Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

Volunteers be warned! Discipleship is not for the fainthearted. While the multitudes receive the general teaching about righteousness and the kingdom of God, those who actually want to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, what we call disciples, are faced with demanding requirements. Jesus never downgrades the standards making it easy to gain followers. In fact, His requirements are of such a nature as to drive away those with less than absolute devotion to Him.

Being a scribe, this man was well aware of the concerns others would have had concerning imposters to the role of Messiah. He certainly was eager to break out of the group-think of resistance and risk being identified with this new Teacher. This attitude would stand him in good stead as a candidate, it would seem. Jesus presents a watershed for this man’s life with a simple statement.

Building on the common idea that a disciple actually committed to living like the master he follows, Jesus simply points out the living condition that He, as the Master, was accustomed to, lacking the normal comforts of home. Being a disciple meant living the life of an itinerate preacher. No record is given of the scribe’s response, which does not portend well for him, especially in light of the responses of others recorded in the gospels.

Another “disciple” came with similar aspirations to follow Him, but Jesus speaks of the choice he must make to do so. I don’t think Jesus was forbidding His followers from attending a parent’s funeral any more than He was encouraging literal eye-gouging (5:27). Rather His statement is best interpreted by His own words in 10:37 where He asserts that “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me…”. His basic message of discipleship is this: “Follow Me but count the cost!” Again, we don’t know whether this second man continued to follow. We do know that many of His “disciples” did stop following the Lord when His teaching went below the surface needs (John 6:60, 66). Serious is the warning, “Count the cost.”

Lord, I confess my often weak and double-minded commitment to You and Your cause. You are worthy of my absolute, undivided loyalty—no matter the cost.