Luke 9:57 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

NIV: As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'

NASB: As they were going on the road, someone said to Him, 'I will follow You wherever You go.'

CSB: As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

NLT: As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'

KJV: And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

NKJV: Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

The four Gospels give the story of Jesus' life and ministry to reveal His identity and His message to the writers' audiences—including us. In doing so, each writer had specific ideas they especially wanted to get across, illustrated by vignettes. All four start with Jesus' life before His ministry began—Matthew and Luke with His birth, Mark at His baptism, John in eternity past and then at Jesus' baptism. And they all end with His crucifixion and resurrection. In between those two bookends, the stories often get swapped about and it can be extremely difficult to place the different vignettes in their proper chronological order.

In Luke 9:51, Luke transitions from Jesus' public ministry, primarily in Galilee. He goes on to focus more on Christ's private ministry wherein He prepares the disciples for His crucifixion and their task to build the church. This section contains more teaching and fewer miracles. But that doesn't mean that Luke strictly divided the events.

Luke 9:57–62 records Jesus' reactions to three would-be disciples. Either they ask to follow Him or He invites them. They seem to agree, perhaps with a condition. Jesus discourages them by revealing a hardship or sacrifice they will face. We don't know what any of the three eventually decide.

This little group is the last segment in a series of four describing what it means to follow Jesus. First, it requires humility and servanthood over power and authority (Luke 9:46–48). Second, it means faith in Christ over acceptance by other followers (Luke 9:49–50). Third, following Christ requires belief in what He says instead of treasured tradition and cultural identity (Luke 9:51–56). Fourth, being a Jesus-follower demands whole-heartedness and the willingness to sacrifice (Luke 9:57–62).

This last segment written here is not chronological. This is Luke's masterful weaving of stories to show his greater theme. Matthew explains that at least the first two interactions happened right before Jesus told the disciples to sail across the Sea of Galilee where they fought a storm while Jesus slept (Matthew 8:18–27). Placing the story here may be difficult for westerners who like things orderly and chronological. Jesus is more concerned that we fully understand what it takes to follow Him.

Combining what we read in Matthew and Luke reveals a deeper message in this first encounter, however. Matthew says this man is a scribe—a teacher of the Mosaic law (Matthew 8:19). If Matthew's placement is chronological, the scribe sees Jesus' great success as a teacher in Galilee, not the rejection He will face from Samaritans and Jewish leadership. A scribe would learn about the Law and then teach and enforce it. Jesus wants more from a follower. He wants humility, servanthood, faith, and submission. Yet He also wants someone willing to follow Him to the cross (Luke 9:23–26). A person easily discouraged by the idea of financial or social hardship isn't likely a sincere follower.

Luke 9:57–62 continues Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. For Luke, this is a theological path to the cross and the ascension (Luke 9:51). Unlike the Samaritan villagers (Luke 9:51–56), these three men have some desire to follow Jesus but are discouraged by worldly concerns. Though Luke does not tell us whether the men decide to follow Jesus, it seems these interactions are reflective of the soil filled with the weeds of "cares and riches and pleasures of life" that hear Jesus' words but "their fruit does not mature" (Luke 8:14). Jesus explains that dedication to His mission requires commitment and sacrifice. Matthew 8:19–22 also records Jesus' interactions with the first two men.

Luke 9 completes Jesus' Galilean ministry and begins describing His journey towards Jerusalem. Jesus gives His disciples miraculous power and commissions them to preach. The empowerment thrills the disciples but confuses Herod Antipas. A hungry crowd of thousands and hard teachings about following Jesus, however, shows the disciples' faith is short-lived. The transfiguration and the demonized boy precede stories of the disciples' continued confusion. They still struggle to accurately represent Jesus. Luke 9:51–62 begins the "travelogue" (Luke 9:51—19:27) with examples of the patience and sacrifice needed to represent Jesus as His followers.

Luke 9 straddles the two major sections biblical scholars call "Jesus' Galilean Ministry" (Luke 4:14—9:50) and "The Travelogue to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51—19:27). The Galilean ministry alternates calls to discipleship with stories on Jesus' authority and teachings. The travelogue records what Jesus did and taught to prepare the disciples for His crucifixion. After a final group of stories on how to respond to Jesus (Luke 9:51—11:13) and several examples of how the Jewish religious leaders reject Jesus (Luke 11:14–54), Luke presents Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God (Luke 12:1—19:27).