Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, "Teacher, 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." Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Jesus never minced his words especially to those who truly wanted him to do so. Many people liked what Jesus had to say, hung on his every word, and chased him around the countryside just to listen to him. They even wanted to cast their lot with him. But it was always on their terms and not on Jesus’. There were very few people who heard Jesus, who followed Jesus, who were ready and willing to do so at whatever cost. Most wanted an inexpensive, certainly a cheap discipleship.

But Jesus would have none of it. And he said so. And he said so in words that seemed very harsh, if not cruel. What is wrong with burying a loved one, especially one’s father? That is simple human kindness and a family responsibility. Are we to drop everything, everything, even everyone, to follow Jesus? Is not Jesus asking too much, even asking the impossible, from us?

Following Jesus will never mean doing what is wrong or not doing what is right. Jesus will never ask us to not bury a parent. Jesus will never ask us to not do what any human being would do. Jesus even asks us to go beyond what we are supposed to do: walk the extra mile, turn the abused cheek, give to those who demand of us because they are in such need.

What Jesus does do, what he repeats and reminds over and over again to those who would listen and who would follow is that discipleship comes at a cost. It is not cheap and it is certainly not free. We have to give more than we desire, give up that which we would rather not, do what is unpleasant. Sometimes we have to choose the greater good rather than between a good and an evil. That is always costly.

Many of those who chased after Jesus did so because they thought there was something in it for them if they did: perhaps an easier life, perhaps riches and honor and fame, certainly a reward of some kind. Many walked away when they discovered otherwise, when they got to the heart of the matter in what he was preaching. But for those who did stay, who followed Jesus come hell or high water, what they discovered was, yes, pain and hardship and suffering at times, but always more joy and pleasure and reward than they could have ever imagined, certainly as they had imagined. Following Jesus is its own reward but we only discover that in the following.

I pray: Lord, help me to walk with you in heart and mind and soul this day, to listen as you speak to me, and do what your Spirit leads me to do through your grace and strength and love. Amen.