When Elijah threw his cloak over the shoulders of Elisha sweating away as the twelfth ox plowing the field, Elisha asked for time to say good bye to his parents. “Sure, go ahead,” said Elijah. He also took time to butcher 11 oxen and throw a feast for everyone within the region.
However, in Luke 9:57-62 Jesus uses the scene from I Kings 19-21 to address three wanna-be disciples. When Elijah’s life was threatened he ran to a cave on Mt. Horeb, but Jesus didn’t have a cave in which find sanctuary. Foxes and birds had better security than he did. His only nest would be on the tree of cross. His only den would be a tomb, like Elijah God would not let him remain there for long.
To another would –be disciple who wanted to first take care of his father’s funeral and burial Jesus told him that those who are dead like his father could handle the burial. Rather, Jesus directed him to go and proclaim the Kingdom of God which comes with the coming of Jesus who himself will be buried by those who are already dead. The advent of God’s Kingdom in Christ is that life and unburial of all the dead will be won and available to all who follow him.
Finally a third person wants to go home and tell his folks good-bye. Jesus told him that following Him meant there was no looking back. The fields of God’s Kingdom need to be plowed and planted immediately. There was urgency to getting the good news of the Kingdom of God out into the world.
Not everyone was discouraged from following him. Following the incident with the three would-be disciples, he sends out seventy two others, in pairs. Are these the new yokes of oxen that will go into the field of the Lord? They are to go healing the sick and proclaiming ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you.” Though they will face rejection; nevertheless the harvest will be plentiful.
There is something in this text I hadn’t seen before. In 10:1 those he appointed will go “where he himself was about to go.” The proclamation of the kingdom, the plowing of the fields and planting of the seeds are ours to do. But with us and our words comes the Lord of the harvest, even Jesus Christ himself. No where does the good news of Christ go without Christ going there also, either for blessing or for judgment.
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