Eyeing the Prize
What’s your number 1 goal in your life? Maybe it is to win the Lotto or to see the Phillies win the World Series. Maybe your number 1 goal is to get married to the man/woman of your dreams. Perhaps your greatest goal is to get the kids through their teen years or college and then you will worry about the rest of your life. Maybe your number 1 goal in life is simply to survive, to make it one day at a time.
Goals in life are a good thing for when we have no goals then we have no focus for our lives. The result is that we simply drift through life flitting from one thing to another, going wherever the action is, jumping on the current popular bandwagon going nowhere with empty hearts and meaningless lives. No goals or too many goals cause us to flounder, to stumble and to spin our wheels. The apostle Paul tells us, “This one thing I do….”
Sometimes, however, there are those people who are so captivated by a goal or cause that it becomes all-consuming. All their time, energy, resources, and money are focused on that one goal. Nothing else matters. Nothing else is important. Nothing can deter them from accomplishing that goal. Both of these extremes are out of balance. The one is a person whose life is helter-skelter with no rhyme nor reason. The other is a Popeye kind of guy, the kind who furiously and tenaciously exercises his arms while leaving the rest of his body to atrophy in abject weakness.
In our scripture we discover that Jesus had a goal. Verse 51, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” At Jerusalem the culmination of his life and ministry would be fulfilled. The purpose for Jesus’ coming would be fulfilled. The cross was set before Him, and it was time. The amazing thing about Jesus’ goal of the cross was this: while Jesus resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem, He did not allow that “one thing” to distract Him from the needs around Him. Jesus did not permit Himself to fall into the error of tunnel vision. While Jesus’ eyes were passionately on the prize, He wanted to take as many people as possible with Him to that prize—even the hated and outcast Samaritans.
While on the way to the Cross Jesus still sees the lost and broken people that He meets along the way to His goal. As He went, the way to Jerusalem and the cross leads him into the area of Samaria. Jesus reaches out to those that the disciples perceive to be the enemy. In this passage we see Jesus extreme compassion. The Samaritans reject Jesus and slap away His outstretched hand of love and grace. Notice the response of the disciples in verse 54, “When the disciples, James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?’” Their response to the Samaritan’s rejection of Jesus would be laughable if it weren’t so pathetic. Here we see their carnal nature at its best. Their sinful, human and carnal nature wants retribution. Their sinful, human and carnal nature not only wants retribution, but also wants to utterly destroy these Samaritans. They are not content to simply walk away and onto Jerusalem. They are not content to settle ‘an eye for an eye.’ Oh, no! The Samaritans have rejected Jesus and no amount of retribution that James and John could do would suffice or even equate for the injustice done to their Master and friend.
It is also quite laughable yet patently pathetic that James and John were so arrogant that they even thought they even had the power to call down fire from heaven. You know, just snap the old fingers and God would come jumping to their every demand. Reminds me of the Hertz Car Rental commercials, “Who do they think they are?” Happens even to us sometimes, doesn’t it?
But instead of destroying them like James and John desire, Jesus simply walks away. Jesus then seizes this moment as a great teaching opportunity to remind the disciples that their mission is not one of tearing down but of building up, not one of destruction but of salvation.
On the road again on their way to Jerusalem Jesus never takes His eyes off the prize, yet Luke tells the story of 3 encounters that Jesus had with 3 different people. A man excitedly and with great enthusiasm calls out to Jesus that he will follow Jesus wherever He would go. In the ancient world it was quite common for people to follow along a great teacher listening to the teacher’s wisdom, taking notes and learning through hearing and observation.
Note Jesus response in verse 58, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head.” We’re not talking the Breakers at Palm Beach here let alone Holiday Inn Express even. We are not talking about Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse here let alone McDonalds. Jesus wasn’t even at the level of foxholes or birds’ nests. He was talking not about the easy life, but about what it really takes sometimes to be a follower of Jesus—hardship, difficulty, rejection, persecution, even a cross.
