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61Then someone said to Jesus, "I want to go with you, Lord, but first let me go back and take care of things at home."
Sometimes we say the right thing, but our true meaning is hidden from others and sometimes ourselves. We attempt to please people and often have the right intention although it comes to nothing later. The third man wanted to be part of the action with Jesus, he had good intentions to follow Him and told Him as much. One has to ask some questions, though, when a statement of commitment is made which has a 'but' in the middle of it. By reading of the first two men that Jesus encounters we can see a familiar trend beginning and it is clear where this interaction is headed. This man provides a reasonable 'excuse' as to why he is unable to go now, and it may be a matter of hours or days before he returned but Jesus saw through the words and straight to the meaning.
Response Number 3...
62Jesus answered, "Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking back isn't worth a thing to God's kingdom!"
The harshness is unmistakable and it seems that the other two conversations were building to this crescendo as Jesus puts no weight on niceties. It becomes clear through this section of Scripture that Jesus is not interested in people offering to do the right thing, or talking about the good things that they will do once they are in the best position to do so, He is interested in people sacrificially following Him with everything they got, acknowledging that it will cost them something. God's kingdom is not difficult to hear about, anyone can be told of it, but only those who are truly sold out to Jesus will become part of it.
Sometimes we say the right thing, but our true meaning is hidden from others and sometimes ourselves. We attempt to please people and often have the right intention although it comes to nothing later. The third man wanted to be part of the action with Jesus, he had good intentions to follow Him and told Him as much. One has to ask some questions, though, when a statement of commitment is made which has a 'but' in the middle of it. By reading of the first two men that Jesus encounters we can see a familiar trend beginning and it is clear where this interaction is headed. This man provides a reasonable 'excuse' as to why he is unable to go now, and it may be a matter of hours or days before he returned but Jesus saw through the words and straight to the meaning.
Response Number 3...
62Jesus answered, "Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking back isn't worth a thing to God's kingdom!"
The harshness is unmistakable and it seems that the other two conversations were building to this crescendo as Jesus puts no weight on niceties. It becomes clear through this section of Scripture that Jesus is not interested in people offering to do the right thing, or talking about the good things that they will do once they are in the best position to do so, He is interested in people sacrificially following Him with everything they got, acknowledging that it will cost them something. God's kingdom is not difficult to hear about, anyone can be told of it, but only those who are truly sold out to Jesus will become part of it.
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