Jesus on The Cost of Following Him
About this series
Jesus was God-in-flesh. He was (and is) the purest, most loving and truth-filled human being the world has ever known. And yet what he taught, how he lived and the kingdom he inaugurated directly confronted the human culture in which he spent his years on earth. He was truly counter-cultural. And he is no less counter-cultural in every part of the world today.
To follow Jesus is to embark on a lifelong journey of counter-cultural transformation in which we can expect that being a disciple will lead us towards challenge, temptation and costly decisions at every turn. It’s to this that he calls every single person who follows him.
It’s a lifestyle:
That requires obedience to him above all else.
That will lead us into conflict with the world, the flesh and the devil.
That witnesses to the world of his greatness.
The goal of the first series this year - Just Jesus - was to spend time specifically focussed on the person and work of Jesus. And the goal this time is again to look at Jesus - how he was (and is) counter-cultural. So we’ll be speaking about Jesus - showing how his teaching and actions were counter-cultural in his day and then applying it to our day. We’ll be asking how we submit to his wordScripture: Matthew 16:21-27; cf Matthew 8:18-22, 10:37-39, Luke 14:25-35
About this talk
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor during the Second World War, wrote, ‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.’ Bonhoeffer was hanged in 1945 for his part in plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The idea of cost is rarely communicated when Christians talk of following Jesus. We tend to speak of benefits, blessings and gain - all of which is absolutely true, of course. We follow Jesus because of what he gives. Yet Jesus was unafraid to speak of the cost of following him - to the rich ruler in Luke 18, to his 12 disciples in Matthew 10 & 16 or to a teacher of the law in Matthew 8. In each case, Jesus confronts people’s confidence to follow him with the cost of doing so.
The account of Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:21-27 come immediately after the high point of Peter’s confession (vs 13-20). Peter cannot comprehend that Jesus will suffer and be killed (v 21) so he rebukes Jesus - for which he receives a far greater rebuke in return (v 23). Then comes the teaching about the cost of following him:
v 24: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
v 25: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
This counter-cultural logic is set in the context of the time when, “the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels.” What we may have left behind for him in this life will be far surpassed by the wonderful rewards of that life.
In Jesus’ day
The Romans crucified tens of thousands of people who they saw as trouble, or a danger to, the Roman state. But to take up a cross voluntarily would have been a bit of a mystery.
Being a pious Jew brought respect, honour and a good reputation; now Jesus is calling his disciples to leave all that behind in favour of a cross, self-denial and losing the life they had known. For them, following Jesus meant literally leaving their fishing business or their tax collector’s booth!
In our day
It’s perhaps not surprising that most of us prefer the cheapest, easiest and most comfortable options. And that can be true today in matters of faith just as in any other area of life. However, in the Luke 14 passage it’s very interesting that Jesus encourages the “large crowds” who were travelling with him to face up to the cost. He insists that it is only logical to count the cost before embarking on being his disciple. This is in stark contrast to many modern invitations to follow Jesus in which our need for Jesus and the benefits he brings are laid out, but the challenges, costs and sacrifices are rarely mentioned.
While most of us are not facing imminent persecution for following Jesus, the cost to us will surely be greatly felt if we are truly submitted to following him above all else. What does denying ourselves, taking up our cross and losing our lives for Jesus look like today?
Audio only
