The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-35
Does the prize you win worth the price you pay?
To truly follow Jesus Christ, we must consider the cost and put Him above everything else.
Salvation is both absolutely free and yet it costs you your very life. You receive it freely as a gift from the Lord, but once you receive it, you have just committed everything you are and have to Jesus Christ. You may protest, “That’s a contradiction! How can something be both free and costly at the same time?”
Jesus Christ freely offers the water of life to everyone who thirsts. But, we need to understand that when we receive His free offer, we are no longer our own; we have been bought with a price. Thus, to truly follow Christ, we must consider the cost and not begin to follow Him superficially, only to turn back later when things get tough. That is what Jesus warns against in our text.
At the outset I need to point out that there are many who draw a sharp distinction between salvation and discipleship. Salvation, they say, is God’s free gift, but discipleship is costly. They would also say that while every believer ought to pursue discipleship, it is not linked to saving faith. In other words, there are some who are truly saved, but who never commit themselves to being disciples. They say that it is possible to receive Jesus as Savior, but there is no need to follow Him as Lord.
I cannot find any basis for such teaching in the New Testament, and I can find many Scriptures to refute such teaching. To believe in Jesus Christ as Savior necessarily entails following Him as Lord. Salvation is not just a decision that a man makes, but it is the mighty power of God in raising a dead soul to eternal life.
If a person claims to be a believer, but he isn’t seeking to grow in obedience to Christ, he is fooling himself. In Paul’s words, “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16).
Thus it is possible to follow Christ superficially and it is to such followers that Jesus lays out the cost of discipleship. He knows that the battle will be intense and He doesn’t want to recruit anyone under false pretenses.
Verse 25 is crucial for interpreting our text today. “Great multitudes were going along with Him.” Almost every pastor would love to have that kind of congregation Why because we measure success by numbers.
But Jesus was different. Large crowds did not fool Him. He knew that many were following Him for selfish or superficial reasons. It was the exciting thing to do. Maybe you or someone you knew would be healed. But Jesus was not a false recruiter. He wanted to weed out those who followed Him for superficial reasons. So He turned to the great multitude and laid out these demands of discipleship.
Jesus first lays out two of the costs of discipleship (14:26-27); then, He gives two parables (14:28-32) that make the same overall point, namely, that a person must give careful consideration to the cost before he rashly jumps into any project. Then He states a third cost of discipleship (14:34-35) . He concludes by warning, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
We do not know exactly where Jesus was, but we assume that He was continuing to press on toward Jerusalem (cf. 9:51; 13:22). The Pharisees, who were in focus around the dinner table in the previous section (14:1-24), are now left behind, and the focus is on a large crowd of people following our Lord as He traveled. Maybe these people knew who Jesus was, but did not understand the rigors of discipleship. And I am inclined to think of these people as merely curious caught up by Jesus, His miracles, and His teaching. They hardly realized, in my opinion, that they were following Him.
Our Lord cites two illustrations of those who commenced a project without counting the cost . The first is that of a man who purposes to build a tower, but did not calculate the total cost, and so the tower was never finished. This “unfinished tower” became a monument to this man’s folly. What the man thought would bring him fame, brought him shame.
The second illustration is that of a king, who goes to war against another king, but without calculating whether or not he had the manpower to win. Because he was outnumbered two-to-one, he had to humble himself and surrender to his enemy, entirely at his mercy. Again, he was put to shame because he commenced without counting the cost.
In thinking about both of these illustrations, I believe that what they have in common is the key to understanding what our Lord meant to teach us by using them:
(1) Both the builder and the king committed themselves to a course of action without having counted the cost.
(2) Both the builder and the king discovered, after they committed themselves to a course of action, that they did not have the resources to complete what they had started.
(3) Both the builder and the king failed to finish, and ended in humiliation and shame.
(4) In both instances, the builder and the king should have sat down and reflected, rather than acting quickly.
Noting these common characteristics, let us now consider what Jesus wanted His listeners to learn. What was Jesus trying to say, especially to these crowds, who were following along after Him?
As we look at the costs that Jesus spells out, think with me for a moment about the phrases, “sit down and calculate the cost,” referring to the man building the tower (14:28); and, “sit down and take counsel,” referring to the king considering going to war (14:31). Both refer to careful, detailed, rational thinking in which you consider all aspects of what you’re getting into before you make the commitment. Such careful thinking is opposed to an impulsive decision made in a moment of intense emotion, without much thought of the consequences.
