Luke 9:46-62

The Test of Greatness

46 ¹An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

47 But Jesus, ²knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side,

48 and said to them, "³Whoever * receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever * receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ⁴for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great."

49 ⁵John answered and said, "⁶Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us."

50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; ⁷for he who is not against you is for you."

51 When the days were approaching for ⁸His ascension, He was determined ⁹to go to Jerusalem;

52 and He sent messengers on ahead * of Him, and they went and entered a village of the ¹⁰Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.

53 But they did not receive Him, ¹¹because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

54 When His disciples ¹²James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to ¹³command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

55 But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of;

56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."] And they went on to another village.

Exacting Discipleship

57 ¹⁴As they were going along the road, ¹⁵someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever * You go."

58 And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but ¹⁶the Son of Man has nowhere * to lay His head."

59 And He said to another, "¹⁷Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."

60 But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and ¹⁸proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."

61 Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but ¹⁹first permit me to say good-bye to those at home."

62 But Jesus said to him, "²⁰No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Cross References

• 1. Luke 9:46-48: {Matthew 18:1-5; Mark 9:33-37;} Luke 22:24
• 2. Matthew 9:4
• 3. Matthew 10:40; Luke 10:16; John 13:20
• 4. Luke 22:26
• 5. Luke 9:49, 50: {Mark 9:38-40}
• 6. Luke 5:5; Luke 9:33
• 7. Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23
• 8. Mark 16:19
• 9. Luke 13:22; Luke 17:11; Luke 18:31; Luke 19:11, 28
• 10. Matthew 10:5; Luke 10:33; Luke 17:16; John 4:4
• 11. John 4:9
• 12. Mark 3:17
• 13. 2 Kings 1:9-16
• 14. Luke 9:51
• 15. Luke 9:57-60: {Matthew 8:19-22}
• 16. Matthew 8:20
• 17. Matthew 8:22
• 18. Matthew 4:23
• 19. 1 Kings 19:20
• 20. Philippians 3:13

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "entered in"
• [b]. Lit "the reasoning;" or "argument"
• [c]. Or "on your side"
• [d]. Lit "taking up"
• [e]. Lit "set His face"
• [f]. Or "prepare"
• [g]. Lit "His face was proceeding toward"
• [h]. Early mss do not contain bracketed portion
• [i]. Or "sky"
• [j]. Or "roosting-places"