The demands of discipleship (Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-33) - JSS2 Christian Religious Studies Lesson Note

To be a disciple of Jesus has its demands and obligations. Jesus’ encounter with three would-be disciples shows the cost of being a disciple of Jesus. To the one who voluntarily told Jesus would follow him, Jesus told him that birds and foxes have holes but he, the son of man, had no home. Another one who decided to follow him asked for a time to say farewell to his relations. Jesus told him that anyone who put his hands on the plough and look back was not fit for the Kingdom. The one whom he invited to follow him requested to be allowed to go and bury his father. Jesus told him to let the dead bury the dead.

There was a time many people were following Jesus. He turned and told them that any would-be follower who did not love him more than his father, mother, wife, children, family and even his own self could not be his disciple.

 Discipleship is about two things. The first is to be a true believer in Jesus. The second is to be a devoted follower of Jesus. Jesus taught the disciples about the demands of discipleship. Jesus taught that to be a true believer and a devoted follower, one has to:

Insecurity in discipleship: (Matt 8:19-20, Luke 9:57-58) Jesus taught that one of the demands of discipleship is that there is no security attached to it. There is no personal gain or comfort because it is full of dangers and many risks. The disciple has to go from place to place preaching the word of God with no room prepared for him to sleep. He has no money to buy food. He has to depend on the generosity of people to give him money to survive. Thus discipleship is a hard life full of uncertainties. This teaching on lack of security in discipleship comes out in Jesus’ meeting with a scribe. He told Jesus that he wanted to follow him. In response Jesus said:

“Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”

God first in discipleship: (Luke 9:59-60) Jesus taught that another demand of discipleship is that the disciple should give the first place to God where a choice has to be made between service to God and service to the family. This teaching of Jesus comes out in the story where Jesus asked a young man to follow him, that is, to become his disciple. The young man begged that he should first be allowed to go home and bury his father. But Jesus said to him:

“Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

It was not known if the young man’s father was actually dead or not. But the Jews believe that it is the duty of every man to give his parents a decent burial. It was considered a disgrace if a parent died and the son was not there to give him a decent burial. Therefore, the young man wanted to wait till his father died to give him a decent burial to avoid disgrace before coming to follow Jesus as his disciple. But Jesus said he should forget this important duty and go and preach the word of God. Therefore, Jesus is teaching that one of the requirements of discipleship is that where we have to choose between serving our family and serving God, we should choose to serve God first.

Total commitment in discipleship: (Luke 9:61-62) Jesus further taught that one of the demands of discipleship is total commitment. Discipleship is a serious undertaking; the disciple must remain focused and avoid any form of distraction. This teaching of Jesus comes out in the encounter with someone who told Jesus that he wanted to follow him as his disciple. But first, he wanted to go and bid farewell to those at home. Jesus told him:

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Going home to bid farewell is a distraction. One might be discouraged by family members and friends not to follow Jesus. Therefore, when the call comes to be a disciple we should avoid such distractions and be fully committed to the course of discipleship.

Sacrificing the interest of family and self to discipleship: (Luke 14:26) Jesus taught that one of the conditions of discipleship is that one must be ready to sacrifice the interest of his family and of himself for God. Jesus made this clear when he said:

“If any one comes after me and does not hate his own father or mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus is not teaching that we should hate or dislike our family and ourselves to become his disciples. He is saying that we should be ready to sacrifice the interest of our family and our own to that of God. It is like the case of the young man who wanted to bury his father first. He was told the interest of God must come before his own and so he should leave the dead to bury their dead and go to become a disciple of Jesus.

Self-denial in discipleship: (Luke 14:27) Jesus taught that to become his disciple, one should deny himself and take his cross daily and follow him:

“If any man comes after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Self-denial means ‘self-sacrificing’ and ‘self-forgetting’. The cross was the means by which people were put to death or executed in the time of Jesus. A person to be executed suffered as he carried a heavy cross to the place of execution. This was done to humiliate and disgrace him and also to serve as an example to others. Therefore, the cross is a symbol of suffering, humiliation, disgrace, and death.

What Jesus is teaching here is that discipleship is a difficult task. Therefore, the disciple must be willing to endure suffering, humiliation, disgrace and death. A disciple must be ready to loose his life for Christ’s sake.

Counting the cost in discipleship: (Luke 14:28-32) Jesus taught that since discipleship is a difficult and dangerous work, one should not rush into it. One should sit down and carefully count the cost involved. Is one ready to endure pain, humiliation, disgrace, and sacrifice family interest for the work of God? If one cannot, then he should not venture to become a disciple of Jesus since such a person would fall off half way through.

Jesus said such a person is like a person building a house. The builder must make sure that he has enough money to buy all the materials to complete the building otherwise people would make fun of him that he was able to start but unable to finish building the house.

To Jesus, such a disciple is also like a king about to go to war. He should sit down and weigh his chances of winning the war. He should have enough good soldiers, as well as an equipped army. If not he should come to terms with his opponent before he loses the war. Therefore, one should sit down and count the cost in becoming a disciple before deciding to do so.