The Cost of Following Jesus

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62).

When Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), three people emerged from the crowd and expressed their desire to follow Him. I believe their passion for the Master warmed His heart. True to form, Jesus seized the opportunity to give them some deeper revelation into the definition and requirements of true discipleship. He had recently spoken to the disciples on the subject of following Him… “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). He taught that real discipleship is exchanging our lives for the life He offers, that is a life that imitates His own life of sacrifice and love… “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:24-25). In today’s text the Spirit of Truth illuminates Christ’s response to three would-be disciples to help us discover deeper truth about the cost of following Jesus.

To follow Jesus, He must become our consummate provider. Jesus exhorted the first follower to imitate Him by trusting in nothing of this world to meet His most intimate needs. Jesus had no earthly home because His heart was fixed on completing His mission and returning to His eternal home… “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). True disciples depend only on God and are free to follow and serve the Lord because we are unencumbered by the trappings and distractions of this world... “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  Christ-following disciples need only one King and one Provider, Jesus Christ.

To follow Jesus, He must become our compelling proclamation. You’ve been to funerals. You know there are lots of different emotions expressed at such moments. There are lots of different words shared among those grieving together. Once we are born again we become sensitive to the absence of hope among those who don’t know Jesus Christ. The Spirit inspired Paul to exhort true disciples to be different by expressing the hope of Christ at the death of our loved ones… “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). True disciples have a tremendous message of hope and a responsibility to proclaim it among those grieving the loss of their loved ones… “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). In life and death, and in every moment in between, diligent disciples make the most of every opportunity to proclaim Christ’s gospel.

To follow Jesus, He must become our consuming passion. Jesus commended the follower that wanted to “say farewell to those at my home”. But He exhorted him to make it a permanent farewell. When we are born again we are not merely transformed, but we begin a completely new life… “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means all of our relationships are redefined. While we still have earthly relationships with family, friends, neighbors, and others, they are no longer primary because we are born again into a new forever family… “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him” (1 John 5:1). The fresh, new desire of the earnest disciple’s heart is to bring everyone we know into our new family. Of course, we know that some may embrace the gospel we share, while others may reject it.

As we grow up into Christ our fellowship with Him increases as we pay…

The Cost of Following Jesus.