Not everyone who accompanied Jesus was truly His disciple.
A disciple is one who lives life according to Jesus’ teachings
and who tries to follow in Jesus’ steps (John 8:31; I Peter
2:21). Sometimes, Jesus would thin out the crowds that followed
Him by preaching lessons that were very demanding. One such
situation is found in Luke chapter 14, verses 25-33. We shall
begin by reading verses 25-27.
| Now great multitudes were going
along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “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.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me
cannot be my disciple.” |
It seems quite strange to hear
Jesus say that we should “Hate” someone. Especially since He so
often taught about the importance of Love. Jesus taught that
“you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Is
He now teaching that we should hate our neighbors and hate
ourselves? He taught that you should even “love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you ...” (Matthew 5:44). How
can He now say to “Hate” father and mother and wife and
children?
It is generally believed that Jesus is here making a
comparison between the extent of our love toward Him and that of
our love toward anyone else. In other words, if we were to
compare our loyalty to Jesus with that of our loyalty to someone
else, it would seem as though we actually hated the someone
else. If it came to a choice between obeying father and mother
and obeying Christ, we would have to choose Christ. If we had to
choose between pleasing wife and children or pleasing Christ, we
must choose Christ. In saying this, Jesus is defining what
discipleship is all about; he is making it clear that He must be
NUMBER ONE in our lives if we are to be His disciples. This is
the cost of discipleship.
In verses 28-30, Jesus points out that the Cost must be
calculated before a construction project is begun. He stresses
the embarrassment one would feel if the project had to be
scrapped because of lack of funds. Jesus does not want us to be
embarrassed because we underestimated the cost of discipleship.
He does not want us to begin then quit because we did not
understand that it would be so demanding.
In verses 31 and 32 Jesus gives another example, this time
of a king whose army is not possibly able to be victorious over
another king’s larger force. It would not be advisable to engage
in battle under such circumstances, but to arrange terms of
peace. Likewise, we must count the cost of discipleship before
engaging therein.
Jesus summed up these thoughts in verse 33 by saying, “So
therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up
all his own possessions.” These are amazing demands! There can
be no THING which is more important to us than Jesus. There can
be no PERSON who can come before Jesus in our lives. As we hear
these incredible demands and come to understand the cost of
discipleship, we find ourselves wondering, “Just who is this
Jesus that He can make these demands on my life?” That is a good
question, and one we shall answer in "WHO IS JESUS?".
| Bible
Probe |
THE COST OF
FOLLOWING JESUS |
102
|
1. From Luke 14:25-33, explain what you believe the cost of
discipleship involves.
2. What would your friends and family think if you suddenly
began to put the wishes of Christ ahead of theirs?
3. Why do you think a person should count the cost of
discipleship before making the commitment?
4. Since disciples of Jesus meet to remember Him on the first
day of the week -- what kind of allurements might tempt you to
forsake that assembly? (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25)
5. Can a disciple of Jesus allow any person or any thing to be
more important to him/her than Jesus?
6. Are you interested in being a disciple of Jesus?
Your Bible questions answered here.