Kingdom Principle: There are many things in this life that vie for our allegiance to Jesus Christ. Things that seem good on the surface, but can draw us away if we do not subject them first to our allegiance to Christ. At the end of the day all things in this life are to be subservient to the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
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Love of _________________________________
Luke 9:57 (ESV) — 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
In ancient Israel, following the spread of the alphabet, the scribes’ monopoly of writing was broken, but theirs remained an important profession. The words for ‘scribe’ in Heb. (sôp̱ēr… ‘to count, tell’; Pi‘el,‘to recount’)… cover the main duties of this highly skilled trade. Many scribes were employed by the public as secretaries to transcribe necessary legal contracts (Je. 32:12), write letters, or keep accounts or records, usually from dictation (Je. 36:26)… The scribe, as a person of education and means, was able to wear fine garments with a pen-case or ‘inkhorn’ hanging from his girdle (Ezk. 9:2)… The profession was often followed by whole families (1 Ch. 2:55), and several sons are named as following their fathers in office.
Following in the steps of Christ will not give the Scribe the same kind of status or stability as following in the steps of his father or grandfather before him. Being a scribe was a noble profession, in the eyes of the world, being a Christian would soon become a contemptible one, in the eyes of the world.
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Love of _______________ _________________
Luke 9:59–60 (ESV) — 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
The Jews counted proper burial as most important; to leave the father unburied ‘was something scandalous to a Jew’ (Marshall). The duty of burial took precedence over the study of the law, the temple service, the killing of the Passover sacrifice, the observance of circumcision and the reading of the Megillah (story of Esther).
There is something far more sacred than fulfilling your sacred duties. And what is it? It is declaring the kingdom of God. Everything you have, and everything you do must be weighed in the balance of its effectiveness for the advancement of God’s kingdom.
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Love of ____________________ (Immediate Family)
Luke 9:61–62 (ESV) — 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
There are things in this world (family) that draw on our deepest emotions, our soulishness, and demand our allegiance because of this. What Jesus says here is that there is something greater to which we owe our devotion, something more substantial that ought to stir our souls, it is the Lord Jesus Christ.
For Jesus, discipleship is serious business and an all-consuming priority in terms of the constancy of one’s allegiance. As Karris (1977: 130) says, “Following him is not a task which is added to others like working a second job.… It is everything. It is a solemn commitment which forces the disciples-to-be to reorder all their other duties.” Family and home are prioritized in relation to one’s relationship to God (9:23–26; 14:26–27, 33; Tannehill 1986: 231).
What vies for your allegiance to Jesus? What would it look like to subject it to his kingdom?
