Grace and Space

Lk 9:57-62

Don’t look back: Jesus encounters three would-be followers. To each of them he makes a statement concerning the nature of Christian discipleship. For Luke, these three anonymous people represent the types of people who might consider following Jesus in his community.
First, followers of Jesus must leave their earthly homes. Following Jesus is a rootless, lifetime journey. Authentic disciples cannot be like the foxes and the birds, who have homes, but must imitate the Son of Man, who calls no place home.
Second, discipleship involves complete detachment from family. Both the Jewish and the Hellenistic world considered burying the dead, especially a parent, to be of supreme importance. However, when the issue is discipleship, all filial obligations must take the second place. No person or thing can get in the way of the disciple’s principal duty—to proclaim the kingdom. Third, past relationships must be abandoned in favor of discipleship. Just as a person who begins to plow a field cannot look behind and still plow a straight row ahead, so an authentic disciple must not look back but keep going forward, as Jesus did, making the heralding of the kingdom of God his or her most important task.
These three types of possible disciples are found in Luke’s world. By portraying them as referring to Jesus as “Lord,” Luke demonstrates what types of Christian attitudes are necessary if such would-be followers wish to join the Church. From this author’s perspective, there is a severity and an unconditional nature to the dimension of Christian discipleship.