There's a three-letter word, a conjunction of condition, that we use repeatedly to resist a two-word hard saying of Jesus, "Follow Me." The word is "but." We want to become His followers, but ....

Eventually, though, we "butt up" against our "buts." We all have personal reasons for saying "but," yet Jesus is constantly seeking to preempt our particular set of priorities with His call to follow Him. Our "buts" keep us from following Him. Actually, we try to preempt His priorities.

In Luke 9:57-62 we meet three men who responded to Jesus' "Follow Me" with different expressions of reservation. The first two did not use the conjunction; yet it was expressed in their attitudes. The third stated his "but" quite openly. How Jesus dealt with all three shows us how He preempts our priorities. His responses give us three more hard sayings that reveal the deeper meaning of His call to commitment.

The Cost of Following the Master

The Master was on His way to Jerusalem and the cross. Now His oft-repeated "Follow Me" was quickened in intensity and urgency. It also carried much more demanding implications of the cost of discipleship. With Him were the inner circle of the disciples who had heard and responded to the call. Walking along were others who were still uncertain about their responses. Luke tells us that as they were on their way through Samaria enroute to Jerusalem, one Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus.

We join the group as they move on down the road, and we watch the reactions of the would-be followers. The first pushes his way through the group and pulls Jesus by the arm. Jesus stops and looks at him intently. The whole procession pauses to listen to their conversation.

"Lord, I will follow You wherever You go," the man says proudly. We notice from his attire that he is a scribe.1 That's quite a promise of faithfulness from one of the scribes who, along with the Pharisees, had so constantly disputed Jesus' claims and so forcefully discredited His ministry. It must have taken a great deal of courage for him to leave the ranks of Jesus' critics and join His groups of followers. Perhaps he had come along to get more evidence against Him. Whatever the case, he's obviously had a change of attitude.

Jesus' response is startling. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Isn't that a bit abrupt for this scribe's first expression of loyalty? But Jesus sees something we haven't observed. We're so satisfied with whatever little loyalty we've given Him and so delighted with the least response of people today that we want to compliment the scribe for the first stirring in him to be a follower. Not Jesus. He wanted the scribe to count the cost.

And He wanted something else. The scribes and Pharisees had rejected Jesus' claim that He was the Messiah -- the Son of Man -- sent by God to reveal perfect manhood and with divine authority to judge and forgive sins. His deliberate use of the title "Son of Man" in His response to the scribe indicates that Jesus sensed what was lacking. Apparently, the scribe admired Jesus as an inspiring leader, but he hadn't accepted His teaching. He was not committed to Jesus as the divine Son of Man. His "but" of reservation, though not spoken, was expressed by what he didn't say.