The Story

The Lord had been with the disciples in the north, in the region of Caesarea Philippi and Mount Hermon. Now they had come back to Galilee and the old home in Capernaum. Two questions seem to have arisen as they journeyed and they asked the Lord about them when they gathered around Him in Capernaum. The first was, which of them should be greatest. The Lord called a child and explained to them that those who are the most innocent, the most trustful and obedient, the most like good little children are really the greatest. The Lord gives each of us a little child to take care of - the innocent, obedient spirit in our own hearts. All the verses which tell about the Lord's care for little children mean also the little child in ourselves. He took them up in His arms and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16) The best of the angels are with little children - with the child of innocence in us. (Matthew 18:1-6, 10; A. 5236)

The other question was from John who had rebuked one whom he saw casting out devils in the Lord's name, because he followed not with them. Was that the right spirit? Ought we to feel important and think that nothing good can be done unless we have a hand in it?

The Lord left Galilee where He had lived for many years and done so many miracles, and began the journey to Jerusalem. He knew that He would be condemned and crucified, but there was work for Him to do. It was right for Him to go and "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." There were two ways from Galilee to Jerusalem, the direct way through Samaria and the longer way through the region east of Jordan. The disciples who went before to make ready for the Lord, came to a village of the Samaritans, but they would not receive the Lord. You know that the Jews and the Samaritans were not friendly, and sometimes the Samaritans hindered pilgrims going through their country, though we remember one time when the people of a Samaritan town gladly received the Lord and listened to His teaching. (John 4) James and John remembered how the prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven and destroyed men who came against him. You can read the story in the first chapter of 2 Kings, how twice fire came down from heaven and burned up a captain and his fifty men whom the king of Israel had sent to take Elijah. They were rough and wicked days when such signs of power were needed to make the people listen to the Lord's Word; but Christian people would not be forced by signs and punishments. They could now feel how good the Lord was, and listen and obey because they loved Him. So they went to another village. They turned away from Samaria and went by the other road which led across the Jordan and down on the eastern side. Then they would cross again near Jericho and climb the hills to Jerusalem. (R. 599)

As the Lord was starting on this journey a man said that he would go with Him, but the Lord warned him that it was only a passing impulse; the Lord did not have a sure and lasting place in his heart. Cunning, selfish feelings and thoughts like foxes and birds had their holes and nests in his mind, but there was no sure place for the Lord. Others said they would go, but they were not quite ready; they must do something at home first; they were not willing to leave everything for the Lord's sake. Disciples of the Lord must not be half-hearted, partly loving Him and partly loving themselves, partly doing right and partly doing as they pleased. They must not delay, intending to do right pretty soon, or by and by. They must serve the Lord at once, with all their heart and soul and mind and strength. (A. 5895)

1. Why were the disciples perplexed and in despair when the Lord was crucified? Had He not told them that it would be so and that He would rise again?

2. Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

3. How did the way lie from Galilee to Jerusalem? Why should the Samaritans not receive the Lord?

4. What journey to Jerusalem ought we all to take? How can we steadfastly set our faces toward the city?

5. What are the foxes and birds which have a place in our minds when the Lord does not? What kind of followers does the Lord want?

Soon after Peter's confession of the Lord, He began to tell them about His crucifixion which was drawing near. (Matthew 16:21; Luke 9:22) He told them again as they journeyed to Jerusalem. (Mark 10:32-34) But we see how little they understood or remembered His words when we find them so sad and perplexed on the Easter day. (John 20:9)

"He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." Jerusalem represents a heavenly state of nearness to the Lord. In a sense it represents heaven itself. All that is said in the Bible about pilgrimages to Jerusalem is really about the pilgrimage of life, the journey toward heaven. For example, the Psalms of going up (Psalm 120-134) express in a wonderful way the thoughts and hopes of the heavenly journey. So this going of the Lord to Jerusalem represents the progress of His life toward all that was perfect and Divine, His glorification. It involved terrible conflicts, and a laying down of life more painful than the crucifixion, but He did not shrink from His duty. All this is expressed in the saying that "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." And this meaning of the journey gives new interest to the last verses of the chapter about half-hearted followers. We must share the journey; we should steadfastly set our faces toward heaven. In everything we should set our faces toward what is right and be steadfast. (A. 2534 end, 3084, 4539)

Samaritans in a good sense (John 4; Luke 10:33) represent simple good people who desire to be taught. In a bad sense (Matthew 10:5; Luke 9:52) they mean those who no longer do good, and so reject the Lord and instruction. But He has no anger which could burn as fire, against them; His love does not in any violent way compel them. He shows His love by His gentleness in leaving them to their own way and going to those who are more ready to receive Him. (R. 599; E. 223)

In regard to foxes and birds, A. 778; R. 757.

The father who is dead means the old evil life of natural inheritance. If we realize that it is dead, that there is nothing heavenly in it, we should leave it promptly and completely. The request to bury the father expresses a lingering love for the things that we know are wrong. Moreover, burial suggests resurrection, and implies the hope that we may still find something satisfying in the old ways. (A. 6138)

Bidding farewell to those at the house contains a similar thought of lingering fondness for old evil habits, thoughts, and feelings. These are the household that must be hated. (Luke 14:26) They are our only real foes. (Matthew 10:36; E. 724; A. 6138)

Putting the hand to the plow and looking back suggests in a general way taking hold of the Lord's work in a half-hearted and inconstant way. More strictly, putting the hand to the plow means living from heavenly affection, stirring the soil of the honest and good heart; and the looking back means leaving good life and contenting oneself with mere intellectual belief. There is a similar meaning in the Lord's warning not to come down from the housetop, nor to return from the field. The Lord expects of every one the best that he can do, the most of love and strength that he is able to give. (A. 3652, 5895)

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