Lenten “In and Out” Series – Part 5“Read the Fine Print”

Luke 9:57–62 | March 22, 2026

We only have a few more weeks in our sermon series titled “In and Out.” In this series, we are looking at and studying people who were all in with Jesus, then they decided to get out and away from Jesus, and yes, some of them came back and got back in with Jesus. Sometimes we just have some doubts, don’t we?

John the Baptist did. The guy that Jesus said, “born of a woman,” no one was greater than John the Baptist. But, when his circumstances changed, and he was arrested and sentenced to death, he sent word to Jesus asking Him, “Was He the One or was someone else coming?”

The big crowds that were following Jesus – you know, the crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children that Jesus fed. After Jesus told them that to have eternal life, they would need to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, the scriptures tell us that most all decided to get out!

The rich young ruler comes to Jesus; he wants to be in the circle! He wants to be a follower of Jesus! Jesus tells him go, sell, give, and follow Me. The guy could not do it and walked away from Jesus. The lost son; he was in, got out later, decided he would ask if he could get back in, and the answer was yes! This is what you must know about being all in for Jesus! It is easier than you think, more difficult than you can imagine, and gives greater rewards than you could ever dream of.

In Luke Chapter 9, Jesus has made a concrete and definite decision to head to the cross of Calvary. Luke records it this way:

“His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.”Luke 9:53 (NKJV)

Also, by this time, Jesus had gained several other folks following along with Him. He is still drawing big crowds; He is still popular because of His miracles.

Luke tells us that as they journeyed on the road, a guy speaks up (Matthew tells us the guy is a teacher of the law) and says,

“Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”Luke 9:57 (NKJV)

We can say this statement was a statement of being ALL IN!

This guy just gave Jesus a blank check, signed it, and told Jesus to fill it in. Come on! Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus and get to see the miracles?

You go to a funeral and the dead come back to life! Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus and get a free meal, all you want to eat, and leftovers? Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus, go to a wedding, and have him turn the water into wine, and it is the best wine ever made on Earth? Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus, who forgives us of all of our sins, and restores us to the Father so that when we die, we go to Heaven?

Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus? Come on, He walks on water, cleanses the lepers, and to top it off, he makes all the self-righteous church leaders look like–well–dumb! Why do you think this guy said,

“Lord, I will follow You wherever You go?”Luke 9:57 (NKJV)

Think about it: Jesus is popular, Jesus is powerful, and Jesus has provisions! I am good with that, all in.

Jesus probably stops everyone at this point. Why? Jesus understood that to follow Him because of popularity was a problem. Jesus understood that to follow Him because of His power and authority was also a problem. Jesus understood that to follow Him because of the provisions He provides was also a problem.

How many of you have ever received in the mail a letter from the Publisher’s Clearing House stating that you have won one million dollars? Not so long ago, every year, people would get a letter stating, “You have won a million dollars!” In the marketing world, you do your best to capture attention and put a positive spin on things. You put the details down low and in fine print. Come on, you send a letter out saying in bold words you have almost WON! No one is signing up for that! Because when you read the bold print, you will learn there is more to it than the headlines.

And here we are. Jesus is now about to give us the fine print as to what it means to be all in.

1. Commitment to Jesus over the comforts of the world

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’”Luke 9:58 (NKJV)

When you join the army, you commit and submit to the authority over you. You can't choose where you want to go, and you can’t pick and choose what orders are given to you. It is a commitment!

Many times, when we are all in, Jesus will ask us to give more than we want to! Jesus will ask us to serve more than we want to. Jesus will ask us to volunteer more than we want to. Jesus will ask us to love more than we want to. Jesus will ask us to bypass the comforts of this life in order to be fully committed to HIM!

Read the fine print! It's there!