Unlike the first man, Jesus initiated the call to the second man to follow Him. The man offers a seeming legitimate reason why he can’t follow Jesus. “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” That only seems fair. When a loved one dies, the whole world stops. All other responsibilities and activities are suspended and put on hold. Only after the burial does life pick up again. Look at Jesus response in verse 60, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom.” Wow! Talk about being hard-hearted and downright mean. How in the world could Jesus say such a cold, uncaring, compassionless thing to a man whose father had just died!
I remember thinking that as a kid. I remember being confused that Jesus who loves the whole world and loves everybody could be so unloving to this poor, grieving man. But I learned that I didn’t know the whole story. My knowledge and understanding of the situation was limited. But Jesus knew the whole story and quickly saw through this man’s excuse. If his father had died why wasn’t he attending to the burial procedures? The truth was that the father was not dead but very much alive. Months, maybe even years would pass before the man would take up Jesus’ invitation. What the man was saying was this: sure I will follow you but later after my father dies and I gain his inheritance, then that will be the perfect time for me to follow you. Not yet Jesus. There is still much of life to live and I am not ready to follow you. An excuse is an excuse whatever you call it or however you frame it.
As Jesus walks toward “this one thing” of Jerusalem and the cross, he meets yet another man in verse 61. The excuse machine is now in overdrive. “I will follow you Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” Here Jesus’ response, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” Looking back is akin to longing for what used to be and what was. Remember Lot’s wife? What happened to her as they left Sodom and Gomorrah? She looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.
Procrastination is evident here in this 3rd man and Jesus looked beyond the seeming justification for his desire to do the loving thing and say good-bye to his family. Jesus knew it simply to be an excuse. In the topography of central Israel, everyone knew that when you plowed your field you couldn’t look back or else you would encounter rocks and other dangers of that rugged terrain. Looking back cannot change a thing. What is done is done, so we look forward to our tomorrows making sure we keep our eyes on the prize, Jesus. Jesus wants to make sure that His followers keep their eyes forward looking to what will be and not what has been.
Throughout these 3 encounters Jesus never takes His eyes off the prize. He also wants to make sure that those who follow Him know what they are getting into. He wants them to understand that there are sacrifices, hardships, disappointments, confusion, and suffering. He wants them to understand that they have to leave the spiritually dead behind to walk with the spiritually alive. He wants them to know that the first priority is to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He want them to grasp the fact that in order to gain the prize you must look forward toward that prize.
The prize Jesus offered the Samaritans, the 3 men he encountered along the road, and to all of us is the same prize Jesus offers to us today—eternal life that begins with a personal relationship with Jesus and extends for eternity in heaven. The prize is there for the asking, but just as Jesus didn’t force it on the Samaritans nor forced it on the 3 men along the road, He will not force it on us. He offers us Himself and makes it clear what we will get into if we say yes to Him—both the good and the bad.
The prize is still the same, but so is the cost. Following Jesus is not a yellow brick road or a pathway of rose petals. The world will throw all kinds of garbage at us, and even fellow Christians will disappoint us at times. Some of us may face more active persecution than others, but all of us will face struggles and hardships along the way. We must also be willing to leave behind old habits and even old friends as we eye the prize. No longer can we conform to the patterns and ways of this world, but must set ourselves apart for God’s service.
The prize is the same, the cost is the same, and unfortunately the excuses are also the same. We want to follow Jesus without the commitment and sacrifice that it takes. We often use our families as an excuse. We use the hypocrisy of Christians as an excuse or the leaders of the church as an excuse. We use our time as an excuse not to commit to follow Jesus. We are prone to put it off until tomorrow, yet tomorrow never seems to come.
The way of Jesus is not always easy and some times it is downright difficult, but what an exciting ride it is. Let me encourage you to response to Jesus’ call to follow Him—even today.