Brothers and sisters,
Today we listen to one of the most challenging moments in the Gospel. A moment when Jesus speaks words that sound hard, but only because they reveal the truth about the path of discipleship.
Matthew tells us that Jesus was about to depart—to leave the place where He had been preaching and healing. He was not simply going to the next village. He was beginning a journey that would ultimately lead to Jerusalem, to rejection, to suffering, and to the cross. In other words, Jesus was stepping onto a road that had no return path.
And when one man, a scribe, stepped forward and said,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go,”
Jesus answered with a strange saying:
“Foxes have holes, and birds have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Most people hear this as Jesus saying, “Following Me is uncomfortable; you may not have a home bed to sleep in.”
But Jesus means something far deeper.
Consider the fox and the bird. They leave their home for a while, but they always return. Their movements are cyclical. They go out, and they come back.
But Jesus’ mission is not cyclical.
It is forward only.
Once He leaves this place, He does not return back the same way.
Once He steps onto the road to fulfill His Father’s purpose, there is no turning around.
And so Jesus warns this man—not that he might be tired, not that he might miss a pillow—but that following Him requires leaving behind the life he knew, with no expectation of coming back to it unchanged.
Then another disciple approaches. This one is already committed to Jesus.
He asks, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
In that culture, burying a father was the highest family duty imaginable—sacred, honorable, unquestionable.
Yet Jesus replies:
“Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
These are not words of cruelty. These are words of urgency. Jesus is saying, “If you leave with Me, you cannot return even temporarily to settle old obligations. My mission moves onward, and if you follow Me, your steps must match Mine.”
Taken together, these two encounters teach us one great truth:
To follow Jesus is to take a step from which we should never turn back.
Not because Jesus wants to strip us of comfort,
but because His call is so serious,
His mission so absolute,
His purpose so life-giving,
that once we put our hand to this plow, our hearts must not look over our shoulder.
Jesus does not ask us to follow Him halfway.
He does not ask for occasional loyalty.
He does not ask for disciples who return to old lives whenever the road gets hard.
He invites us into a discipleship that is wholehearted,
single-hearted,
and forward-moving.
And here is the beautiful part:
Jesus Himself walked this path first.
He left the glory of heaven, and there was no returning until the mission was finished.
He had no place to rest His head because He would not rest until He accomplished salvation for us.
He walked a path with no escape, no retreat, no turning back
—because His love for us did not turn back.
So today the question is not simply:
“Will we believe in Jesus?”
but rather:
“Will we follow Him in such a way that our hearts refuse to turn back?”
Will we follow Him when He calls us away from old habits?
From old grudges?
From old fears?
From old ways of living that kept us spiritually asleep?
Will we follow Him even when obedience costs us something?
Even when it means sacrificing comfort?
Even when it demands courage we do not feel?
Jesus is not calling us to a life of homelessness.
He is calling us to a life of holy purpose,
a life where our true home is not behind us,
but ahead of us—in Him.
Let us remember:
The path Jesus calls us to walk is not easy,
but it is the path that leads us to life,
to freedom,
and ultimately back to the Father’s house.
So let us walk with Him.
Let us take the step that does not look back.
And let us trust that wherever this path leads, Jesus walks before us, walks beside us, and prepares our eternal rest at its end.
Amen.