24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it,
but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses or forfeits his own self?
26 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words,
of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory,
and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
Lk 9:
57 As they went on the way, a certain man said to him,
"I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord."
58 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of
the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59 He said to another, "Follow me!" But he said,
"Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."
60 But Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own
dead,
but you go and announce the Kingdom of God."
61 Another also said, "I want to follow you, Lord,
but first allow me to bid farewell to those who are at my house."
62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to
the plow,
and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God."
Lk 14:
25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said
to them,
26 "If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t hate his own father,
mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life
also, he can’t be my disciple.
27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me,
can’t be my disciple.
31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war,
will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand
to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off,
he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all
that he has,
he can’t be my disciple.
Related Parables:
Taking up our Cross
Jesus took up the cross in submission to God's will. In following the
Lord there are many burdens to bear. We are not called to an easy life
but to a godly life - a life in which God is the center.
Follow Jesus
The Christian life is not just a matter of being "good" and not sinning
for it also incorporates submitting oneself to the Lordship of Christ.
What is the difference between a "good" non-Christian and a true believer?
One difference is that the believer submits to Christ as Lord. But the
Christian life even goes beyond this. A disciple is a follower of Jesus.
The idea behind following Jesus incorporates and goes beyond the idea of
just submitting and obeying Him. A slave submits to his master, but a son
follows his father's example. Yes, a son is expected to obey, but as he
matures, the father expects him to follow his example. So also in the Christian
life. See "The Following Jesus Series"
for an elaboration on this and particular applications.
Losing our life
The Christian needs to let go of their worldly ambitions and waste
their lives on Jesus, much as the woman in Matthew 26 who wasted her expensive
perfume on Jesus. There is nothing that the world can offer which can compare
with the rewards of a life of service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Shamelessness
Though Christians should be wise and gracious in presenting the teachings
of Jesus and his apostles to others, we certainly should not be ashamed
of or feel embarrased by what has been written. For the world will subject
Christians to humilation. That's just a part of the Christian life. But
Paul writes: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power
of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then
for the Gentile." Rom 1:16 Confidence is characteristic of conviction.
And confidence also communicates conviction, which affects the receiving
of the message. "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly
rewarded." Heb 10:35
"Going" vs "Being"
In following Christ there are crosses to bear, humilation to face,
and sacrifices to make. But some will make half-way commitments to follow.
There are those who limit their commitment to simply "going" from
one place to another. They limit discipleship to things like going to an
institutional church, going to seminary, or going to a mission field. But
following Jesus is not simply about "going" and "arriving". It's about
"becoming" and "being". These locations don't need simply another body.
They need Christlike ones. For Jesus spoke of the hypocrites among the
Pharisees saying, "You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,
and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you
are." Mat 23:15 Therefore let's be less concerned about going
to this place or that place, and let's be more concerned about being like
Jesus.
Let the dead bury their dead
It is most likely that the man's father had not yet died, but that
this man in Luke 9:59 was asking to wait until his father died and
then he would follow Jesus. At issue here are cultural responsibilities
within one's family. Without Jesus, the fulfilling of our earthly responsibilities
is like dead people burying dead people. This is not to say that one should
not fulfill their earthly responsibilities, but life comes first. Which
is more important, burying someone who is dead, or bringing the dead to
life? If he first followed Jesus, he could bring life back to his family.
Otherwise without Jesus, this life is vain. It is is one of death, waiting
to be buried. Many times I've heard people say that will follow Jesus or
live the Christian life but only after they've fulfilled some other responsibilities.
They just don't get it. If you aren't following Jesus you are dead. And
only in vain does the dead bury their dead.
Putting one's hand to the plow and looking back
To look back is to play to role of Lot's wife. These are halfway Christians,
not committed to progressing forward in their Christian life. Among them
are those Peter refers to in 2Pet 2:22 Of them the proverbs are
true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back
to her wallowing in the mud." But Paul writes: "This one thing I
do: Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."
Php
3:13
If we're not committed to going all the way to the promise land,
then we are unfit for it and will die in the desert.
In Luke 9:62 the NIV says "fit for service in the kingdom of God", but the Greek just says "fit for the kingdom of God", which is how most other versions translate it. For not only are such people not fit for service in the kingdom, they are also not suitable for entrance into the kingdom.Hating one's family
Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."Our devotion to Jesus should be so much greater than our devotion to our family that it is like contrasting love and hatred.
John 12:25 "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."What if we were to replace "life" with "family". This would say "The man who loves his family will lose it, while the man who hates his family in this world will keep it for eternal life." Many lead their families straight into hell by "loving" them more than Jesus. The best thing we can do for our families and for ourselves is to follow Jesus. So let us follow and obey Jesus, regardless of what our families say.