Church Fathers Commentary Luke 9:57-62

"And as they went on the way, a certain man said unto him, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But he said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God. And another also said, I will follow thee, Lord; but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house. But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." — Luke 9:57-62 (ASV)

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Although the Almighty Lord is bountiful, He does not grant heavenly and divine gifts to everyone absolutely and indiscriminately, but only to those who are worthy to receive them—those who free themselves and their souls from the stains of wickedness. We are taught this by the force of the angelic words: And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said to him, Lord, I will follow you.

First, there is much tardiness implied in the manner of his coming. It is next shown that he is filled with too great a presumption, for he did not seek to follow Christ simply as several others among the people did, but rather grasped at the honor of the Apostleship. As Paul says, No one takes the honor to himself but he that is called of God.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: He also dared to match himself with the incomprehensible power of the Savior, saying, I will follow you wherever you go. To follow the Savior simply to hear His teaching is possible for human nature, as He directs Himself toward men, but it is not possible to go with Him wherever He is, for He is incomprehensible and is not confined by place.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: In another respect, our Lord also deservedly refuses him, for He taught that to follow the Lord, a man must take up his cross and renounce attachment to this present life. Our Lord, finding this lacking in him, does not blame him but corrects him.

It follows, and Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes...

Theophylact of Ohrid: For having seen our Lord drawing many people to Himself, he thought that he received a reward from them, and that if he followed our Lord, he might obtain money.

The Venerable Bede: Therefore, it is said to him, "Why do you seek to follow Me for the riches and gain of this world, when My poverty is so great that I do not even have a place of rest and must take shelter under another man’s roof?"

St. John Chrysostom: See how our Lord demonstrates by His works the poverty which He taught. For Him, no table was spread, no lights were lit, no house was provided, nor any such thing.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now, in a symbolic sense, He applies the name of foxes and birds of the air to the wicked and crafty powers of evil spirits. It is as if He said, "Since foxes and birds of the air have their dwelling in you, how shall Christ rest in you? What fellowship has light with darkness?"

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: Or, in this, our Lord teaches the greatness of His gift, as if He said, "All created things may be confined by place, but the Word of God has incomprehensible power. Do not say, then, I will follow you wherever you go. But if you would be a disciple, cast off foolish things, for it is impossible for one who remains in foolishness to become a disciple of the Word."

St. Ambrose of Milan: Alternatively, He compares foxes to heretics, because they are indeed a wily animal and, ever intent on fraud, commit their robberies by stealth. They let nothing be safe, nothing be at rest, and nothing secure, for they hunt their prey even in the very dwellings of men. The fox, an animal full of craft, makes no hole for itself, yet likes to always lie concealed in one. So it is with heretics, who do not know how to build a house for themselves, but ensnare and deceive others. This animal is never tamed, nor is it of any use to man. Hence the Apostle says, A heretic after the first and second admonition reject.

The birds of the air, which are frequently used to represent spiritual wickedness, build their nests, as it were, in the hearts of the wicked. As long as deceit reigns over the affections, the divine principle has no opportunity to take possession. But when a man has proved his heart to be innocent, Christ leans upon him, in a measure, the weight of His greatness, for by a more abundant outpouring of grace He is planted in the hearts of good men.

Therefore, it does not seem reasonable that we should think this man—who was rejected by the Lord's judgment—to be faithful and sincere, even though he promised the service of tireless attendance. Our Lord is not concerned with this kind of service, but only with purity of affection; nor is the attendance of one whose sense of duty is not proven accepted. For the hospitality of faith should be offered with caution, lest, in opening the interior of our house to the unbelieving, we fall into a snare of treachery through our own imprudent credulity.

So that you may be aware that God does not despise service to Him, but rather deceit, He who rejected the deceitful man chose the innocent one. For it follows, And he said to another, Follow me. But He says this to one whose father He knew to be dead. Hence it follows, But he said, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.

The Venerable Bede: He did not refuse discipleship, but wished, after fulfilling the filial duty of burying his father, to follow Christ more freely.

