Luke 9:62 Meaning of No One Who Puts a Hand to the Plow

Luke 9:62
“Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”

Explanation and Commentary of Luke 9:62

Jesus was apt to explain that those who considered being his disciples would be prudent to count the cost first (Lk 4:28) because there was no going back once one stepped onto his path, that it was better to have not undertaken the journey at all than to start and then quit. This statement in Luke 9 comes after a section in which Jesus is addressing several who had made excuses as to why they must delay following Jesus.

When we “put our hand to the plow” we must be ready for a lifetime of relationship with Christ, and following Christ. He has our life of service and transformation planned out from start to finish, and he is glad when we do put our hand on the plow, but let us not become like those seeds thrown on shallow or rocky soil who at once seem to rejoice in Christ, only to fall away when it becomes a struggle or we get bored with it.

We are promised in Scripture that because God has given us his Holy Spirit, we are sealed for the day of the redemption. But those who are given the Holy Spirit of perseverance look very similar to those who get excited about God at first in the natural realm but have no staying power. It behooves even the confident believer to pray always for perseverance and the grace of God to continue with him, that they may finish the race and win the prize (Acts 20:24).

Breaking Down the Key Parts of Luke 9:62

#1 “Jesus replied,”
The statement to which Jesus is replying is, “I will follow you Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

#2 “‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back…”
It could be Jesus is saying that if he goes back to “say goodbye” to his family that he will have second thoughts and bring judgment on himself. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with bidding farewell to one’s family, but Jesus discerns in all these excuses a halfhearted attempt to follow him without laying down their life in a way necessary to truly receive the Kingdom of God.

#3 “…is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Being “fit for service” in God’s kingdom is to live utterly in the alternate reality that is the rule and reign of Christ in the midst of the current dominion of darkness on the earth. It is to be in the world, but radically not of it. Jesus commands not just loyalty to himself, but a whole new kind of existence.

Bible Study on Luke 9:62

Expert Overview of Luke Ch. 1-9

Biblical Translations of Luke 9:62

NIV
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

NLT
But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

ESV
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

KJV
And Jesus said unto him, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

NKJV
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”