Cost of Following in The Way
What an amazing day to enjoy family! This morning’s Sunday service at Sowers Church of Christ was a refreshing source of spirit-filled joy. In fact, it ties perfectly into today’s blog. The sermon covered Acts 1:4-8, and today we are focusing right on verse 8. God is so good to us, granting us the grace to wake up to a new day, sing His praises, and dive deep into the study of His holy Word.
As we step into the final two sections of Luke Chapter 9, I pray that His power and Spirit guide us. Yet, even as we walk in “The Way,” Jesus reminds us that we will face opposition. He made the cost of carrying our own cross and following Him in this broken world incredibly clear. While the chaos around us often brings challenges, we must own our faith and keep it deeply rooted and strong in Christ Jesus.
Let’s look at how this tension plays out on the road to Jerusalem:
Regional Divisions at the Time of Jesus. Source: Conforming To Jesus Ministry
Luke 9:51-56 (NIV) Samaritan Opposition
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
Connecting History: The Old Testament Roots
To understand the deep-seated animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans in Luke 9, we have to look directly at key Old Testament events. This friction didn’t happen overnight; it was centuries in the making.
1. The Kingdom Splits — 930 BC (1 Kings 12)
After King Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam refused to lighten the people’s taxes, causing the ten northern tribes to rebel. They split the nation in two, forming the Northern Kingdom (Israel) under King Jeroboam. To keep his citizens from traveling south to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam set up alternative golden calf altars in the northern towns of Dan and Bethel.
2. The Fall of Samaria & Intermarriage — 722 BC (2 Kings 17)
The Assyrian Empire eventually crushed the Northern Kingdom. Following their usual conquest tactics, they deported the wealthy elite Israelites and resettled the land with foreigners from Babylon and other pagan nations (2 Kings 17:24). Over generations, these foreign groups intermarried with the remaining working-class Israelites, creating a mixed ethnicity and a blended religion that worshiped Yahweh alongside foreign idols. These people became known as the Samaritans.
3. The Temple Rebuilding Feud — 538 BC (Ezra 4)
Centuries later, when the Southern Kingdom (Judah) returned from their own exile in Babylon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritans offered to help. But the Jewish leaders strictly refused them (Ezra 4:1-3), viewing them as ethnically and spiritually compromised. In retaliation, the Samaritans actively tried to sabotage the rebuilding process, cementing a bitter feud that lasted for generations.
The Geography and the “Sons of Thunder”
When you know this history, you see how geography directly influenced the conflict. The Northern Kingdom territory—where the Samaritans lived—sat directly between Galilee in the north and Jerusalem in the south. This forced Jewish travelers to either brave hostile territory or take a massive, exhausting detour around it.
When Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” through Samaria, he was choosing the Southern Temple over the Northern worship sites. To the villagers, it was a direct theological insult, so they shut their doors.
In response, the disciples reacted with a fury that sets up a fascinating, hidden Old Testament connection. When James and John (rightly nicknamed the “Sons of Thunder”) got furious and asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” they weren’t just being hot-headed—they genuinely thought they were acting like the great prophet Elijah.
In 2 Kings 1:9-12, Elijah was traveling through this exact same geographic region. When a wicked king sent soldiers to capture him, Elijah literally called down fire from heaven to consume them. James and John likely thought, “Hey, we are in the same area, serving a greater Prophet, dealing with people rejecting God. Let’s do what Elijah did!”
But Jesus turned and rebuked them. He changed the paradigm completely. He didn’t come to destroy the Samaritans with fire; He came to save them.
The Beautiful Full Circle
Jesus knew that Samaria wasn’t a lost cause. He chose patience over retaliation, simply turning around to walk to another village. His restraint beautifully sets up the exact verse preached on this morning, where Jesus lays out the future of His church:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8
Because Jesus refused to burn down the village in Luke 9, the doors were left wide open for the Gospel later. In Acts chapter 8, when the Holy Spirit finally falls upon the believers, the Samaritans are among the very first to receive Him. What a beautiful reminder that God’s timing, mercy, and plan will always outlast our human prejudices!
It is so easy to see ourselves in James and John. When opposition faces us or people hurt us, how often do we react with anger, wishing for a bit of “fire from heaven” instead of offering mercy? It’s a human reflex to want retaliation rather than leaving justice in God’s hands.
