Could Have Been heroes
The Bible is full of heroic men and women who are examples of courage, loyalty, and sacrifice. Heroes like Joseph, Moses, David, Esther, Deborah, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and John provide inspiration for us today. They show what’s possible when we live lives surrendered to God and empowered by His strength, mercy, and Spirit. But their example as well as that of many others is not the only example we see in Scripture. I’m thinking of those whose names are never mentioned. More specifically, I’m thinking of three guys who are simply referred to in Holy Writ as “someone,” “another,” and “yet another.”
We read about these three men in Luke 9:57–62 (ESV):
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom.”
I call these dudes could-have-been heroes because Jesus gave them each an opportunity to become significant followers. Each one could have responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him the same way Peter and John did. Each could have followed Jesus like Mary and Martha did. When the could-have-been heroes saw a particular price tag to follow Jesus, however, they didn’t choose to pay the price. They doubled down on the things that were significant and important to themselves and not what was important to Jesus.
Unwilling to Pay the Price
We aren’t told specifically in the Luke 9 passage or its parallel in Matthew 8:18–22 that these men walked away from Jesus that day. We can, though, infer from Jesus’ responses to them that they would have a problem paying the respective price Jesus put before them. Remember Jesus knew what was in the hearts of men and women (see John 2:25). His response to their statements tells us the respective impediment to someone’s, another’s, and yet another’s following Him. He knew these to be common costs even self-avowed followers could be unwilling to pay.
Someone’s price was not having a place to sleep, which represents comfort in life. Jesus told the first guy that he would have to live as a sojourner without a home. Someone needed to see that Jesus would be His comfort—that embracing the comforts of this world would make him adapt to the culture of this world.
Another’s cost was going home to bury his father, which represents more than handling his dad’s funeral. Another was talking about being responsible for handling not only the arrangements involved after his father’s death, but the financial and physical inheritance he would receive. Another wanted Jesus and his father’s inheritance. It would have been inconvenient for this man to forsake his inheritance of wealth, maybe even his reputation or business to follow Jesus and “go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And yet another’s cost was saying goodbye to his family. Yet another’s number one concern was he wanted to go home and make sure those closest to him approved his decision. He didn’t want to reap the consequences of not having received his family’s approval or bear under the fallout of their opinions of His following Jesus without having honored them first.
True Heroes Pay the Price
Each could-have-been hero was unwilling to pay the price that all the other heroic men and women listed in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11 paid. The real heroes of the faith, the true followers of Christ, are willing to sacrificially obey when their wills and their desires go against the will and desire of God. True followers lay down their lives in radical obedience to the Father. They go where He sends them, they do what He tells them, and they love how He loves them. What about you? If you were to tell Jesus today, “I’ll follow You wherever You go,” what would His response be to you?
Friend, you don’t want to be a pronoun that someone reads about a hundred years from now, an example of a could-have-been. No, you want to be listed—to be named—among the true heroes of the faith, among those “who through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, … were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:33–34 ESV).
