Luke 14:25-28 (MEV)
"Large crowds went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. For who among you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost to see whether he has resources to complete it?’"
Count the Cost
When we read the Gospels, we see that Jesus used to go around preaching, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead... as well as telling lots of stories – called parables. He was a great story teller and people were fascinated by His parables, even though most of them did not understand the hidden meanings behind them. Many people would gather to listen to Him and crowds would start to form; then He would suddenly speak plainly – not in parables – and many times say something that would sound offensive to them, like the verses above in Luke 14.
Then we can imagine that while some Pharisees would openly rebuke Him, countless people refusing to hear the truth that Jesus had just told them would slowly walk away murmuring and complaining. But Jesus’ close disciples even though perplexed by what Jesus had said, would stay with Him because they knew He had “the words of eternal life” (see John 6:68). They knew Him and were convinced that He was telling the truth.
What about you? Do you know in your heart of hearts that “Jesus has the words of eternal life”? Or are you unsure and still searching? Do you accept every word that He says as the Truth or do you try to twist his words sometimes when they don’t conform to what you would want them to be? Yes, it offends to say that someone must “hate” their family members and even their own life to be a true disciple of Jesus. Did Jesus mean to offend? I believe He meant to tell the truth, regardless of the offense it may cause... The truth is that following Him comes at a great cost.
Jesus was not talking about literal hatred because He commands us to love people; but compared to the love and devotion we must have for Him, our love for any other person (including ourselves) should look like hatred...
My friends, have you counted the cost of following Jesus? To be a true disciple we must be ready to give up all we have for Him. Many did not count the cost before starting on this journey and when the going got tough, the cost seemed too high for them and they gave up... Let’s make sure we count the cost of true discipleship!