Matt 8:18-22	Luke 9:57-62	Thom 86
19 And one scholar	57 As they
came up	were going
	along the road,
and said to him:	someone said to him,
"Teacher,
I'll follow you	"I'll follow you
wherever you go."	wherever you go."
20 And Jesus says	58 And Jesus said	1 Jesus said:
to him:	to him:
"Foxes have dens	"Foxes have dens	"[Foxes have] their dens
and birds of the air	and birds of the air	and birds
have nests,	have nests,	have their nests,
but the son of Man *	but the son of Man *	but the son of Man *
has nowhere	has nowhere	has no place
to rest his head."	to rest his head."	to lie down and rest."
21 Another	59 To another he said,
of his disciples	"Follow me."
said to him,	But he said,
"Master,
first, let me go	"First, let me go
and bury my father."	and bury my father."
22 But Jesus says	60 Jesus said
to him,	to him,
"Follow me ,and	[see Luke 9:59 above]
leave it to the dead	"Leave it to the dead
to bury	to bury
their own dead."	their own dead;
	but you go out
	and announce
	the empire of God."
	61Another said,
	"I'll follow you sir; but
	let me first say good-bye
	to my people at home."
	62 Jesus said to him,
	"No one
	who puts his hand
	to the plow
	and looks back,
	is qualified
	for the empire of God."

* Greek: ὁ ὕιος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (lit: "the son of the human")

Function

This cluster serves as a transition. The next major speech in Q contains mission instructions (Luke 10:2-12//Matt 10:7-16), which pick up two motifs in the previous cluster (Luke 7:18-35//Matt 11:2-19): disciples and proclamation of God's reign. But the disciples there belong to John, whose mission and lifestyle were contrasted with Jesus'. This cluster of chreiae changes the focus to Jesus' own disciples, gives hints of what this commitment involves and ties the passages before and after closer together.

Composition

Brief dialogues between Jesus and potential disciples are linked by the word "follow." The isolated version of one of them in Thom 86 indicates that the compiler of Q probably created this sequence. Matthew reports two incidents, Luke three. The first involves a volunteer; the second, a recruit. The third in Luke could be either. The third candidate's request to bid family farewell echoes Elisha's response to Elijah: "I'll kiss my father and follow after you" (1 Kings 19:19). This story of Elijah's successor may have provided Q with the idea for the motif of following. After all, John was identified as Elijah in the previous cluster (see Luke 7:27). But the source of Luke 9:61-62 is not certain, since Matthew has no parallel.

Content

Each incident has just enough narrative to set up a saying of Jesus. The outcome of each encounter is left in suspense, challenging the listener to supply the appropriate response. This style of reporting shows that the narrator is less concerned with the actual origin of a saying than with its affect upon the current audience. The sayings themselves do not depend on their Q context, since Thom 86 presents the first without it.

Luke 9:58//Matt 8:20, the most debated of the three, concerns shelter. The contrast between common wildlife and "the son of Man" indicates that the latter term refers to humans in general (see cameo essay on "the son of Man"). But humans usually have more stable shelters than wild animals. Here the human has none. Instead, there is only the prospect of a permanent unsettled existence.

Luke 9:60//Matt 8:22 concerns social obligations. A dead person needs immediate attention, particularly in hot climates. Burial is normally the responsibility of the next of kin. This saying not only imagines the impossible, it flies in the face of duty.

Luke 9:62 concerns competence for a task. Plowing normally requires one to look back to keep the furrows straight. But here "look back" is a pun. In the OT Lot's wife dies because of concern for what she left behind (Gen 19:24-26). This theme is linked to the reference to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah at the conclusion of Q's next cluster, Jesus' mission instructions (Luke 10:12). Like that passage, this verse is concerned with the reign of God (see Luke 10:9-11). The metaphor of plowing may also refer to the OT, since that is what Elisha was doing when Elijah identified him as his successor (see Composition above).

Attribution

Foxes have dens	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 9:58 Matt 8:20 Thom 86		56 56 36	22 22 39	9 9 12	13 13 12	74 74 67	pink pink pink
Leave the dead
Luke 9:59-60 Matt 8:22		44 44	30 28	13 22	13 6	69 70	pink pink
Looking back
Luke 9:62		0	19	26	55	21	black

Each of these sayings presents a short provocative comment in vivid images. Each contradicts common sense enough to make it paradoxical. But each is peculiar for a different reason.

Luke 9:62 is the least likely to be an independent aphorism. Its complex echoes of Jewish scripture and surrounding Q passages make it obviously artificial. A warning against turning back is better addressed to those who have already joined a group than to a recruit. If Q did not create it, then Luke probably did.

On the other hand, all but a fourth of the Fellows agreed that the other two sayings can be traced to Jesus.  Both challenge common opinion and practical social standards to such an extent that they are not likely to have been used as norms by later Christians. Taken literally the images are disturbing, but like other Jesus sayings they display a freedom from attachments.

Luke 9:58//Matt 8:20 was reviewed by the Fellows several times. The fact that Plutarch (Vita Grac. 9.828c) cites a similar contrast between homeless humans and sheltered animals bothered some, while the mention of "the son of Man" seemed inappropriate here to others. But it is hardly a common proverb. And Q and Thomas present almost identical versions in different contexts. In the end, it fell just shy of being cast red.*

Luke 9:60//Matt 8:22 is even more disturbing, especially in the context of a tradition-bound family oriented culture. But Q is the only source. And both Matthew and Luke make minor editorial additions. So fewer Fellows were confident that either version preserved Jesus' actual words. Nevertheless, the majority of the seminar thought it is unlikely that any early Christian would have credited such a jarring injunction to Jesus had he not said something like this.

[*Note: For more on this saying see this author's article "No Place for the Son of Man."]