The Cost of Following Jesus
Luke 9:57-62
I recently was moved by an encounter I had with a little girl. We were in line at the small town store where I live. She was small and dirty. Her clothes were unwashed, her feet barefoot. Dirt was upon her face, but she did not notice. She was smiling. As we
waited in line, I noticed that she stood patiently, clinging to two overwhelming handfuls of candy. When her turn came, she stretched upward to place the candy on the “grown up” sized counter. As the cashier began to count the pieces and their price, that filthy
little girl began to reach in her pocket and proudly display one single, shiny penny. She really looked as if with that one penny she could purchase the world! “I’m sorry”, the cashier replied. “But you do not have enough.” Without thinking, I placed a dollar bill
on the counter, and the look of disappointment on her face quickly turned to joy. A warm “thank you” melted my heart. I watched her leave the store wondering about her family and home. But then another realization struck me. She had neglected to count the
cost. How often have we done with our faith what that little girl did her candy? We embrace Jesus, as if he also is a candy cane to be devoured. We too must not forget the cost.
Perhaps if you’re like most Christians, there was a time in your early walk with Christ where you wondered if there was nothing more. Perhaps the fact that salvation is free was so emphasized that you neglected to realize that the disciple’s life was not a bed of
roses. Many of you are present today for various reasons. But I think it’s accurate to say that the majority of us are present out of a genuine desire to be followers of Jesus. Perhaps at this moment you’re undecided as to whether to follow him. Perhaps you
would already consider yourself a follower, but want to follow him more closely. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? What is involved? Let us turn to the Word of God for the answer to these questions. [Read text here.]
If anyone knew about counting the cost, Jesus did. In verse fifty-one of this same chapter, we see that Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Thus we know that Jesus was fully aware of what awaited him. He was living each day in the shadow of the cross. Each step was one step closer to the agonizing punishment that awaited him there. Yet he pushed forward. How appropriate that this was the setting for these three encounters about which we have just read. In this text we see that Luke shared three encounters from Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to teach us the cost of following Jesus. From them, we learn an important lesson for today. Two thousand years later, Jesus is still calling us to count the cost of following him. The question then is what do we need to know about this cost? In each of these encounters, Jesus gives us a lesson to be remembered.
I) First, when counting the cost, we must remember the reality of the consequences.
(verses 57-58)
We have to assume from the text, that somehow, some way Jesus knew something about the man in this first encounter that we do not know. We know that he took the
initiative to offer to follow Jesus. From the response he received, it would appear that there were consequences that he had not yet considered. Jesus says to him, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Well, we know from John chapter one that Jesus was not “homeless” in the traditional sense. Yet his response tells us something about Jesus’ attitude about the things of this world. There was nothing that
Jesus possessed, neither was there an area of his life, that had not been totally surrendered to his Father. The basic, fundamental consequence of a person’s decision to follow Jesus is a complete yielding of everything one would otherwise call their own.
A serious problem exists with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Perhaps you’ve heard that the city has now employed full time security to monitor and guard the premises. Ever since the bridge’s inception, literally hundreds of people end their lives
by leaping from it to their deaths. The duty of this patrol is to watch out for these suicidal people and stop them before they leap! Why is this particular bridge such a preferred place for people taking their lives, you ask? It is because early in the morning,
a dense fog settles in. Visibility is highly limited. Someone wishing to commit suicide can stand at the edge of the bridge at its peak and not see the water beneath. In fact, the fog is so dense, they cannot see far below their own feet. It is a deceptive appearance. It appears they are only jumping two or three feet, when in reality they are leaping
hundreds of feet to their deaths. What happens? The consequences of their leap are hidden from them. They temporarily forget about the real danger just long enough to jump because the fog is blocking their view. Likewise, the things of this world can easily “fog” our view of what the consequences will be when we choose to follow Jesus.
The Bible is full of what the consequences will be for following Christ. Jesus says in Matthew 10:22 that we will be “hated of all men for my name’s sake.” We also have the example of the early church. The apostles followed Christ to martyrdom. They were
beaten, persecuted, and ridiculed. Paul even went so far as to promise Timothy that the righteous would suffer. It is altogether naive to follow Christ without considering the consequences.
