“I will follow you wherever you go…………..”

“As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”  Luke 9:57-58  NLT

If we are to understand the lessons taught in these verses of Luke 9: 57-62, we must not fail to see the context in which it is given and keep it in mind.

    ** The Lord Jesus has just finished instructing His disciples about serving Him (Luke 9:43-50, 55).

    **He has set His face steadfastly to go up to Jerusalem, to die as our Substitute (Luke 9:51).

    **He has just announced His mission in this world (Luke 9:56 – "The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.").

    **He was just about to send out seventy of His disciples to preach the gospel (Luke 10:1).

But just before He sends out the seventy to proclaim the gospel of His grace, Luke tells us about the Master’s conversation with these three men.   His purpose in doing so is obvious…

Proposition:  If we would follow Christ, if we would serve Him, we must do so wholeheartedly, with singleness of mind and clarity of purpose.

Today we will take a quick glimpse of the first man who volunteered to follow Jesus as one of His disciples and tomorrow we will take an in depth look.

Once again, Luke wrote; “As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”    But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head”         (vs 57-58).

Matthew gives us just a little bit more information about him than Luke.  Matthew tells us that this man was a scribe:

“Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “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” (Matt. 8:19-20 NJKV).

This was a very religious man.  He was a scribe, a man who spent his life in the Scriptures.  But he was a lost man.  Judging purely from the Lord’s reply to his bold, confident declaration, this man had somehow gotten the idea in his head that it would be to his advantage to be numbered among the Lord’s disciples.

He seems to have thought to himself, "If this man is the Christ, if He is going to Jerusalem to establish His kingdom, I don’t want to be left out and miss the great opportunity of being a part of His royal court."

He had no idea what was involved in following Jesus.   He did not ask.   He did not care.  He was not concerned about what it meant to be a follower of Christ.  He was only concerned about what he could gain by following Him.  Besides, he was quite confident that he was up to the task, whatever it might be.

The fact that this man was a fake disciple is obvious, because those things that are both essential to and vital parts of faith in Christ were missing.

The plain fact is no one can come to God until Jesus first comes to him.  Is this not the doctrine of our Lord?  This man came to the Jesus physically, but not spiritually.

He came in word, but NOT in heart.   He came outwardly, but NOT inwardly.  I will make no attempt to say whether he was sincere or purely hypocritical. The fact is, he could not come and did not come to Jesus in saving faith.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day”   (John 6:44 NKJV).

This man had no divine call.

 He was not taught of God.

 He had experienced no conviction:

       * Of Sin

       * Of Righteousness

       * Of Judgment

There was no confession of sin, cry for mercy, plea for grace, or need of Christ.

This scribe simply decided he would join the Jesus’ club and get in on a good thing.  He was very confident he could follow Jesus anywhere and through anything.  After all, he had made his decision!  But his decision could NOT change his heart.

You can try and change a person, control them by religion, have them read the Bible daily and play “God” in their life in order to make them who you want them to be, but it will NOT work.  You cannot change them or make them repent or lead them into repentance with hidden motives.   ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE THEM WHEN THEY ARE WILLING TO BE CHANGED! 

“So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God's mercy”.   Romans 9:16 GNT