Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

What strikes me in today’s Gospel is the tension in the responses of those who want to follow Jesus: “I will follow you, but…” “Lord, I will follow you, but first let me…” “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell…”

They all want to follow Jesus. They are not saying “no” to Him. Yet there always seems to be something else that comes first.
Perhaps this is the question the Gospel asks each one of us today: What is my “but”? How easily following Jesus can become something for tomorrow. One day, when life is less busy. One day, when everything is settled. One day, when I feel more ready. And perhaps that day never comes.

Jesus is not saying that our families, responsibilities, or the people we love are unimportant. But He reminds us that the Kingdom of God cannot always be postponed. The call of God is always now.

Then Jesus gives us a powerful image: “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

We cannot plough a straight path while constantly looking behind us. Perhaps the cost of discipleship is the courage to let go of what keeps us looking back and to trust the One who calls us forward.

What is the “but” that is keeping me from following Jesus more freely today?

Lord Jesus, take away my “but.” Give me the courage to follow You – not tomorrow, not when everything is settled, but today. Amen.