Coming to our text in verse 26 "If anyone comes to Me and doesn’t hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yea, 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." In verse 33, "So, therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who doesn’t give up all his own possessions."
We note that in ancient times, the term “hate” was frequently employed idiomatically to denote simply the preference of one thing over another. For example, in Genesis 29:31 it is said that Jacob “hated” his wife Leah, and yet, the context makes it very clear that he merely loved his other wife Rachel “more than” Leah (v. 30).
Accordingly, when Jesus demands that we must hate our family members, He is not suggesting that we must literally have ill feelings for them. Rather, the Lord is stressing that we must love Him more than all others, even those dearest to us. This is borne out by a comparison of Luke 14:26 with a parallel in Matthew 10:37, where Christ declares: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me ...”
How can Jesus, who teaches us to love our neighbor as ourself, turn around and instruct us to hate our closest family members? This is the question in every heart that hears these words.
Jesus is using hyperbole, an overstatement in order to make a point with maximum impact. Jesus used this before in His teaching style.
Cutting off one's hand (Matthew 5:29-30)
A camel passing through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24)
Accepting violence and robbery without resistance (6:29)
A timber in one's eye (Luke 6:41-42)
Jesus says to the crowds traveling with him: Unless you place me as the first priority, over every other priority in your life, you can't be my disciples
Jesus clearly asserts His absolute supremacy and authority in these verses! What mere man could rightly claim that everyone must hate their closest family members in comparison to their love for him? We would rightly call such a man a cult leader, unless He was God in human flesh! What man could tell his followers to follow him into death? Jim Jones did and he was rightly labeled a lunatic. But Jesus Christ could do it because He is God! What man could tell people to give up all their possessions for His sake? Some modern cults require that of their followers and we rightly label them as false. But Jesus could do so with authority because He is the Lord. He alone deserves to be first above everything else in all of our lives because He is the Lord God who willingly offered Himself on the cross for our sins!
Jesus’ words here are tough and sobering! Is He the Lord of your plans, your thoughts, and of all that you do? Or, could you selfishly be clinging to your plans, to your way, instead of seeking to please Him in all things, beginning with every thought that you entertain? If you don’t hate your own life and daily carry your cross, you’re not His disciple.
Is He Lord of your finances and possessions? Are you faithful in managing these things for His purposes? Do you give generously and faithfully to His work? Or, could the love of money be choking out the Word in your life?
If we make a profession of following Christ, but then go back on our commitment, people will ridicule us as they would mock a man who started to build a tower but couldn’t complete it: “He claimed that he became a Christian, but look at him now! Some Christian he is!” Or, we will face the damaging effects of being defeated by the enemy because we did not consider the intensity of the battle we were facing. Satan loves it when a Christian’s testimony is ruined because he did not consider the demands of following Christ in this evil world.
Jesus uses a third illustration to show the cost of not following Him, that of salt that has become tasteless. The salt in Jesus’ day was often corrupted with other substances. If moisture hit the salt, it would evaporate and leave behind these other impure minerals, so that the salt lost its saltiness. It was worthless for any useful purpose and had to be thrown away. Jesus is saying that if a follower of His doesn’t live as he should live, he is useless to God. Whether Jesus is referring to a false believer or to a true believer who has compromised his beliefs we do not know.
The point is, follow Jesus Christ by putting Him above everything else in life so that you are useful to God.
"And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." (14:27)
In the same way, any of you who do not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (14:31-33)
What does it mean to give up everything? The Greek word is apotasso, “‘say farewell (to), take leave (of).' Figuratively, 'renounce, give up.' “We see this attitude personified in some famous disciples:
• Peter, James, and John leave their nets (5:11).
• Levi leaves his lucrative tax collecting business (5:27-28).
• Zacchaeus gives half his fortune to the poor (19:8).
• The Rich Young Ruler is unwilling to renounce his wealth and follow, and goes sadly away (18:22).
How extreme is this? Verse 27, "Whoever doesn't carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Here is the sustained following even to the cross and the cross is simply a symbol of death, martyrdom. . He who does not cannot be My disciple. He cannot be – this is absolute. Because why? This is so valuable. The pearl is so precious (Matt 13:46) and the treasure is so rich (Matt. 13:44) that you should give up your all to gain the eternal life.
