Luke 9:60 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 9:60

Comments

The Lord’s answer seems harsh, but it is perfectly suited to the case of this man. It seems like a powerful reason for him to delay following Christ, that his father has just died and needs to be buried, and the Lord gives a powerful answer. Some think that he means that his father is near death but still alive, and that he wants to wait till his father’s life is over, and then follow Christ. But taken at face value, his father is already dead. From Christ words we gather that the father has died an unbeliever – he belongs to the company of the dead, that is, the spiritually dead. The Lord would not say this of a man who had died a believer (Matthew 22:32). The situation is urgent. Luke has told us (verse 57) that they are ‘in the way’, on the move, and therefore this man – who is not travelling with them, but has met Christ and his company on way to Jerusalem – has got to make an immediate decision. Is Christ going to say, ‘Yes, you can delay following me and become my disciple later’? No. The Lord knows the spiritual state of this father, and there is nothing more than can be done for him. Death is the end of our opportunity to seek the Lord and obtain his forgiveness and reconciliation with him. This father has not done so, and there is nothing more that can be done for him. Christ accepts his Father’s will in this case. But this is threatening to stop this man from becoming a disciple, and there is nothing more important for him than that he does so. When God calls us to follow the Saviour, nothing must be allowed to get in the way. This would-be follower of Christ has a choice to make. Is he going to put his commitment to his unbelieving father, whose case is not hopeless, above the opportunity of becoming a disciple of the Lord.More than that, this man was potentially going to become a preacher of the gospel, and be involved himself in the advance of the kingdom of heaven. Christ makes very clear that this is his revealed will for the man. Many traditional commentators believe this man turned away. He could not come to Christ immediately on these terms. He too did not really know his own heart. True repentance and faith brings us to the point where we see that nothing must prevent us following Christ as Lord and Saviour as soon as he calls us.

Application

Many have to follow Christ at tremendous cost to themselves. A person who has been converted from a strict Moslem family may have to pay a great price in becoming a disciple of Christ, but he must pay it. For his part, he does not reject his family. He would like them all to join him in becoming followers of the Lord, but that may not happen, and therefore he may have to suffer their complete rejection in turning to the Lord. He must be ready to pay this price. It is the will of God in his case that he should make this difficult choice. He will not do so without pleading with them with all his heart, but he is ready for the worst as far as they are concerned. They may come with him on his spiritual journey, but he will not return to them in the unbelief, or their false religion. Do not delay in following the Lord when he calls you. You have come to a crisis point in your life, and your eternal future depends on how you respond. You have learnt enough about yourself to understand that anything that would tend to take away the urgency of your situation is dangerous. You have lived all your life up to this point without understanding the importance of coming to Christ. Now he has opened your eyes just a little and you must act on what you see. You will then be given more light. But if you prevaricate you may lose what you have and never be called by God again. Therefore you must take drastic action, as the man who cuts off his right hand in order to avoid hell. If your concern is to witness to your family, then you can do that as a believer. But you cannot safely put off responding to the Lord as soon as he calls you.

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Luke 9:60 Commentary and Bible Study