No Turning Back

A few thoughts on the Sunday RCL reading, Luke 9:51–62.

There’s a shift in Jesus.
“He set his face toward Jerusalem.” (v. 53)
That one line changes the tone of everything that follows.
The road is no longer meandering. It's headed somewhere now.
To the cross. (Spoiler alert!)

And on the way, people start to say all the right things:
“I’ll follow you wherever you go.” (v. 57)

But Jesus doesn’t soften anything.

Foxes have dens. Birds have nests. I don’t even have a place to crash. (v. 58)
Let the dead bury their own dead. (v. 60)
No one who looks back is fit for the kingdom. (v. 62)

It’s jarring.
It doesn’t feel like “gentle shepherd Jesus.”
But it is deeply honest.

Jesus is saying:
This will cost you something.
There’s no part-time discipleship. No safety plan.
If you’re coming, come. All in. No looking back.

And I don’t know about you, but that hits different when you’ve been driving a while or sitting in a week-long meeting.
Thinking. Emptying.
Wondering about your own commitments and decisions.

I know that within my natural, raw self, there’s something in me that wants to follow Jesus... with conditions.
When it’s convenient.
When I have a better sense of where this road leads.

But Jesus never offers a map. He offers Himself.
And a direction: forward.

This isn’t about hustle or spiritual heroism.
It’s about clarity.

The kingdom isn’t found by looking back to what was, or waiting for perfect conditions.
It’s found in motion. In trust. In saying yes to where Jesus is headed, even if you’re not exactly sure what that means yet.

Don’t stall out waiting for a guarantee.
The Spirit is already on the move.
Just start walking.
Maybe I’ll see you on the road!

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash