Luke 14:25-35
25 Now large crowds were going along
with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If
anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and
children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My
disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own
cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For
which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and
calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise,
when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it
begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build
and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, when he sets out to
meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is
strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one
coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or
else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for
terms of peace. 33 “So then, none of you can be My
disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 34 “Therefore,
salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be
seasoned? 35 “It is useless either for the soil
or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.”
Discipleship, or following Jesus, is a privilege without compare
but it comes with great responsibility.
Jesus made it very clear that following Him would come at a price. There seems to be a disconnect with many
people when it comes to following Jesus.
When Jesus walked this planet, He ended up on a cross. However, those who follow Him seem to be taken
by surprise any time they are called to face any kind of suffering. This passage makes it clear that a disciple
should never be taken by surprise when they face trials. There are at least three truths about discipleship
that we can learn from this passage.
THE DISCIPLE CARRIES A CROSS: It is significant that this
teaching comes with large crowds gathering around Jesus. Many ministries today are doing anything they
can to attract large crowds. I doubt
many of them are using the message that Jesus gives to this crowd. It is not a very popular thing to tell people
they must hate their parents, children, siblings and their own lives. In a day where self-esteem seems to have
become the most sought after “virtue” this message certainly would not bring in
the crowds. Jesus makes it very clear
that the cross is a reality for any who wish to be a disciple. Clearly, Jesus is not promoting a culture of
hate in His followers; that would contradict His previous and consistent teaching
that His followers are known by their love.
His point is that our love for God must be so strong and unquestioning
that our love for family and self must look like hate by comparison. Our lives can never be more precious than God
and His kingdom. God is on a mission to
be reconciled to with sinful men. The
cross was the necessary instrument for accomplishing that reconciliation. Satan is desperate to keep that reconciliation
from happening, so he will do all in his power to prevent it. Following Jesus means being engaged in this “war”
for the souls of men. Involvement in
this war means carrying a cross.
THE DISCIPLE COUNTS THE COST: This passage has been used to
promote strategic planning, budgeting and establish human resources departments. All those things are important, but they are
not the central teaching of this passage.
Jesus used these illustrations to call His disciples to count the cost
of following Him. His point is that just
as a constructor counts the cost of building a tower and a general counts his
soldiers to make sure he has the means to go to war, a disciple must count the
cost of following Jesus. The cost is
your life. Nothing can be spared. Loving God means a total and complete commitment
to Him, so much so that our view of our own life is to seem like hatred by comparison. Jesus wants His disciples and us to realize
that the proposition to follow Him will be not only life altering but life
threatening. All the disciples died because
of their decision to follow Christ. God’s
mission to reconcile the world is not an easy one or a safe one. Comfort and security are two of the most
important things to must of us. Jesus is
saying that following Him means renouncing those priorities if favor of the
priority of His glory and His kingdom.
That is the cost of discipleship.
The payment is a life with a purpose followed by an eternally rewarded
life. The reward is worth the risk.
THE DISCIPLE CONTINUES THE CAUSE: Perseverance is a vital
aspect of discipleship. It is easy for
us to get caught up in a moment of inspiration or emotion and “take up the cause”
of Christ. Jesus saw multitudes of
people commit to following Him only to have many of them join another multitude
that called for His crucifixion. God
does not call us to a temporary state of devotion, but to a permanent state of commitment
to Christ. He calls us to be the salt of
the earth. Whether Jesus was using salt’s
properties of preservation or promoting flavor is not of vital importance to
understanding the point of the passage.
The point is that the world in which we live is in desperate need of
help. As disciples of Jesus, we have
been equipped to impact this fallen world with hope and help that can rescue it
from this desperate reality. The problem
is that those who start following Jesus don’t always continue to do so. Far too often, the price of following Christ
seems too high and “disciples” decide it is too much and simply quit. When that happens, we become like salt that
has lost its flavor. It is no longer of
use and is thrown out on the pile of dung.
Too often, we think and act like following Jesus is “all about us.” The truth is that following Jesus is all
about Him! He must be the focus of our
affections and His mission must be the purpose of our lives. He is on a mission to reconcile man to
Himself. Participation in that mission
will cost us everything but we must never quit.
We are called to persevere as long as we live to continue the cause of
the cross of Christ.
APPLICATION: Don’t allow your family or your own comfort and
security prevent us from following Christ and fully engaging in His mission. Understand the cost of following Christ is
everything. It is impossible to be a true
disciple of Christ and hold back areas of our lives and service. Discipleship is not a phase in life or a
temporary station; it is a life-long commitment to Christ. God wants us to impact the lives of a lost
and dying world that men might be reconciled to Him.
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