ourselves completely to Him.
• Jesus said to the first man: “COUNT THE
COST”. He said to the second man:
“LEAVE IT BEHIND”. And He said to
third man: “DON’T LOOK BACK”.
The Challenge of Following Jesus!
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