“So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that
he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke
14:33 RSV)
How to detect a disciple
of Christ? Here were crowds,
enthusiastic for a ‘Jesus Movement.’ But Jesus turns on superficiality - with a
challenge:
1. THE LOVE TEST. Jesus was not undermining the fifth
commandment when insisting (v.26) that a disciple must first ‘hate’ father, mother
and relatives; He was using the Hebrew idiom of ‘Selection.’ Romans 9:13 is
entirely about God’s selective purposes with its quotation from Malachi
1:2,3: “Jacob I loved; Esau I hated.” When love for Christ takes over, it must occupy the number one spot. True – it may well enhance all other loves, but that’s the test! Which comes
first?
2. THE DEATH TEST. Jesus then declared (v. 27) that those
who did not carry their cross could not be a disciple. Everyone knew that the
cross was a terrible Roman instrument of execution. Carrying one’s cross meant
that you were to put your own interests last – to the very point of death if
necessary. Certainly it means death to self-interest, self-indulgence,
self-satisfaction and self-esteem. Many are marked at baptism with the cross -
the mark of death - upon their foreheads.
3. THE FINISHING
TEST. Jesus then told two parables
– about the man who failed to think ahead about the cost of his building
project, and the soldier-king who didn’t weigh up the full implications of
going to war; both consigned ultimately to history’s book of heroic failures.
If discipleship is so
demanding, then where does the appeal lie? Surely in the Man of Galilee Himself. Everything is worthwhile for His eternal friendship.
--ooOoo--
