For if the Lord had not had such an intention, He would have entered the village of the Samaritans even if they did not want it.

And it came to pass that while they were on the way, a man said to him, Lord! I will follow You wherever You go. Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head. And he said to another, Follow me. He said: Lord! let me go first and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead, and you go and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God." And another said, I will follow Thee, O Lord! but first let me bid farewell to my household. But Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

This one, who came to Jesus and asked permission to follow Him, came with a deceitful thought. Seeing that many people were following the Lord, he thought that the Lord was collecting money from them, and he himself came to the idea that he would make an estate for himself if he followed Jesus. Therefore the Lord rejected him, saying to him as it were: "Thou thinkest by following Me to make for thyself an estate, supposing that such is My life, but in reality it is not so; I teach and preach such poverty that I have no house of Mine, while other animals have holes. And thus rejected him. "And the other, who did not ask, allows him to follow. When this man asked permission to go and bury his father, the Lord did not allow it, but said, "Leave the dead to bury their dead." This hints that his father was an unbeliever and therefore unworthy to be nourished in old age by his son, who believed. Leave it to the relatives of the "dead," that is, the unbelievers, to nourish your unbelieving father in old age and to the grave. For to bury here means to have care until the grave, since even in ordinary conversation we say: so-and-so son buried his father, and by this we do not mean that he buried him and did him no other good, but that he had care for him until his death and burial. So let these dead, that is, the unbelievers, bury their dead, that is, your father. And because you have believed, then, as my disciple, preach the gospel of God. The Lord, having said this, does not forbid us to nourish our parents, but teaches us to prefer reverence to unbelieving parents and not to have any obstacle to virtue, but to despise nature itself. Thus, a man who asked permission to follow Him, but first to pay tribute to his household, He did not allow this, that is, to go to his house and give his due, or, to put it simply, to say goodbye. For such a person reveals in himself an attachment to the world and a lack of apostolic disposition; for the apostles, as soon as they heard the calling from the Lord, immediately followed Him, did nothing else, and even left farewell to their relatives. And it often happens that while a man is bidding farewell to his relatives, there are among them those who keep him from living a godlike life. For no one who takes up the spiritual plough and looks back at the world is capable of the Kingdom of Heaven. — By "foxes" understand the evil demons; they are also called birds of the air, that is, birds of the air; for it is said: "by the will of the prince who dominates the air" (Eph. 2:2). Thus, the Lord says to the man mentioned: since the demons have holes in you, I, the Son of Man, have no place to lay my head, that is, in your heart full of demons, I see no place for faith in Me. For the head of Christ is faith in Him. Whoever believes that Christ is God receives the head of Christ. But the sinner is dead; He also buries his dead, that is, evil thoughts, by not confessing them. Thus, the Lord forbids those who intend to be His followers to bury evil thoughts and hide them, but commands them to be discovered through confession.

Chapter Ten

After this, the Lord chose the other seventy [disciples] and sent them two by two before His face to every city and place where He Himself wanted to go, and said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send laborers into His harvest. You go! I send you as lambs among wolves.

In the book of Exodus it is written: "And they came to Elim; there were twelve springs of water and seventy date trees" (Exodus 15:27). What happened then historically and figuratively has now come true in reality. Elim means ascent. This means nothing else than that we, ascending to the most perfect understanding and spiritual maturity, and not stopping at the Law, as the Jews do, but flowing into Christianity, shall find twelve sources, that is, the twelve chief apostles, who are the sources of all sweetest teaching. We will also find seventy date stalks, that is, (seventy) apostles. They are not called springs, but dates, as being brought up and guided by the apostles (supreme). For although Christ chose these seventy apostles, they were inferior to the twelve, and afterwards were their disciples and companions. And so, these dates were nourished from the springs, that is, from the apostles, and they brought us a fruit sweet and at the same time moderately sour. The teaching of the saints is indeed this: it does not entirely delight and caress, and does not entirely constrain and amaze, but combines both properties, and is truly seasoned with salt and united with grace, just as the Apostle Paul exclaims: "Let your word always be with grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6). The Lord chooses "seventy" disciples because of the multitude of those who need teaching. For as fields with a good harvest require many reapers, so for the believers, since they were innumerable, there was a need of many teachers. "The Lord sends them "two by two" so that they would be safer and help each other. They walked before Him, that is, like John, they taught: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Matt. 3:3). Notice how He said before, "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers," and then He Himself sends them by His own authority. For He, as the true God, is truly the Lord of the harvest, that is, of the believers. He tells them beforehand of persecution, and that they will be like lambs among wolves, so that these, having attacked them unexpectedly, may not trouble them with their suddenness.

Do not take any bag, bag, or shoes, and do not greet anyone on the road. Into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house; And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him, and if not, it shall return to you. In that house you shall remain, eat and drink what they have, for the laborer is worthy of the reward of his labors; Do not move from house to house. And if you come to any city and receive you, eat what is offered to you, and heal the sick who are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God is at hand with you.