St. Ambrose of Milan: But the Lord calls those on whom He has compassion. Hence it follows, And Jesus said, Let the dead bury their dead. Since we have received the burial of the human body as a religious duty, how is it that the burial even of a father’s body is forbidden, unless you are to understand that human affairs must be postponed for divine ones? It is a good task, but the hindrance is greater, for he who divides his pursuits also divides his affections; he who divides his care delays his progress. We must first set about the things that are most important. For the Apostles also, so that they might not be occupied with the duty of distributing alms, ordained ministers for the poor.

St. John Chrysostom: But what could be more necessary than the burial of his father, or what could be easier, seeing that it would not take much time? We are taught by this, then, that we should not spend even the slightest portion of our time in vain, even if we have a thousand things compelling us; indeed, we are to prefer spiritual things even to our greatest necessities. For the devil watchfully presses in on us, hoping to find any opening, and if he causes a slight negligence, he ends by producing a great weakness.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The duty of a father’s burial is not prohibited, then, but the observance of religious duty is preferred to the ties of relationship. The one is left to those in the same condition, while the other is commanded to those who are called. But how can the dead bury the dead? You must understand here a twofold death: one is natural death, the other is the death of sin. There is also a third death, by which we die to sin and live to God.

St. John Chrysostom: By saying, their dead, He shows that this man’s father was not, in a sense, his dead, for I suppose that the deceased was one of the unbelieving.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Or, because the throat of the ungodly is an open sepulcher, the memory of those whose services die along with their bodies is ordered to be forgotten. The son is not called away from his duty to his father, but the faithful is separated from the communion of the unbelieving. There is no prohibition of duty here, but a mystery of religion: that we should have no fellowship with the spiritually dead Gentiles.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Alternatively, his father was weighed down by old age, and he thought he was doing an honorable act by proposing to pay the duties owed to him, according to Exodus: Honor your father and your mother. Therefore, when our Lord called him to the ministry of the Gospel, saying, Follow me, he sought a period of delay that would be sufficient for the support of his decrepit father. He said, Permit me first to go and bury my father, not because he was asking to bury a deceased father—for Christ would not have hindered that wish—but he used the word "bury" to mean "support in old age until death."

But the Lord said to him, Let the dead bury their dead. For there were other relatives also bound by the same tie, but I consider them "dead" because they had not yet believed in Christ. Learn from this that our duty to God is to be preferred to our love for our parents, to whom we show reverence because we were born through them. But the God of all brought us into being when we did not yet exist; our parents were merely the instruments of our birth.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Our Lord spoke this to the man to whom He had said, Follow me. But another disciple put himself forward, to whom no one had said anything, saying, I will follow you, O Lord; but let me first go and say farewell to those at home, lest perhaps they look for me as they are accustomed to do.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now this promise is worthy of our admiration and is full of all praise. But his desire to say farewell to those at home and ask their permission shows that he was still somehow divided from the Lord, because he had not yet resolved to make this venture with his whole heart. For wishing to consult relatives, who would not agree to his proposal, reveals that he was somewhat wavering. Therefore, our Lord condemns this, saying, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. He puts his hand to the plough who is eager to follow, yet he looks back who seeks an excuse for delay by returning home to consult with his friends.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is as if He said to him, "The East calls you, and you turn to the West."

The Venerable Bede: To put one’s hand to the plough is also, by the wood and iron of our Lord’s passion (as if by a sharp instrument), to wear away the hardness of our heart and open it to bring forth the fruits of good works. But if anyone, having begun to practice this, delights in looking back to the things he has left behind, like Lot’s wife, he is deprived of the gift of the kingdom to come.

Greek Expositors: For frequently looking at the things we have forsaken draws us back to our past way of life through the force of habit. Practice has great power to retain its hold. Is not habit generated from use, and nature from habit? But to get rid of or change nature is difficult; for although it may turn aside for a while when compelled, it very rapidly returns to what it was.

The Venerable Bede: But if the disciple who was about to follow our Lord is reproved for wishing merely to say farewell at home, what will be done to those who, for no good reason, frequently visit the houses of those they have left behind in the world?