Luke turned from a presentation of people who rejected Jesus to one in which three individuals wanted to become His disciples. Each of them underestimated the degree of commitment that Jesus required. Jesus' words clarify the cost of discipleship (cf. vv. 23-26). Note the recurrence of the key word "follow"in verses 57, 59, and 61. The first two incidents evidently happened during Jesus' ministry in Galilee (cf. Matt. 8:18), and perhaps the third one did too. Luke probably grouped them here because they all deal with the same issue that Luke developed in this context, namely discipleship.
9:57-58 Matthew wrote that the man was a scribe (Matt. 8:19), but Luke generalized the reference probably so every reader could identify with the man. The man professed willingness to follow Jesus anywhere as His intimate disciple. Jesus did not rebuke him but clarified for him what that would involve so he could count the cost intelligently. He would need to be willing to accept homelessness, physical discomfort, privation, and rejection. Jesus' disciples had experienced these things travelling through Samaria (vv. 51-56). By using the title "Son of Man"Jesus heightened the irony of His sufferings. If the Son of Man experienced these things, how much more would His disciples do so.
9:59-60 The first man came to Jesus requesting permission to follow Him. This one received a command from Jesus to follow Him in exactly the same words as Jesus used to call the Twelve (e.g., 5:27). Matthew's account has him approaching Jesus, but this was evidently after Jesus called him. Was the man's father dead already or in danger of dying? The text is not clear, and an answer to this question is not necessary. Clearly the man was wanting Jesus to approve his postponing his obedience in either case.
"Burial of the dead was a religious duty that took precedence over all others, including even study of the Law. . . . It follows that burial of a father was a religious duty of the utmost importance (Gn. 50:5 . . .)."267
The dead whom Jesus said should bury the dead probably were the spiritually dead who did not believe in Jesus. The mission of believers was more important than even discharging customary family obligations when these conflicted with discipleship responsibilities. It is hard to imagine how Jesus could have set forth the importance of immediate and wholehearted participation in God's program more forcefully.
9:61-62 Luke alone recorded this third conversation. It appears anticlimactic at first, but it is not because the man was asking Jesus for a lesser concession than his predecessor (vv. 59-60). A good-bye would only take a few minutes whereas burying a father would take an indefinite time. Perhaps he thought that if Elijah permitted Elisha to say farewell to his parents before he followed Elijah, Jesus would surely permit him to do the same (1 Kings 19:19-21). Yet even this concession was not one Jesus would grant. Jesus' mission was more important than Elijah's. Jesus' answer was again proverbial (cf. v. 50). Discipleship involves hard work and sacrifice similar to plowing. A farmer who does not concentrate on his plowing is not a fit farmer. Likewise a disciple who allows life to distract him from his duties as a disciple is unfit for the kingdom (cf. Phil. 3:13; Heb. 6:7; 12:1-2). The disciple of Jesus must continue to follow Him faithfully.
These "hard sayings"clarify the demands of discipleship. Jesus' followers must be willing to share His homelessness, to place participation in God's program above the claims that family and duty impose, and to persevere in their calling. Luke probably did not record the responses of these three individuals so the reader would see himself or herself in the story and realize the importance of making the proper response personally.