But the lessons of Luke 9 don’t stop with how we treat our enemies; they challenge how we examine our own hearts. As we step into the final section of the chapter, Jesus shifts the focus from hostile outsiders to well-meaning insiders, revealing exactly what it takes to look past the opposition and truly follow Him in “The Way.”
Luke 9: 57-62The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
The Bookends of a Homeless King
In verse 58, Jesus gives a striking response to a man who promises to follow him anywhere: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Look at the profound humility wrapped in those words. The very animals Jesus created have their native, earthly dwellings, but the Creator Himself has no place to call His own. This speaks directly to the manner of His entire earthly stay. He entered our world wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a borrowed manger because there was no room in the inn. Thirty-three years later, He would leave this world to be buried in a borrowed tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea.
Jesus’ dwelling was never of this earth. By choosing a life bracketed by borrowed spaces, He reminds us that to follow Him in “The Way” means recognizing that this broken world is not our final home either.
The Cost of Delayed Discipleship
When Jesus calls another man to follow Him, the man replies, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” To our modern ears, Jesus’ response— “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God”—can sound shockingly harsh. In the ancient world, honoring one’s parents was considered a son’s greatest moral obligation, and seeing to their burial was the absolute highest expression of that duty. To neglect it was unthinkable; it would make a man a social outcast, dishonored in his village for the rest of his life.
However, a son whose father had just died would not be out standing on a road debating with a rabbi—he would already be mourning and preparing the body. This indicates that the man’s request represents a desire for a significant delay.
Many scholars note that the phrase, “Let me first bury my father,” was a common idiom used to request a delay of years until an aging parent finally passed away. Alternatively, it likely refers to the ancient Jewish practice of a “two-stage burial.” Shortly after a death, the family would place the body in a cave. Then, exactly one year later, the son would return for the secondary burial—collecting the dried bones and placing them into a stone box (an ossuary) alongside his ancestors.
In this light, Jesus’ words take on a brilliant double meaning: Let the spiritually dead (those without the vision of the Kingdom) bury the physically dead ancestors. Jesus’ urgent mission of offering eternal life simply could not accommodate a delay of months or years to memorialize what was already past.
💡 Personal Reflection
This historical context is profoundly eye-opening, especially when we look at how we handle grief today. We often spend so much time and energy celebrating the dead—whether through traditions like All Saints’ Day, or by consistently visiting the cemetery.
It makes me realize that while missing our loved ones who have passed is natural, and mourning is often a lifelong journey, life must still move forward. The urgent work of the Father cannot be delayed by looking backward. Moving forward, I want to see visiting the cemetery not as a place to linger in grief, but as a brief pause—a quiet reminder that those who died in Christ are already secure, and that our focus must remain entirely on preaching the offer of life to the living.
Looking Backward vs. Moving Forward
This brings us right into the third and final encounter on the road, where another man asks to simply go back and say goodbye to his family. Having just warned against being anchored to the graves of the past, Jesus reinforces the point with a vivid everyday illustration:
“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Any farmer in the ancient world knew that if you turned your head to look backward while guiding a heavy wooden plow, the blade would instantly slip, and your rows would become crooked and ruined.
Jesus is pulling back the curtain on a profound truth that ties this entire chapter together: the greatest enemy of tomorrow’s obedience is our lingering attachment to yesterday. Whether it is an ancient ethnic feud like the Samaritans, or the comfort of home and family traditions, following Him in “The Way” requires total forward focus.
All these men wanted to follow Jesus, but they wanted to do it on a delayed timeline. Jesus calls us to a faith that looks forward, plowing a straight line directly into the future of the Kingdom. The truth is, we have a definitive choice to make: Will we continue to allow the chaos and noise of this world to capture our attention, or will we choose to follow whole-heartedly in the way of Jesus Christ?
Summary & Chapter 9 Conclusion
When we step back and look at the entirety of Luke Chapter 9, we see a dramatic structural pivot in Jesus’ ministry. The chapter opens with explosive kingdom breakthroughs: Jesus empowers the twelve disciples, [^7] feeds the five thousand, [^8] reveals His raw glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, [^9] and explicitly declares His identity as the Messiah. [^10]
Yet, the moment Jesus turns His face resolutely toward Jerusalem, the atmosphere shifts from mountain-top victory to the realities of the road.
