Then they went on to another village. 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 your, 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 plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:57-62).
The second disciple...knows what he wants to do and has to do. First he must fulfill the law; then he will follow. Here a clear command of the law stands between the one called and Jesus. Jesus' call forcefully challenges this gap. Under no circumstances is anything permitted to come between Jesus and the one called, even that which is greatest and holiest, even the law.
Bonhoeffer goes on to say that "Jesus here opposes the law and bids the man follow him." Remember this is not a suggestion that the law can be thrown out. Rather the radical call of Jesus is the last word. It is grace beyond anyone's comprehension. As we have heard previously, the call comes before any act of obedience to the law. The call demand obedience to whatever will be the way Jesus calls us to go. It is that call into the gracious Reign of God that comes before any attempt to fulfill a law - no matter how strong and central that law may be. It is like the first commandment that first states the ground of all the commandments: I am the Lord, your God. From that point on, the only reality is the one in which God is Lord of all. So to with this call of Jesus. Everything must be viewed from the life that is and will be shaped by Jesus. Fulfilling the law - doing what is thought to be right - will always pull us away from the gracious call of Jesus and when doing the right thing according to the law pulls us, there is no following that will take place. Next, there will be another rule or law to fulfill and the call is put on hold.
Connection: We are a called people. We live within a new reality and we are invited to make that our day. That call may run in a different direction than the way we have always thought is the way we must go no matter what.
Be for us a Light, O God. A light that will show us the way when we are pulled to move away from you. Bring us into your Reign and empower us to walk and live within this domain. Amen.
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