Casual Encounters

Jesus journeyed down the dusty road from one village to the next. As usual, people swarmed Him:  the spiritually hungry, the lepers and demon-possessed, the poor and needy, and the curious.

He commanded His disciples to go to the other side of the sea when a scribe, with youthful energy, bounded up to Jesus and said, 

“Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus’ eyes softened as he considered the young man before HIm, so young and ambitious. 

“Foxes have dens, right? And think about birds; they have nests to return to.”

“Yes,” said the young man, “that is true.”

“But the Son of Man?" said Jesus, "He has nowhere to lay His head.”

Jesus kept walking and the young man stopped to consider His words.

A few cubits further, Jesus approached a man whom He noticed standing by the wayside, looking in both directions as if needing guidance.

“Come, follow Me.”

Then He stopped and looked into the man’s eyes, before continuing on when the man called after Him.

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

Jesus looked back to the man and spoke loud enough for him to hear.

“Let the dead bury the dead, but you, go and preach the kingdom of God.”

Jesus, was already several steps ahead, when the man turned back the other way, reflecting on what had just happened. What did Jesus mean by, let the dead bury the dead?  And did He ask him to preach? 

Another man, having heard the previous exchange, ran up to Jesus. 

“Jesus, I will follow you. But my house is full of guests. I first need to go and say goodbye to them.”

Again, Jesus kept pace. He knew what was in the hearts of men, and which ones God had chosen to follow Him. In a nearby field He noticed a farmer working his land with a plow, and said to His disciples, “No one who has put his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Would Jesus pass this way again?