Luke 9 functions as a boot camp for true discipleship. Through these back-to-back encounters, Jesus systematically deconstructs every human excuse for half-hearted devotion:
He exposes our tribalism by rebuking James and John’s retaliatory anger against the Samaritans.
He exposes our need for physical security by revealing His own homelessness.
He exposes our relational delays by demanding priority over cultural obligations and family goodbyes.
The message of Chapter 9 is single-eyed and uncompromising: The greatest enemy of tomorrow’s obedience is our lingering attachment to yesterday. Following Him in “The Way” requires a total, uncompromised forward focus.
A Call to Action: Plowing a Straight Line
The text leaves us standing on the dusty road to Jerusalem with a definitive choice to make. We cannot plow a straight line into the future of God’s Kingdom while constantly staring over our shoulders at what we left behind.
This week, challenge yourself to audit your focus:
Surrender Retaliation: Where are you harboring a desire to “call down fire” on people or groups who oppose your faith? Replace that anger with the far-sighted mercy of Acts 1:8.
Identify the “Firsts”: Guard your language against the trap of delayed discipleship. Whenever we say, “Lord, I will follow you, BUT first let me…” we have misplaced our allegiance.
Drop the Comforts: Actively choose to step out of the comfort zones that keep your faith stagnant.
Will we continue to allow the chaos, traditions, and noise of this world to capture our backward glance, or will we choose to follow whole-heartedly, eyes fixed forward, in the way of Jesus Christ?
Chapter 9 Summary Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, Almighty God,
We thank You for the profound truths preserved in Your holy Word. We praise You for the grace that woke us up today, for the spirit-filled joy of corporate worship, and for the urgent reminder that this world is not our final home. Lord, forgive us for the times we have allowed our hearts to become distracted, looking backward at comfort, tradition, or past hurts instead of keeping our eyes fixed securely on Your Kingdom.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit, give us the resolve of Christ Jesus to face opposition with mercy and long-suffering patience. Remove any “but first” from our vocabulary when You call our names. Empower us to lay hold of the plow with a focused heart, tracing straight rows of fruitful ministry in our families, our workplaces, and our communities. May we be faithful witnesses of Your grace from our immediate neighborhoods to the very ends of the earth.
In the mighty and matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
Tomas The-Way.blog
© 2026 The-Way.blog Digital Publications. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture Citation Footnotes
[^1]: 2 Kings 17:6 – “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria.”
[^2]: 2 Kings 25:8-9 – Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon set fire to the temple of the Lord and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
[^3]: 2 Kings 17:24 – “The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites.”
[^4]: Ezra 4:3 – “But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, ‘You have no part with us in building a temple to our God…’”
[^5]: 2 Kings 1:9-12 – Elijah answers the captain of fifty: “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!”
[^6]: Acts 8:14-17 – When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
[^7]: Luke 9:1-6 – Jesus sends out the Twelve with power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.
[^8]: Luke 9:10-17 – The miraculous feeding of the five thousand from five loaves and two fish.
[^9]: Luke 9:28-36 – The Transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of Peter, John, and James.
[^10]: Luke 9:18-20 – Peter’s confession: “God’s Messiah.”
Resources & Further Scholarly Reading
For those who want to dig deeper into the historical, geographical, and cultural nuances of Luke 9, the following scholarly resources and commentaries are highly recommended:
Bock, Darrell L. Luke: 1:1–9:50 & 9:51–24:53 (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). This two-volume commentary provides an exhaustive look at the historical background of the Samaritan conflict and the ancient idioms surrounding the cost of discipleship.
Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke (New International Commentary on the New Testament). Green offers a magnificent narrative and theological perspective on Jesus’ pivotal journey to Jerusalem, highlighting the socio-cultural realities of ancient Near Eastern hospitality and parental burial obligations.
Flavius Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews (Book 20, Chapter 6). For a primary historical source outside of scripture, Josephus details the volatile nature of the Galilee-to-Jerusalem travel corridor through Samaria during the First Century, illustrating why feelings ran so incredibly high between the two groups.
Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. An indispensable, highly accessible tool for understanding the cultural idioms of “let the dead bury their own dead” and the mechanical precision required for ancient Mediterranean plowing methods.
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