When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side. A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." Another of (his) disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." (Mt 8:18-22)
Jesus had many followers. His followers came from any section of the society. There were not merely from the poorer section of the society alone. Here we find a scribe wanting to follow Jesus. Scribes were one of the groups that questioned Jesus on many issues and they were considered to be opposed to him. Here we see one of them wanting to be his follower. Jesus had followers from among the scribes, Pharisees, tax collectors and so on. Followers could be anyone. It is open to all.
There are followers and followers are there for any leader. What is important is whom they follow and what they expect from the leader. Jesus clearly tells his would be followers what they should expect in turn. Scribe was ready to go wherever Jesus wanted him to go to. Jesus says that that he had no where to go to. Destiny is not a place. Following does not presuppose a place or a destiny or let us say a future. Following here would mean following the person Jesus.
Following of Jesus also does not think of the past. One does not need to look into the past and he should not even be worried about his father (his human origin). He should not think of the past and the future. Following requires ones commitment to the person of Jesus and the present.
