"PRIORITIES" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 12/4/25

“And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62)

At this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had just completed His Galilean ministry and had begun His journey towards Jerusalem. As He and the disciples journeyed, a small group was sent ahead to seek shelter. They inquired in a small Samaritan village but were quickly turned away. Despite the disappointment, the men pushed forward on foot, their eyes set on Jerusalem. On the road, they came across three men and, unlike those Samaritan villagers, these three seem to have some desire to follow Christ but are discouraged by worldly concerns.

Though Luke doesn’t confirm whether the men did commit to following Jesus, it seems these interactions reflect the soil filled with the weeds of "cares and riches and pleasures of life.” They hear Jesus' words, but they produce immature fruit. Dedication to His mission requires commitment and sacrifice. In this article, we’ll focus on the final two dialogues because they make their points clearer.

Jesus had given the first man a call to be His disciple, and to go and preach the Gospel, which he didn’t outright refuse, but he did desire to leave right away. He wished to attend his father's funeral. A seemingly reasonable request, until you look deeper, because some commentators disagree on whether the boy's dad was actually dead. Perhaps he was just significantly aged or even dangerously ill and therefore could go at any time. If this interpretation is correct, he was essentially requesting an indefinite amount of time off on day one of a new job.

Assuming the boy was just attending a funeral, as Jesus does, it’s still an unreasonable ask. He requested to go home, which perhaps might not be a great way off, and perform the funeral rites, and then return. It seems extremely callous of Christ to deny, but if you know the history, this refusal makes more sense. Jewish funerals, at the time, were not quick affairs. The shorter ones still took weeks. Again, the guy was requesting an immediate, not short break. Jesus responded that the task is for those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and for all that is spiritually good, but he had better things to do. There were enough other relatives for them to take care of this service, and therefore, there was no reason to neglect the Gospel call to attend to that. He needed to get his priorities straight.

In the second instance, Jesus calls another on the road who asks to go home and say goodbye first. Again, this seems a pretty reasonable thing to ask. Who among us wouldn’t want to say bye to our loved ones if we were asked to go on a trip last minute? But as Jesus says, “...No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Vs. 62) To put one's hand to a plow is a proverbial expression to signify undertaking any business. So that a plowman may accomplish his work, it is necessary to look onward and be intent on his employment, not to be looking back with regret that he undertook it. The plowman, if he is to do his work well, must look straight before him at the line of the furrow which he is making. To look back, while working, is to mar the work entirely. The man who looks back is therefore disqualified from the work of God’s kingdom.

He knew that going home to bid farewell to the family turned into teaching the son how to properly mow the grass, helping the daughter with her science project, aiding the wife in the kitchen, and getting the parents moved into the basement. By the time he actually joined, Christ may have been waiting weeks, and He wasn’t going to let that happen. Jesus’ mission is far too important to suffer any delay.

When we are called to work for the Lord, we must see it as the most important mission of our lives because it very much is. “I’ll follow the Lord once I finish college…”once I get married…” once I find a steady-paying job.” The problem with this mentality is that, when thinking like that, we are blatantly disrespecting the Gospel call. It must be priority #1.