What It REALLY Means to Follow Jesus

Luke 9:57–62

What does it really mean to follow Jesus? It is one thing to say we will follow Him. It is another to understand what following Him requires.

In Training for the Heart, we saw Jesus addressing three expressions of pride: personal ambition, elitism, and ethnic contempt. The disciples argued over greatness, tried to stop someone outside their company from ministering, and wanted to destroy a Samaritan village. Jesus was preparing their hearts for their future responsibilities (Luke 9:46–56).

Remember where He is going. Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem. Although He has told the disciples about His approaching rejection and suffering, they still struggle to understand. They are thinking about greatness while He is preparing them for the cross (Luke 9:22, 44–45, 51). He would be crucified, rise from the dead, and forty days after His resurrection ascend into heaven (Acts 1:3–9).

These three encounters continue their instruction. Each brings out something essential about discipleship: comfort, priority, and following without regret.

Comfort: Will You Follow Him Without Earthly Security?

“And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, ‘I will follow You wherever You go.’

“And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’”

Luke 9:57–58

Notice that this man volunteers. Luke calls him “someone,” while Matthew identifies him as a scribe, a man trained in the Law. Neither account gives his name (Matthew 8:19–20).

He declares, ἀκολουθήσω — akolouthēsō, meaning “I will follow.” From ἀκολουθέω — akoloutheō, this is a future active indicative, first person singular. He voices a personal commitment to accompany Jesus (Luke 9:57, Greek text).

His enthusiasm may reflect the attraction of Jesus’ teaching, miraculous works, and expectations of messianic glory. Luke leaves his motives unstated, but the surrounding account shows how easily even the apostles could misunderstand what lay ahead.

Jesus is going to Jerusalem, where rejection and crucifixion await Him. His answer brings this man face to face with the conditions of following Him.

Think about the comparison. A fox has a hole. A bird has a nest. Neither accommodation is spectacular, yet even these animals have somewhere to rest.

Then Jesus speaks of Himself: the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.

There is something heartbreaking in that statement. The Messiah, magnificent in His person and redemptive mission, lacks even the ordinary shelter available to animals. This man promises to follow Him anywhere. Does he understand what that promise may involve?

The apostles need this instruction too. Their expectations of glory must make room for suffering, humility, and service.

Jesus challenges discipleship that depends on favorable circumstances. Following Him requires willingness to relinquish earthly comfort when faithfulness calls for it.

Priority: Jesus Must Come First

This time Jesus extends the invitation:

“And He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.’”

Luke 9:59

Notice those words: “permit me first.” Jesus calls him, and the man introduces something that must come before answering.

The reading followed here understands his father to be still living. The man wants to remain until his father eventually dies and his family obligations are fulfilled. This is a recognized interpretation of the request.

Catch the significance: his father’s death might occur whenever it occurs. Following Jesus would wait upon an event whose timing he could not determine. His request becomes an excuse for indefinite delay.

The account leaves his eventual response unstated. What it shows is Jesus confronting the condition placed before discipleship.

His answer begins:

ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς

“Let the dead bury their own dead.”

ἄφες — aphes, from ἀφίημι — aphiēmi, is an aorist active imperative, second person singular. Notice the command. Jesus directs this man concerning the priority of His call (Luke 9:60, Greek text).

The spiritually dead can attend to burying the physically dead. This man has received a particular commission:

“But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:60

The relationship and the mission belong together. Jesus calls the man to Himself and gives him work to do.

We give funerals great importance. Burying one’s father is a serious responsibility. That makes Jesus’ claim striking: even this responsibility cannot take precedence over His call. Whether the father’s death is near or far away, following Jesus and proclaiming His kingdom must receive the importance He gives them.

Jesus expresses that priority elsewhere:

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Matthew 10:37

The verse applies the same principle to one’s son or daughter. Christ comes before father, mother, children, and every competing claim.

The first encounter concerns surrendering comfort. The second concerns priority: Jesus must be foremost, both in the believer’s relationship to Him and in the mission He assigns.

No Regrets: Keep Your Hand to the Plow

“Another also said, ‘I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those at home.’

“But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

Luke 9:61–62

This third encounter is unique to Luke. Matthew records parallels to the first two, but Luke alone includes the farewell request and the saying about the plow (Matthew 8:19–22).

Again we hear ἀκολουθήσω — “I will follow.” Again the promise includes a reservation: “but first.” (Luke 9:61, Greek text)

His request suggests attachment to those at home. We can hear the possibility of hesitation, pain, and regret as he considers the life he will leave. Jesus answers with a farming metaphor that addresses the danger of looking backward.

Picture an ox moving forward while a man guides the plow. What happens if the man turns and keeps looking behind him?

His furrow wanders. His attention is divided, and the work suffers. His hand is on the plow, but his attention is elsewhere.

Discipleship and kingdom work require a settled commitment. Once we give ourselves to Jesus and His service, we cannot keep nurturing regret for the former life.

“I could have been doing something else.”

“Think about what I might have had.”

Those thoughts become dangerous when they grow into a desire to return. Jesus warns that looking backward makes a person unfit for the work of His kingdom.

Remember His own direction. Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem. His course is settled, and the apostles watching these encounters must learn what such commitment requires.

Jesus also teaches that no one can serve two masters. He speaks there specifically about God and wealth, but the principle exposes divided allegiance (Matthew 6:24). We cannot cherish the former life as our heart’s master while claiming wholehearted devotion to Christ.

Lot’s Wife: Led Out, Yet Looking Back

God showed mercy to Lot’s family. While Lot hesitated, the angels took him, his wife, and his daughters by the hand and brought them outside Sodom. The instruction was clear: do not look behind you (Genesis 19:16–17).

But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

Her backward look illustrates the danger of a heart still longing for what God has called a person to leave. She had been brought outside the city, yet she came under judgment. Leaving Sodom physically did not make her backward-looking disobedience harmless.

Jesus later warns, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).

Where is the heart directed after the feet have begun moving forward?

Demas: Love for the World Pulls a Worker Away

Demas had participated in ministry. Paul includes him among his fellow workers in Philemon 24, and sends greetings from him in Colossians 4:14.

Then Paul writes:

“for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica”

2 Timothy 4:10

Notice what drew him away: love for this present world.

Demas deserted Paul at a time of pressing need. His departure illustrates Jesus’ warning in the setting of kingdom service. Attachment to the world pulled a worker away from the work before him.

He had put his hand to the plow, but he left the work.

Following Jesus Without Regret

These encounters bring us back to the heart.

Will we surrender comfort when following Jesus requires it? Does He come before even our closest relationships? Is our commitment settled, or are we still longing for the life we left behind?

True Christians have no regrets about following Jesus.

Whatever comfort we must relinquish, Christ is worthy. Whatever competing claim demands first place, He comes first. Whatever the former life appears to offer, it must not draw our hearts away from Him.

Following Jesus means giving ourselves to Him and to the work He places before us.

Put your hand to the plow. Keep your attention on Christ. Follow Him without looking back.