What might those consequences be? How will it cost you, you ask? It will cost us our service. It will cost us our time. Energy will be depleted. relationships occasionally will be severed. We will have to sacrifice financially and materially. Our reputation may suffer. Our pride will be trampled. These, and so many more, are the results that await
us when we choose to follow Jesus. We must consider the cost. Why would anyone endure such a price? Does it seem that the cost is too high? Romans 8:18 says “the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” We have not only the promise of future blessings, but 2 Corinthians 4:8 speaks of God’s current sustaining work in our lives saying, “We are
hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Not only are we to remember the reality of the consequences, but...
II) Secondly, we must remember the need of immediacy. (verses 59-60)
At a glance, it might seem this lesson is contradictory to the first. While we are to
consider the consequences, we are also to make haste. Indeed, this is one of the most difficult of Jesus’ sayings. This time Jesus took the initiative to call upon one to “follow me.” His response seems reasonable. It appears that his father had died and he first wanted to honor him through proper burial. But we really do not know. We can question whether his story was valid. Perhaps it was simply an excuse. Personally, I believe that his father was aging, and he wanted to tarry until he had died. But however you
interpret his request, Luke’s emphasis is not on the man’s excuse, but on Jesus’ response to that excuse. We see that response in verse sixty. “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” It seems Jesus was saying to him that there
were “spiritually dead” people who could bury his father. However, God was calling him to a task that the “dead” could never do, and that was to preach the kingdom of God. He, on the other hand, was waiting for a convenient time. For him, Jesus’ message was
“Don’t delay” but “Go!”
Most of us are familiar with another man in the New Testament who waited for a better time. His name was Felix. For the large part of his life, he really believed he was complete. As a Roman governor, he had honor and authority. People knew him as he passed by in his royal clothing, surrounded by his personal guard. yet, something was missing. He never could put his finger on it, until he met a man named Paul. The
apostle Paul. How strange that a man who stood before him as a prisoner had something to offer him. I imagine he spent many days thinking upon the time that chained prisoner joyously shared his personal testimony in his court. To the eye, Paul seemed weak and oppressed. But Felix saw an inner strength as he spoke with boldness about what God had done for him. In fact, he was so impressed by what he heard, he couldn’t resist but personally bring Paul back on another occasion just to hear him say more about Jesus.
His interest turned into conviction. Conviction turned into trembling. Finally he spoke those fatal words, “When I have a convenient season, I will call for you.” He was waiting for the perfect time. Acts 24:27 reveals that such a time likely never came as
“two years later Felix...left Paul bound.”
Likewise, the man in the second encounter with Jesus had fooled himself into believing that one day, his excuses would run out. One day, everything in life would fall perfectly in order and then he would follow Jesus. One day his family’s needs would all be met. One day, other duties and obligations would be over. But there is a dangerous fallacy in such reasoning. It assumes that if such a time did come, you would still be willing to respond. This is why it is so important to respond immediately when God’s Spirit is calling you to be saved. Just as the thorns rise up and choke the seed planted into thorny ground, even so do the cares of this world suffocate the desire of one to come
to Christ when a willing heart delays to respond.
This man’s willingness to serve was rejected by Jesus because it contained a qualifier: “First”. “Let me go FIRST...” Is there a qualifier in your life? Are there any “firsts” that would keep you from following Jesus? “First God, let me get through school, then I will follow you.” “First God, let me settle down and start a family, then I will follow you.” “First God, let me get the kids through school.” “First God let me get that promotion, reach that retirement.” “First God, let me...bury my parents.” See how it happens? Until your first interest is God’s only interest, you will never experience the joys of the Christian life. There is an urgency that must be heeded. It is not enough to respond tomorrow. Jesus says “Go!” Respond immediately.
When following Jesus, we must remember the reality of the consequences, the need for
immediacy, and...
III) The danger of looking back.
