Follow Me; Learning Under Jesus

Note: This series is written as a first-person narrative to present Jesus in the context he walked in with the unknown disciple that narrates introducing my thoughts and sparking more ideas with his questions. Enjoy.

We set out for Jerusalem. Jesus sent us by two’s ahead of the group to prepare the towns for us.

It wasn’t long till we arrived in Samaria–which is on the way. I went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him, but the people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem.

Samaritans didn’t like Jews. We didn’t like them either.

I came back to inform Jesus. James and John, angry, asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

Jesus turned and rebuked them. We went to another village that was friendlier. I wonder if the woman we met at the well had talked to them.

As we were walking along the road, a man saw us and ran up to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

We continued walking. Later we came across another man. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”

He replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
My mouth fell open. Many considered honoring parents a son’s highest obligation, and burying them was the most significant expression of that obligation. To neglect this duty was unthinkable; it would make one an outcast from the extended family and dishonored in one’s village, generally for the rest of one’s life. Only God outranked our parents.

Still, another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

What’s the cost to follow Jesus? Everything?
Luke 9:51-62