But Jesus said to him, No one having laid his hand on [the] plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.
A man offers to follow Jesus. He asks only for time to say goodbye at home — an ordinary courtesy, not a refusal. The Lord answers with a picture from the field, and it raises two questions. Why does so small a delay matter? And what does it mean to be "fit for the kingdom of God"?
The Delay That Looked Harmless
His request was the mildest kind of delay. Even so, one writer notes, the Lord will not let it take first place.
Here we have someone who lets the pleasant courtesies of life come "first." It was no serious delay. It was merely paying them ordinary politeness. But the Lord insists on the absolute giving up of every hindrance. If Christianity is anything, it must be everything. It allows no rivals and no delays. It could not be the kingdom of the true God if it tolerated His servants turning aside even a little. Christ is the first and the last. He must be everything to the heart, or through the schemes of the enemy He becomes nothing.
The Picture of the Plough
The picture comes from a farmer working a light hand plough. Everything depends on where his eyes are.
Anyone holding a hand plough must give his whole attention to the work. He keeps his eyes forward, both to make a straight furrow and to keep the plough at an even depth. If someone has no real purpose to follow the path of discipleship steadily and without swerving, he is not fit for the kingdom of God.
Another writer draws the line from the eyes to the feet — the direction of a look becomes the direction of a life.
He would gladly put his hand to the plough — take up service — but his heart was "looking back" to the home, and we go the way we look. How impossible for a worker to plough his furrow while walking one way and looking another. The service of the Lord demands an undivided heart.
When Family Feeling Becomes a Hindrance
The man's problem was not that he loved his family. It was that his heart had not left them. One writer looks under the excuse and finds self at the end of it.
This case shows that those at home were not left behind in his heart. He felt he had to break with them, and yet his heart lingered. … If Christ is not first and last, He will always be last, for faith is not at work. … People may talk about the claims of affection. Yet it is not really family affection alone; what they feel is the end of it that ties back to self.
Writers link the words to Elisha, who was literally ploughing when Elijah called him and asked to kiss his father and mother goodbye (1 Kings 19:19-20).
Now this was most natural, and, as some would say, kind and affectionate. But sadly, pleasantness and natural affection have often kept people from entering the Lord's service as they should.
The same writer is careful to add what the Lord is not saying, and where the power to obey Him comes from.
It is not that the Lord sets aside the mercy of a home on earth, the claims and duties of natural relationships, or the affections that belong to them. He puts His own claims first, and looks for a devotedness that surrenders everything to Him. Only in the light of the glory of Christ in the kingdom of God, and in the power of the grace of Christ, will we be able to refuse our sinful nature in its many forms, the selfishness of our hearts, and the claims of nature.
"Fit" Is Not the Same as "Saved"
The word "fit" alarms many readers. One writer sets this verse beside Colossians 1:12, where the Father "has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." The two belong to different lines of truth.
The first statement — being made fit for the inheritance — is absolute and unconditional. The second — fitness for the kingdom — is strictly conditional. To look back from the plough shows unfitness. The first is the fruit of God's pure and boundless grace. … The second lies wholly in the line of responsibility — holding the plough of service. It depends on faithfulness on our part.
That distinction turns the verse into a healthy warning rather than a threat.
He knows he is running a race. He knows he is weak and easily turned aside, prone to look back and spoil his furrow, and possibly to lose the prize on the coming day. This is all deeply serious, but he has no question about the inheritance. That is settled. … So he seeks grace, in order to be as fit for the kingdom as he has been made fit for the inheritance.
Summary
- Eyes. The gaze guides the plough. A worker who looks back cannot cut a straight furrow, "and we go the way we look."
- First. The man's fault was one word — "first." A small courtesy put first is still a rival, and Christianity "allows no rivals and no delays."
- Heart. He was willing to leave home, but his heart lingered there. Natural affection is not condemned, yet it must not outrank the Lord's claim.
- Fitness. Fitness for the kingdom depends on faithfulness in service. God makes us fit for the inheritance by pure grace, and that is never in doubt.
- Aim. So the verse warns of a spoiled furrow and a lost prize, not a lost inheritance. It calls for the undivided heart that ploughs straight.