Doelgericht, kenmerk van Gods Koninkrijk
Doelgericht zijn is een kenmerk van Gods Koninkrijk. We hebben allemaal de intentie om Jezus te volgen, maar beseffen we ook wat hier de impact van kan zijn? Zeker in de tijd waarin we nu leven.
🔴 Lucas 9:57-62
🔴 Drie punten
🔴 1/3 - Mijn intenties om Jezus te volgen
🔴 2/3 - Jouw To-Do lijst onder druk
🔴 3/3 - Vooruit blijven kijken
No man, &c.—As ploughing requires an eye intent on the furrow to be made, and is marred the instant one turns about, so will they come short of salvation who prosecute the work of God with a distracted attention, a divided heart. Though the reference seems chiefly to ministers, the application is general. The expression “looking back” has a manifest reference to “Lot’s wife” (Ge 19:26; and see on Lu 17:32). It is not actual return to the world, but a reluctance to break with it. (Also see on Mt 8:21.)
2. Whole-heartedness (9:57–62)
This paragraph is located simply ‘along the road’. As Jesus journeyed some people announced their readiness to follow him. They were clearly well-intentioned, but had not realized the nature of the demands the kingdom makes.
57–58. The first man expresses his readiness to follow Jesus. There is nothing wrong with the way he puts it: he is ready to go anywhere Jesus leads. But the reply shows that he has not reckoned with what this means. Animals and birds have their places of habitation, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. This is an incidental glimpse of the cost of the incarnation. And it shows that the follower of Jesus must not reckon on luxurious living.
59–60. The second man was called by Jesus. In response he asked leave first to bury his father. Some hold that, had the father been a corpse at home, the man would probably not have been with Jesus at all; he would have been occupied with duties connected with the funeral. On this view his request was to stay at home until his father died. This might have meant an indefinite delay and the affairs of the kingdom cannot be put off. But the words have an even greater urgency if the father was dead. The Jews counted proper burial as most important; to leave the father unburied ‘was something scandalous to a Jew’ (Marshall). The duty of burial took precedence over the study of the law, the temple service, the killing of the Passover sacrifice, the observance of circumcision and the reading of the Megillah (Megillah 3b). But the demands of the kingdom are more urgent still. Jesus could not wait until the man got through all that burial meant. So he says, Leave the dead to bury their own dead. Jesus has called the man. He is to proclaim the kingdom of God. Let those without spiritual insight perform the duties they can do so well; burial is very much in keeping for the spiritually dead. But the man who has seen the vision must not deny or delay his heavenly calling.
61–62. The third man, like the first, offered his services. But he interposed the condition that he first say farewell to those at home (as Elisha did when he followed Elijah, 1 Kgs 19:20f.). This seems not unreasonable (cf. 5:29). But following Jesus means more than following Elijah and in this case the request evidently concealed some reluctance to take the decisive step. Jesus points out that the kingdom has no room for those who look back when they are called to go forward.
Luke introduced three people who wanted to join Jesus on His journey to Jerusalem.
9:57–58. A man approached and wanted to follow where they were going. Jesus’ response was that a person desiring to follow Him must give up what others consider necessities. Jesus had no home of His own nor did His followers. They were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be put to death.
9:59–60. Jesus called the next man with the same words with which He had called His disciples (5:27). The man’s reply that he first wanted to go and bury his father has been variously interpreted. Some maintain that the man’s father was dead already. It would seem strange if that was the case for he would certainly have been engaged in the burial procedure already. It is more likely that the man’s father was ready to die. His request was to let him wait just a little while before following Jesus. Perhaps the man also wanted to receive the inheritance from his father’s estate. Jesus’ response, Let the dead bury their own dead, implies that the spiritually dead can bury the physically dead. The point was that proclaiming the kingdom of God was so important that it could not wait. Of course if the man had left and followed Jesus, it would have caused a scandal in the community. But that was less important than proclaiming the kingdom and following the Messiah. A disciple must make a radical commitment.
9:61–62. The third man simply wanted to go home and say good-by to his family. Elijah had allowed Elisha to do this very thing when Elisha was plowing (1 Kings 19:19–20). Jesus’ words underscore the fact that His message of the kingdom of God was more important than anything else—even family members. The message and the Messiah cannot wait. Jesus’ message was more important than Elijah’s message and demanded total allegiance. Jesus’ servants should not have divided interests, like a farmer who begins plowing and looks back. Since Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, the man had to make up his mind right then as to what he was going to do. Interestingly Luke did not record the outcome of any of Jesus’ conversations with the three men.