If a producer of a popular movie, a director of one of today’s successful television shows, or the editor of a widely circulating news or fashion magazine were to rewrite the Beatitudes from a contemporary point of view, I suppose they would go like this: Blessed are the rich and powerful, blessed are the sexually liberated, blessed are the beautiful and handsome, blessed are the famous, blessed are those the world looks up to.
The greater part of this chapter has been negative, warning those who are contemplating Christ’s service that the mere setting out is not sufficient. There must be perseverance. It is he who “stands firm to the end” who is saved (Matt. 10:22). But I do not want to end there. I want to end on the character of those who are saved, those of “violence” who, Jesus says, “lay hold of the kingdom” and will not be denied until they possess it (Matt. 11:12).
When Jesus said of these individuals, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God,” He was not just making a statement, of course. He was giving a warning. It is this warning that we must now consider.
3. Determination to set one’s own terms. The third of these three individuals (like the first) also volunteered to follow Jesus. But he wanted to do so on his terms rather than on Jesus’ terms. He said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family” (v. 61). On the surface this request is the closest of the three to Elisha’s request of Elijah, which Elijah approved. But here the man’s error is self-evident.
1. Physical hardships and deprivation. The first of these three individuals (like the third) volunteered to follow Christ. He said, “I will follow you wherever you go” (Luke 9:57). There are many who have heard Christ or have heard about Him, often persuasively, but who have never gotten as far as this man got in his offer to follow Jesus. Many hear the gospel and are indifferent to it. Many are moved by Christ’s call but never quite come to the place of starting after Him.
