WHO CAN BE JESUS’ DISCIPLE?

Luke 14:25-35 / Keywords 14:27

And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

 

The Cost of Being a Disciple

14:25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

1. Large crowds traveled with Jesus, but how many were his disciples? Turning to address this crowd, Jesus lays out three statements regarding those who cannot be his disciples. This is an invitation we too need to wrestle with in our own relationship with Jesus. Let’s look at each one.

 

2. Jesus says anyone who comes to him and does not hate their family – even their own life – cannot be his disciple. Hate here is to be taken in comparison: we are to love our family, and love others as ourselves, but Jesus is to be first, far above all. This does not produce loss, but rather gain, in terms of our relationships (Mt 19:29).

 

3. Jesus says whoever does not carry their cross and follow him cannot be his disciple. Jesus wants no fair-weather fans. As Bonhoeffer wrote: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

 

4. Jesus says those of us who do not give up all we have cannot be his disciple. This is in the context of counting the cost. While a builder will need to calculate the costs of construction and a king the costs of war, to be Jesus’ disciple will cost our whole being. This is what it means to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind (10:27).

 

Prayer Father, I want to follow Jesus. Help me count the cost, take up my cross, and love him first.

One Word By faith we can be Jesus’ disciple