The scribe who asked the question must have been thinking to himself, “That wasn’t the answer I was looking for! So, Jesus looks into the eyes of another standing with them, and this guy hasn’t said anything, and Jesus says,

“Follow Me.”Luke 9:59

Jesus is now showing us that sometimes being all in means:

2. Obedience to Jesus over obligations in life

Jesus says to this guy, “Follow Me.” This guy is trying to figure out what to say because of what Jesus had just said to the other guy, and he says to Jesus, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

That’s fair enough. Yes? The problem is, his father is not dead! And when he dies, there is a year-long process that follows. For Jews, the burial of the dead was a religious duty that took precedence over everything. This was a religious obligation to the family!

The Bible teaches that we should care for our elderly parents. The fifth commandment enjoins us to honor our father and mother. Paul states that if we do not take care of our own families, we are worse than unbelievers and have denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8). Certainly, Jesus was not negating the Ten Commandments. He came to fulfill the Law, not to abolish it (Matthew 5:17).

But is it possible to choose family obligations in life over obedience to Jesus?

Jesus says to the guy,“Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the Kingdom of God.”

How in the world can dead people bury dead people? They can’t and they won’t! There must be a deeper meaning! Jesus is referring to those who are spiritually dead. Many commentators say that Jesus is saying to let the spiritually dead people who are alive physically bury those who have physically died and come and follow Me! Let me ask you again. Is it possible to choose family obligations in life over obedience to Jesus? Reading the fine print to be all in for Jesus is to choose obedience to Jesus over obligations in your life.

Then we have another guy that is feeling good about himself, and he speaks up among the crowd and says,“Lord I will follow you.” (Luke 9:61)

“BUT…”

If you are Jesus and this guy says, “Lord I will follow you, but…” you are asking the “But what?”

“Lord, I will follow You, but You must know I’m not going to read my Bible every day.”“Lord, I will follow You, but You must know I don’t like Sunday School and probably will not go!”“Lord, I will follow You, but I am not going to tithe until I get all my bills paid off.”“Lord, I will follow You, but we have a lot of activities with the family, and I can’t miss any of the activities, so I probably will miss lots of Sunday worship.”“Lord, I will follow You, but You must know I probably will not stop drinking, although I drink too much.”“Lord, I will follow You, but You must know I’m not going to share the GOOD NEWS with anyone; that’s the preacher's job.”

“Lord, I will follow You but let me first go and bid them farewell to those who are at my house.”Luke 9:61 (NKJV)

So Jesus says to the guy,“Ok, we will wait right here for you to go home and say your goodbyes, no problem, that is very reasonable; after all, you have lots of folks at your house!”

Do you think we can follow Christ with all our heart if we put conditions as to how we will follow Him? Sometimes being all in means:

3. Discipleship to Jesus is demanding

Jesus is now in the full fine print explanation. He is not letting up!

Jesus said to him,“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”Luke 9:62 (NKJV)

WOW! I didn’t see that in the fine print! Discipleship to Jesus is demanding. What does that mean?

Delays are Dangerous

When Jesus called me into the ministry, it took me over a year to follow Him! I was doing most everything I could do to delay following Him! What He taught me was this: Sometimes being all in means much like the second guy in our text; he is delaying what the Lord Jesus is asking him to do. He wants to run back home for a while. How many of you are delaying what God is calling you to do?How many of you are delaying what God is calling you to stop doing?

Looking forward and not looking back

Before tractors had GPS guided direction, if you wanted to make a straight line in a field, you looked to the opposite end of the field. You picked out an object such as a tree or fence post.As you plow in that direction, you never take your eyes off the object that you are going to at the other end of the field. When you get there, it’s a straight line, but you don’t look back, because if you look back many times, you will weave in one direction or the other, making the rows crooked and not straight.

Jesus tells this guy,“Don’t look back, don’t go back, follow ME!”

Final Truth

This is what you must know! To be all in for Jesus is way more than a prayer of making Jesus your Lord and Savior. It is a lifestyle that is completely filled with commitment, obedience, and discipleship! It’s in the fine print!

It is easier than you think, more difficult than you can imagine. However, the rewards are greater than you could ever dream of.