We learn this lesson from Jesus’ third encounter on the way to Jerusalem. Again, one approaches Jesus promising to follow him. Again there is a qualifier, similar to the last man we discussed. He wanted to bid his family farewell. Then he would be willing to
follow. And again, Luke’s emphasis is not on the excuse, but our Lord’s response. We see it in verse sixty-two. It is a warning against looking back. From Jesus’ words, we learn that this man’s desire to bid his family farewell was likely an attempt to cling to
his past. Jesus’ illustration of the man with his hand to the plow is significant. Two summer ago in Nicaragua, I had the opportunity to preach in a third world country where farming was the primary industry. Oxen lined the streets everywhere. You had to
literally walk through them to get anywhere. These oxen had plows with two handles. Today, this is the normal practice where these are still being used. However, in Jesus day, this was not the case. A farmer’s plow had only one handle. By placing all of his weight against the plow, and by pressing forward with his body, he was able to move forward. This would not be physically possible if he was looking back. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not the farmer could plow straight. If a farmer looked back he couldn’t
move forward. If he didn’t move forward, he didn’t move at all! The work could not be done. What a wonderful demonstration by Jesus of what happens when we accept Christ. When we look back, we cannot move forward spiritually.
For most of us, the greater the sin in our past, the more difficult it is not to look back. I
recall as a boy when my elementary school had its annual field day contest. Every student looked forward all year to that one day when studies were put aside and the entire day was devoted to recreational activities. One of those activities was a baton race.
Being skinny all my childhood, I knew how to run fast from all the experience running from the bullies on my block. Who better than me to be the last runner for my class in this particular race? I would be that last runner, carrying the baton across the finish line.
I waited anxiously for my turn to run. I watched my teammates build me a sizable lead. But as I ran, I couldn’t resist the temptation to look behind me. I just had to know each moment how far behind was the nearest competitor. So as I ran, I watched. In fact, I
spent so much time looking behind me, I watched my competitors pass me, winning the race I would have easily won. In the race called life, our past is the competitor lurking behind us. Jesus said those who “look back”, “are not fit for the kingdom of God.”
When we choose to follow Jesus, we must do so surrendering our past as well as our future. Not only is meditating on the past harmful, and detrimental, but sinful as well. When we look back, we become unable to see ourselves from God’s perspective. Second
Corinthians 5:17 says that in Christ one becomes a “new creature”. The Psalmist says our sin is removed “as far as the east is from the west”. Looking back hinders us from being used by God.
For this third man, not looking back meant he had to sever ties. However, it may have many ramifications for your life. It may mean seeking God’s help to overcome guilt from previous sins. It may mean forgiving someone who has harmed you. But for
everyone, it means letting go of an old lifestyle. It means surrendering and ending the life we once lived apart from Christ. I want to encourage you this morning and say that there is not a single thing in your past that will cause God to reject you. There is not a single thing in your past that must keep you from God if you will bring that past to Him.
The same warnings Christ spoke to these would be followers two thousand years ago, he speaks to us today. But to really understand his message to us through these encounters, we must see the bigger picture.
Here is the good news about the cost of following Jesus. What he taught us about the cost on the way to Jerusalem, he demonstrated perfectly when he arrived. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and took into account the reality of the consequences of the
cross. The drops of sweat, as they were blood, served as a cruel reminder of the blood soon to be shed for us. He also made haste, and was immediate in his obedience to the Father. He did not delay. As the soldiers arrived for his arrest, he responded, “The hour has come...Rise, let us be going.” And finally, our Lord refused to look back. “For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross.” He continued to press forward until he could legitimately say, “It is finished!” If we are to become followers of Jesus, we too must remember the reality of the consequences, the need for immediacy, and the danger of looking back.
Having now a better idea of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, can you say that you are a follower of him? God wants you first of all to follow him as Savior and Lord. But also, he wants you to follow him on a daily basis as your life is surrendered to him.
Because Jesus paid the cost for us, it is now possible to know him personally.
Jesus was willing to follow the will of his Father all the way to the cross. In light of all that he has done for us, how can we not heed his call for us to follow him? If you are here today and have never accepted Christ as your Savior and Lord, you too can become a follower of Jesus.
