Luke 9:57-62 - Part 1

Thanks, Jordan and Anna.

Join me in your Bibles in Luke.

Gospel of Luke, chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

So as Jake stated earlier,

!

Put a lot of thought into New Year's.

Maybe I should.

But for a lot of people in our culture

and those around us,

it's like the time to kick off new things.

It's to make big resolutions,

small ones, big ones,

all the best intention

to bring about change in somebody's life.

And out of curiosity,

I looked up the top 2024 New Year's resolutions.

None of them will shock you,

but a survey says

improving finances, shocker, 38%.

Losing weight, 33%.

Improving one's diet, 31%.

And a lot of well-meaning, I guess,

but fewer people focus on goals

like learning a new skill, 8%.

Hobbies, 7%.

And traveling more, 5%.

The problem occurs somehow

when we fail to keep these new resolutions of change.

I heard recently that March is the month

when most people quit.

Everything they're doing.

They start strong in January,

they struggle in February,

and then they quit in March.

And they start to say,

this is harder than I thought it was going to be,

so I'm just going to stop.

After all, I made this promise to myself

and not other people,

so I can quit on myself.

But some people make resolutions with somebody else,

like your spouse or your friend,

and that can end too.

All you've got to do is tap into that same temptation

and weakness that they're having

and quit together.

So unless one of you is stronger

and can kind of push through a little more

and say, no, no, we're not quitting.

Keep going.

So anyway, our sinful condition

tends to drift us towards laziness,

indulgence, and comfort.

And so we don't like disciplining ourselves.

But for the believer,

discipline is a critical part of our everyday life.

It's not like we just try it once a year.

It should be infused to our everyday living.

In fact, like a lot of the meaning of the word disciple

comes from this idea of discipline.

And so this week, today, next Sunday,

we're going to talk about more specific resolutions

maybe next week and unpack that.

But I kind of wanted to give us one broad one for the day.

And that is resolve to follow Jesus Christ.

Resolve to follow Jesus.

And it may sound kind of shallow for Christians, right?

Of course we're supposed to follow Jesus.

But there are only two types of people in this room.

Those who have given their lives to Christ,

who have repented of their sins

and thrown their self on the grace of God

and come to saving faith in Jesus Christ

and are reconciled to God

and now are disciples and followers of Jesus

and those who aren't.

And so let's look at, I mean, just, I think,

just a very simple definition of a resolution

is to reach a clear and firm decision on something.

Right?

And so Jonathan Edwards, we think of him

when we think about resolutions,

those who know some of their church history

and read some of the old guys.

Jonathan Edwards wrote,

Resolved by God's grace to love my Lord Jesus Christ

by daily denying myself,

taking up my cross,

and following him wherever he leads,

no matter the cost.

Those of you who are familiar with Jonathan Edwards,

he did not write that.

I wrote that.

But I thought you would listen to it more

if I said that he wrote it.

So this is actually one of the points, okay?

And I want you to, I'll read this slower

so you can follow.

But this is the main point we will be unpacking today.

It's not a lighthearted subject

to talk about the cost of discipleship.

But our main point, we would say,

is this resolution to resolve by God's grace

to love my Lord Jesus Christ

by daily denying myself,

taking up my cross,

and following him wherever he leads,

no matter the cost.

And so, just a quick reminder

that we never graduate or move on from the gospel.

It's the greatest news possible

that God won for us over sin,

over death,

over hell by sending his son

to graciously save sinners.

That's what we read in John 3, right?

That God so loved the world,

he gave his only son,

that whoever believes in him

would have eternal life, right?

They would not perish.

For God did not send his son into the world

to condemn the world, right?

But in the world that might be saved through him.

So, let's not confuse some things.

Salvation is a free gift of God's grace.

You cannot earn it.

You cannot pay it back.

It only comes as a result of God's grace,

love, and mercy

towards sinners in Jesus Christ.

Alright?

So, that's the good news.

That's what we're resting on.

And so, like I mentioned earlier,

there's only two types of people in the room.

Those who are probably most of us here,

the church,

those who have a relationship with Christ

and have trusted for him

and for salvation

and have devoted their lives

to following him

and obeying him

and loving him.

So, for you,

for most of us,

let's renew our desire

to follow Jesus.

Renew our desire

to take up our cross.

And then there's those

who don't have a relationship with Christ

and are still at odds with God.

In fact,

called enemies of God

and under his judgment.

A very chilling verse in John 3,

right after the famous John 3.16.

John 3.36,

whoever believes in the Son

has eternal life.

Whoever does not obey the Son

will not see life,

but the wrath of God remains on him.

