Luke 14:25-27 - Counting the cost

14:25

Jesus is now continuing on His journey, and large crowds are following Him, this was part of the reason the religious leaders were so concerned about Him. With recent political events in the UK (Brexit) and US (Trump) going against the perceived political wisdom there is a lot of talk about the wisdom of crowds. There is some truth in this. The people knew the religious leaders were frauds, and they recognised something different about Jesus. However, we also need to recognise the limits of crowds as well as their wisdom. Jesus is about to address the crowds and to deliver some hard truths. In our political situation the crowds are right about some things, but still have a lot to learn, and will almost certainly be disappointed by Brexit and Trump. Just because we are not part of the political elite does not mean that there is much we need to learn.

14:26,27

Anyway, back to more important life issues than politics! Jesus addresses them about the cost of following Him. We hear so little about the cost of being a disciple today in the West. This is largely because for a long time there has actually been little cost in following Jesus. By this I do not mean that some people have not lived sacrificial lives, focusing on doing good for others, there are and have been such people. But for a long time there was no great cost in being a disciple, and the cost was optional. Indeed there were times when being a Christian brought social advantage, and in the US political advantage. In other times, and today in many parts of the world there is an unavoidable cost in being a Christian. Things are changing in the West, so maybe we will begin to have a better idea of what the cost of being a disciple is really about. This will also force us to focus on the true riches of the Kingdom, the true benefits of salvation, rather than the fluff.

So Jesus tells the crowds that there is a great cost in following Him. They must love Him more than their closest relations, more than life itself. There was great euphoria about Jesus at this time, but He knew what was coming. So we must be prepared to carry our cross. This was a phrase that the people would know all about, for they would have seen people carrying their cross, meaning they were on their way to death. Oh how shallow is so much of our preaching!