Luke 9.51 – Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.
‘Divine grit marks these chapters.’ – R. Kent Hughes
Heb 12. 2 – Jesus knew the cost of the path he trod.
This story is recorded here that we might know and count the cost of following Jesus. That we might recognise it is a high cost, but what is on offer is priceless.
V57-58: Following Christ means getting in the trenches
Matt 8.19-22 – this man is a scribe and is sincere in his declaration.
Ruth 1.16-17 – the man knows the Scriptures but note the difference in his words.
Are we to be like Ruth or Orpah?
Luke 9.23 – Jesus has just been forsaken by the Samaritans in the preceding verses, will continue to be forsaken by his own people, and ultimately will be forsaken by God.
We are not at home in this world.
John 15.18-20 – Following Christ is not a means to get ahead in the world? Are you prepared to be hated by the world?
‘Shallow tent pegs’ – Corrie ten Boom
Jesus is on his way to the cross. Is that where we are willing to go?
V59-60: Following Christ means putting Him first
Luke 5.27-28 – The language of ‘following’ is that used to call the twelve.
Mark 7.9-13 – Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and scribes for not honouring their parents, yet here commands the man leave his family.
Ephesians 2.1-3 – Leave those who are spiritually dead to bury their own. Don’t be focused on the kingdom of this world but on the kingdom of God.
Luke 14.26 – Compared to Christ, my family and I are nothing, and yet in Christ, I can love them even more because he first loved me.
Until we are ready to put Christ first then we are not truly ready to follow Him.
‘In terms of God’s expectation and will, there is no minimal discipleship; what God desires is everything.’ – Darrell L. Bock
Don’t neglect family or funerals. But do proclaim God’s kingdom and let Christ come first in all things!
V61-62: Following Christ means not looking back
This last interaction ought to remind us of Elisha’s call in 1 Kings 19.
1 Kings 19.1-21 – Note that Elisha is ploughing when called
The man here is instead already with Jesus but plans to head home for a while before joining him again. Elisha drops the plough to follow. The farewell is not the issue it is the reluctance and focus on what is lost or left behind.
Gen 19.15-17; 24-26 Lot’s wife looks longingly back to Sodom cf. Abraham looking to Sodom and Gomorrah with sorrow in Gen 19.27-28
‘Fit’ cf. 2 Tim 2.20-21 ‘useful’; Luke 14.33-34 ‘of no use’; Heb 6.7-8 ‘useful’
Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaks of ‘cheap grace’ in The Cost of Discipleship but goes on to say ‘So many people come to church with a genuine desire to hear what we have to say, yet they are always going back home with the uncomfortable feeling that we are making it too difficult for them to come to Jesus.’ We proclaim costly grace, but a grace that could never cost us as much as it costed Christ.
Watch the service below: