For Anyone Willing to Do the Difficult

Luke 9:61-62 - Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

There are two bad extremes in thinking of what it means to follow Jesus. The first is called legalism. It is attempting to earn God’s favor through obeying his laws before gaining his acceptance. Huge chunks of the New Testament are dedicated to fighting this arrogant, self-sufficient, and completely futile approach to God. Read Matthew 22-23, John 3, 5, 7-8, Acts 3-5, Romans 1-8, Galatians 1-5, and the whole book of Hebrews to know more.

The other extreme is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. It is the idea that following Jesus only involves a single decision with no corresponding life change. The New Testament fights against this, too, although it is not nearly as common in Western Christianity these days. People do not like to hear the cost of following Jesus. We just want to stick with the rewards.

At the peak of his popularity, Jesus had three people approach him and ask to follow him. Yet, rather than a simple, “Sure! Come and join me,” in each case, Jesus warned them of the cost of following him: leaving home and family in their cases. Note that Jesus does not forbid any of them to follow him. He simply forbids them to come on their own terms and warns them that it will be costly.

This passage is sandwiched between passages in which Jesus sent his followers to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God to as many as would receive it. He was not eager to condemn those who did not, but he wanted all to know following him would not be easy.

For us today, following Jesus may not involve the loss of home and family but it does mean the loss of our own agenda and our guarantee of an easy life. Like many things in life, yet to a much greater extent, following Jesus is hard but worth it.