57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58 And Jesus said unto him^ Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
69 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said. Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60 Jesus said unto him. Let the dead bury their dead : but go thou and preach the kingdom of Grod.
61 And anotiier also said. Lord, I will follow thee : but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62 And Jesus said unto him. No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kii]^dom of God.
The passage of Scripture we have just read is a very remarkable one. It contains three short sayings of peculiar solemnity, addressed by our Lord Jesus Christ to three different persons. We know nothing of the names of those persons. We know nothing of the effect which our Lord's words produced upon them. But we need not doubt that each was addressed in the way which his character required, and we may be sure that the passage is specially intended to promote self inquiry.
The first of these sayings was addressed to one who offered to he a disciple unconditionally , and of Ms otcn accord. "Lord," said this man, "I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." — That offer sounded well. It was a step in advance of many. Thousands of people heard our Lord's sermons who never thought of saying what this man said. Yet he who made this offer was evidently speaking without thought. He had never considered what belonged to discipleship. He had never counted the cost. And hence he needed the grave reply which his offer called forth : — " Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." — ^He mui9t weigh well what he was taking in hand. He must not suppose that Ghzist's