By Randall L. Broad
Read: Joshua 3-4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28
Luke 14:25-33, teaches about the cost of discipleship.
Taking
up the Cross
25A
large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26“If
you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your
father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own
life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27And if you
do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:25-27
The key to this verse is found in the translation ‘by comparison’. Jesus
is not telling us to hate our family or ourselves, but rather to hate the life
of the disbeliever we have lived, and that they live. To be a true disciple of
Christ we must put aside what makes us sinners and often times our natural
inclination is to follow family members down the road of sin. Scripture teaches
us to ‘radically amputate’ that which makes us sinners.
My son will do the things that I do. If he sees me smoking cigarettes,
drinking beer, and wasting my life watching television, he will do the same
when he grows up. What Jesus wants us to do is to hate sin so much we refuse to
participate in the activities of the flesh and follow him in the spirit by
taking up our cross.
Building
the Kingdom of God
28“But don’t begin until you count the cost.
For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the
cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29Otherwise,
you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then
everyone would laugh at you. 30They would say, ‘There’s
the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
Luke 14:28-30
To follow Christ you must be in it for the long haul. Building the
Kingdom of God will not be done in a hurry and it will not be cheap. You must
be willing and able to pay the price. The Lord wants us to know that cost of
following him will be high and it will do no good to fall short in the end.
How many generations have passed since Jesus was crucified? Two thousand
years have passed since He came to prepare the way. Yet there is much work to
still be done. It may take longer than we will live. We may follow Jesus into
death and have to wait for the resurrection.
Be
prepared for the Fight
31“Or
what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with
his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000
soldiers marching against him? 32And if he can’t, he will
send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far
away. 33So you cannot become my disciple without giving
up everything you own.
Luke 14:31-33
Most importantly, Jesus wants us to know that following him we must be
prepared to fight all our lives against the challenges of the enemy. The
challenges to our faith will come from everyone around us. The enemy will
attack using any weakness within us. The Kingdom of God will be won through
spiritual warfare.
Any classic treatise on warfare you read from Sun Tzu to Clausewitz will tell you
that one of the keys to victory is to know your enemy. Jesus tells us we must
understand the cost of the war too, failure to do so will lead to defeat. He
also teaches we will be outnumbered and hated for choosing a way that others
have rejected.
How many of us have made peace with the enemy? People of little faith
cannot make the hard choices when it comes to family. They begin their
Christian walk with such hope but end up like the man who could not finish the
tower and sue for peace.
Jesus knew that much is required to be a follower. He understood
discipleship would require a willingness to give up everything.
Walk
with the Lord …
Ephesians
1:17
(RLB250411)
©
Copyright 2018: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