And anybody, by the way, who was crucified, would carry their cross to execution as someone who was being deemed as one going on a one-way-trip. There is no coming back. Discipleship has the highest cost. Our Lord made it clear. He never held it back. Don't come to Christ and say, I want to be saved but I'm not giving up my homosexuality. I'm not giving up my adultery. I'm not giving up my fornication. I'm not giving up this. I'm not giving up that. It's the end of you. That's the bottom line.
"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Jesus' final saying discusses salt. Salt was considered an essential of life. It was used for both flavoring and preservation. We're used to purchasing refined salt off the store shelf. In Jesus' day salt was obtained from evaporation from the Dead Sea, but it was far from pure. It was often mixed with greater or lesser concentrations of other salts. It is possible for all the Sodium Chloride to be leached out of a mixture of salts so all that is left is useless.
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
This explains why Jesus discouraged a large following. The key to the impact of His disciples is not their large number, but their distinctiveness. Very little salt is required to season a large quantity of food because salt has a very distinct flavor. When salt loses its distinctness, it loses its value. Great quantities of salt do not make up for its loss of saltiness.
Likewise great numbers of disciples do not guarantee great impact. It is not the sheer number of disciples that matters, but it is their distinctness, their utter different- ness from the world. The world will take little note of a large group of people who think, feel, and act like them. The world will take note of a very few “disciples” who are Christ-like, whose lives are distinctive.
This is, I believe, our Lord’s view of discipleship, but I fear that it is not the thinking of many Christians, or even of Christian leaders. I fear that the reason is due to the fact that we view discipleship through the “political model,” rather than the “biblical model.” The political model holds that given enough votes, anyone can be elected and any law can be passed. The political model finds its power in numbers and popularity, and thus numbers are the major consideration. In the biblical model, it matters not that only one prophet speaks. What matters is that this one prophet speaks for God. Joseph, Daniel, Nathan were effective because God empowered them and spoke through them.
When we recognize that power and impact does not come through the number of disciples, but through their dependence upon God and their distinctive lifestyles, then we understand why Jesus did not seek a large following.
The final verse, “Let him who has ears, …” is one that is found several times in the gospels. It always is used in a context where our Lord’s words are not going to be understood by the majority, and where Jesus encouraged His listeners to ponder His words carefully to learn their meaning
In Mk 10:28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”
The issue isn’t what will you get by being a follower of Christ but what it will cost you to be His disciple now in this life. Jesus’ point is it will cost you your very life, everyone you love and everything you own and so you’d better count the cost before you sign up.
All this says the same thing. You give up everything in terms of relationships and possessions. You give up all. This is why people fall short. This is why it's a narrow door. You have to give up everything to be His disciple . And a lot of people don't get it.
This is the consistent message, It is not a call to a superficial kind of response. It is sell all, hate everyone around you, hate your own life, abandon all your own possessions. You really have nothing to hold onto anyway. Paul says “everything I had I considered as loss and donot count them as refuse….”. Look at yourself and realize your spiritual bankruptcy, your spiritual poverty.
That's what made the Jews react so violently to Jesus. They didn't want to give up their “refuse”. They wanted to hang onto their Pharisaism and their Judaism. They wanted to hang onto their ancestry to Abraham and their ceremonies and traditions and law keeping and they wanted to earn their way into the kingdom of God.
Jesus speaks often of material possessions. He exposed the folly of the rich man whose only concern is the enjoyment of wealth ( Luke 12:13-21). He told his disciples not to worry about food and clothing, because “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old” (Luke12:22-34). He will require that the rich young ruler sell his possessions and give them to the poor (Luke 18:18-25). Zacchaeus’ will demonstrate his repentance by his commitment to redeem any prior dishonesty by repaying four times the amount ( Luke 19:8). Jesus warns that we “aren’t able to serve God and mammon” ( Luke 16:13).
Jesus calls people to a kind of discipleship that is not cheap and not easy, and not to be entered into without deep consideration of the consequences and costs. Christ did not come to dilute and dole out a compromised message. He similarly would not accept a compromised disciple.
Have you counted the costs? It costs a lot to be Jesus’ disciple, but the gain is infinite. Dying to self in the present is insignificant compared to gaining eternal life. It costs even more to reject being a disciple of Jesus. Even if you gained the whole world you will have nothing of value compared to forfeiting your soul. It is a serious matter, so count the costs carefully.
But consider that at the heart of your decision is that “ The prize you win (eternal life or eternal damnation) is the price you pay now, “
As Jesus called the crowd to a lifestyle of discipleship, he now calls us. He says to us, as he says to the crowd, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Luke 14:35)
Do you hear him? How will you respond?