And so,

point number one,

so I gave you the resolution

about following Christ,

but point number one,

there's just two points today,

and we'll spend,

I've done my best to keep you in Luke.

So,

besides looking at one other place.

But,

point one,

is that Christ demands

that you weigh the cost

of following him.

Christ demands

that you weigh the cost

of following him.

And,

we're going to start in Luke 9,

go to verse 57.

Alright,

and in the context here,

Jesus,

it says earlier,

has set his face

towards Jerusalem.

He's making

a final journey

towards Jerusalem

where he knows

he will be arrested,

beaten,

and crucified

to save men

from their sins.

And so,

along the way,

Jesus encounters

three different men

who all claim

and have interest

in wanting to be

his disciple.

Right?

And they're,

what they say

doesn't seem unreasonable

on its face,

but then Jesus responds

to them

kind of surprisingly.

Let's look at

verse 57.

As they were going

along the road,

someone said to him,

to Jesus,

I will follow you

wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him,

foxes have holes,

the birds of the air

have nests,

but the Son of Man

has nowhere

to lay his head.

To another he said,

follow me.

But he said,

Lord,

let me first go

and bury my father.

And Jesus said to him,

leave the dead

to bury their own dead,

but as for you,

go and proclaim

the kingdom of God.

Yet another said,

I will follow you,

Lord,

but first,

let me say farewell

to those who are at home.

And Jesus said to him,

no one

who puts his hand

to the plow

and looks back

is fit

for the kingdom

of God.

So,

why does Jesus

actually call them

to weigh the cost here?

Right?

Why does he

tend to drive them away?

As far as we know,

these men turned away.

We never hear about them again,

never heard from them

after this.

And,

what I want to

throw forward to you

is like in your

evangelism

and your sharing

of the good news

with unbelievers,

I tend to get to a point

where I've met

with people several times

and I've gone over

the foundational

gospel message

with them.

and when they get

to that point

and they say,

yeah,

like I'm in,

I'm there,

I believe it.

I then kind of cringe

and go,

okay,

let's look at Luke 9,

let's look at Luke 14,

let's look at Matthew 10

and I hope you know

what I'm saying

when I say this,

but I try to talk them

out of following Jesus

after that.

And,

not what you do

if you want to grow

a successful ministry

and have a lot of people

come around.

But in fact,

this is exactly

what Jesus did

when he got too popular

and he would turn around

and say,

hey,

listen guys,

listen,

this is serious.

I'm not playing games.

I'm not here for your fun

and entertainment

and to give you prosperity.

So,

at first glance,

Christ seems to be

a little unreasonable,

but a closer study

of the passage

might help us

unpack what's going on.

and he looks straight

through their words

and goes after

the idols of their heart.

He chooses to sift

at those things.

And all of them

refused to obey Jesus

immediately

when he said,

you know,

follow me.

This proved,

really,

that they did not

really believe

who Jesus was.

Okay?

So,

it's not like

they had this genuine

faith in Christ

and he's saying,

no,

not you,

go away.

He's basically revealing

they don't really

believe who he is.

That's like

what's happening

right here.

He's exposing that.

And so,

the first man,

Matthew,

in Matthew 8,

19,

also tells this story

and he says

that he was a scribe.

Alright?

And so,

this scribe

made a very bold claim.

I will follow you

wherever you go.

That's a huge claim

for anybody to make,

right?

Very bold.

But we know

based on how Jesus

responds to the man

that he's looking

for something else.

And often,

in this time,

just like today,

you would find

an influential person,

an influential teacher

and attach yourself

to that person

in order that

as they continue

to prosper,

you would kind of

rise up with them.

That's how you do it,

right?

Especially in the business world.

And so,

this guy really

saw Jesus

as a way

of personal advancement

in society

and probably

a means

of comfort

and security,

right?

And Jesus basically said,

look,

if that's what you're

looking for,

I'm not it.

Go away.

I'm not here

to make you comfortable.

Even foxes

have places to go.

I do not.

And so,

we know

just based on

Jesus' response

what this guy

was actually looking for.

But rather,

the Christian life

is not one of comfort,

but as we're talking about,

suffering,

going against

the ways of this world,

persecution even.

And so,

this man considered

his earthly comfort

and status

more important

than actually being

redeemed,

right?

Have you ever seen

people

confess to be followers

of Jesus,

but yet in time

it just revealed

over time

that they actually

were trusting in Jesus

for some other reason?

Like to get them

somewhere else,

to give them

something that they wanted,

claiming to be believers.

So,

the second man,

very tricky here,

right?

The second man,

he said,

let me go and bury my father.

I'll follow you,

but let me first go

and bury my father.

