As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Initially this statement that this person would follow Jesus anywhere sounds open ended and admirable. But Jesus seemed to perceive some subtle limitations hidden within it. The individual might apparently have found it acceptable to make a journey straight to whatever the destination was meant to be and then to rest in comfort. Jesus insisted that following him would not lead immediately to a place to rest one's head. It would not lead to a palace, like that of Herod ("that fox" (see Luke 13:32)), or to the temple, where birds made their nests (see Psalm 84:3), but to the cross, where there was indeed nowhere for the Son of Man to rest his head. And yet Jesus did promise rest to those who followed him, saying, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (see Matthew 11:28). Was this a contradiction? No, but rather a clarification. The rest that Jesus offered was not indulgent inactivity that the world regarded as rest. It was rather a rest that could be present even in the midst of activity, even, in fact, in the greatest of trials. It was a rest that still entailed a yoke and a burden, but a yoke that was easy and a burden that was light.
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
There was an urgency to the proclamation of the Kingdom the superseded even the legitimate importance of family and the attendant acts of charity that care of one's family entailed. The reason for this can seem somewhat shocking if we are not familiar with Jesus' diagnosis on the condition of those who did not yet know him. They were the dead among the dead unless and until they received life from Jesus himself.
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (see John 10:10).
Paul understood and accepted this diagnosis of the sin sick condition of humanity as well, explaining that it was precisely "when we were dead in our trespasses" that we were made "alive together with Christ" (see Ephesians 2:5). Honoring father and mother by showing due respect to the physical body was much less necessary than honoring them by showing respect for the eternal destiny of their immortal souls. There was no time to lose.
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."
How many times do we echo this "I will follow" qualified by a "but first"? How many lesser goods distract us from what we know that following the Lord entails for us? It is true that Elijah allowed Elisha to go and set his affairs in order before becoming his disciple. But Jesus is calling us to a more radical commitment than that of Elijah to Elisha. He is calling us to a dynamic fidelity in which we do not set any terms and conditions in advance. It is then and only then, yoked to the yoke of Christ, that we may hope to find true and lasting rest.
Perhaps we once had greater fervor in our lives as disciples and followers of Jesus but that we have since grown lukewarm. If so, it is still not too late. Like Nehemiah we may still hope to rebuild the holy city that are hearts are meant to be with the help of "the favoring hand of ... God". Like Saint Francis it is not too late to hear God's call to a radical commitment, and to be used by him to rebuild his Church from the ruins which we ourselves have become.
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
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