Daily Bread 2010 - Mark 14
Daily Bread 2010 – Luke 14
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
This is one of those passages that I would just as soon pass over as it makes me uncomfortable. Being a “family guy”, I struggle with these words in Luke’s gospel, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple.” I doubt even what I write in commentary on this passage will ease how uncomfortable this passage makes me feel.
First let me say what I don’t think the passage is saying. I don’t think Jesus is advocating “hate” toward our family or anyone for that matter. I don’t think Jesus is overturning the 4th commandment to “honor our father and mother”. And I don’t think Jesus is anti-family, since He created it as a place of nurture and discovery of the love of God.
What I do think He might be saying is that we are to put our relationship with God, and hence our relationship with Jesus above all else. Without minimizing earthly relationships, we are first and foremost to honor our heavenly Father who created us and His Son who redeemed us.
In general, Jesus is teaching on the cost of being a disciple. (For a classic book on this subject read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s, Cost of Discipleship) This passage comes right after the passage called the “Parable of the Great Banquet”. In this parable Jesus tells of a certain man who invited many to the a great banquet, but all alike those who had been invited to the banquet, began to make excuses for why they could not come. These excuses included one fellow who said, “I just got married I cannot come” and another who said, “I just bought five oxen and I am on my way to try them out.” The master became angry and told the servants to go out and find anyone would come in for he wanted the banquet room full. And they did.
We live today in a world where Christianity is often just one part of person’s life, not the center. Going to church on Sunday can become, “Well there is nothing going on today, so I guess we can go to church.” Unfortunately this is not the same Christianity that Jesus talks us about. Jesus tells us to count the cost of following him before we go “all in”.
But why would Jesus ask this of us? To borrow from another bible verse, “We cannot serve two masters, for either we will grow to love the one and hate the other.” And the result I have found is that when we follow Jesus with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind; God is pleased to give us all the things we need, like family, food and friends. As we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, Matthew 6:33 says, “All these things will be added to you as well.”
Prayer: God this passage challenges us to life a life of radical devotion to you, which is certainly counter cultural. As we count the cost of following you, may we do so knowing that Your plans for us are way better than we could imagine for ourselves, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
This is one of those passages that I would just as soon pass over as it makes me uncomfortable. Being a “family guy”, I struggle with these words in Luke’s gospel, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple.” I doubt even what I write in commentary on this passage will ease how uncomfortable this passage makes me feel.
First let me say what I don’t think the passage is saying. I don’t think Jesus is advocating “hate” toward our family or anyone for that matter. I don’t think Jesus is overturning the 4th commandment to “honor our father and mother”. And I don’t think Jesus is anti-family, since He created it as a place of nurture and discovery of the love of God.
What I do think He might be saying is that we are to put our relationship with God, and hence our relationship with Jesus above all else. Without minimizing earthly relationships, we are first and foremost to honor our heavenly Father who created us and His Son who redeemed us.
In general, Jesus is teaching on the cost of being a disciple. (For a classic book on this subject read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s, Cost of Discipleship) This passage comes right after the passage called the “Parable of the Great Banquet”. In this parable Jesus tells of a certain man who invited many to the a great banquet, but all alike those who had been invited to the banquet, began to make excuses for why they could not come. These excuses included one fellow who said, “I just got married I cannot come” and another who said, “I just bought five oxen and I am on my way to try them out.” The master became angry and told the servants to go out and find anyone would come in for he wanted the banquet room full. And they did.
We live today in a world where Christianity is often just one part of person’s life, not the center. Going to church on Sunday can become, “Well there is nothing going on today, so I guess we can go to church.” Unfortunately this is not the same Christianity that Jesus talks us about. Jesus tells us to count the cost of following him before we go “all in”.
But why would Jesus ask this of us? To borrow from another bible verse, “We cannot serve two masters, for either we will grow to love the one and hate the other.” And the result I have found is that when we follow Jesus with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind; God is pleased to give us all the things we need, like family, food and friends. As we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, Matthew 6:33 says, “All these things will be added to you as well.”
Prayer: God this passage challenges us to life a life of radical devotion to you, which is certainly counter cultural. As we count the cost of following you, may we do so knowing that Your plans for us are way better than we could imagine for ourselves, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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