So,

it seems like

an honorable request.

And Jesus isn't

attacking that idea

of honoring

your father

and your mother

because we know

elsewhere in the Gospels

Christ defends

the commandment

to honor your father

and your mother

against those

who really

weren't doing that.

But,

with this statement,

let me go and bury my father,

it did not even

necessarily mean

that his father

was dead yet,

for one.

So,

meaning that he was

waiting for him

to pass away.

And the phrase,

I must bury my father,

was a common figure

of speech,

which could also mean,

let me wait

for my inheritance.

Like,

let my father

pass away

and then let me

get my inheritance

and then I'll

follow you.

That's just what

this really

could mean.

And again,

Jesus isn't

going against

the commandment.

He just basically

said,

look,

this is more

important.

What I'm asking

you to do

is more important

than waiting

for your

inheritance.

Right?

It could reveal

that the man

really desired

money and title

that he would

receive

over the call

to follow

the Messiah.

Right?

So,

again,

we know

these things

just based

on how

Jesus responds

to them.

We know

he's not

attacking the

commandment

to honor

your parents.

So,

very clearly,

this guy

had a different

motive.

So,

thirdly,

the third man,

he basically

says,

let me say

farewell to those

at home.

Let me go

home,

kiss everybody

goodbye,

wrap up my

business,

and then I'll

follow you.

Of all the

requests,

this seems

the most

reasonable,

right?

Like,

it seems

like,

sure,

Jesus would

surely allow

them to go

and do that.

So,

what's the

problem?

Why does

Jesus respond

this way?

It seems

like kind

of harsh.

So,

please hold

your hand

or your

bookmark

in Luke,

but look

really quickly.

This is the

only other

place I want

you to turn,

but look at

1 Kings

really quickly.

1 Kings

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19,

and you'll

see some

very scary

parallels

in this

text,

but this

is when

Elisha

was about

to be

taken up

into heaven

and he

was passing

on his

mantle as

prophet to

Elisha.

Alright?

And look

at 1 Kings

1 Kings 19:19

19,

verse 19,

now,

just think

about how

Jesus responded

to that third

man and then

think about

this passage.

Alright?

So,

he departed

from there

and found

Elisha,

the son

of Japhat,

who was

plowing with

twelve yoke

of oxen

in front of

him,

and he

was with

the twelve.

Elijah

passed by

him and

cast his

cloak upon

him.

Symbolic.

And he

left the

oxen and

ran after

Elijah and

said,

now listen

to this,

let me

kiss my

father and

mother and

then I

will follow

you.

See the

connection?

And he

said to

him,

go back

again for

what have

I done

to you?

And he

returned from

following him,

took the

yoke of

oxen and

sacrificed them

and boiled

their flesh

with the

yokes of

oxen and

gave it to

the people

and they

ate.

Then he

arose and

went after

Elijah and

assisted him.

So,

we'll stop

there.

So,

what's amazing

is Elijah

grants that

request.

Sure,

go home,

kiss your

mother and

your father

goodbye.

But,

why did

Jesus refuse

to do it?

What's the

difference?

Well,

the difference

can be seen

in what

Elisha

actually does

when he

goes home.

He immediately

returns home,

says for a while

to his parents,

then he takes

all the oxen,

and oxen are

huge.

I saw one at

a fair a few

weeks ago.

They're like

a truck.

They're like,

you know,

Oregon Trail

doesn't do

them justice.

So,

like,

a bunch

of oxen.

So,

he sacrifices

them and

gives it

to the

Lord.

Right?

Here you

go,

Lord.

symbolic

acts of

severing

your old

lifestyle

to start

a new

one.

You see

that?

He had

nothing to

go back

to.

He destroyed

everything.

He had

nothing to

return to.

So,

this proved,

right,

that Elisha

abandoning his

home and his

livelihood proved

that his true

passion and

devotion was to

follow the

Lord's call

on his

life.

So,

Elijah didn't

mind if he

temporarily

returned home

to do

something like

that.

However,

we see clearly

that Jesus

perceived something

very different

about this

third guy.

And this is a

hard one.

He basically

said,

you may come

after me for

a little while

and you may

follow me for

a little while,

but you're

always going

to be looking

over your

shoulder.

You're always

going to be

going,

looking back

at home,

looking back

at your

family.

And at

some point,

you're going

to miss

them so

much that

you will

leave me

and you

will go

home.

And most

people don't

plow around

here.

I've done

some hay

cutting and

hay raking,

not the best

thing to do

if you have

a respiratory

problem.

people.

But like

just keeping

your rows

straight.

But if

you're

plowing a

straight line

and you're

always going

like this,

you tend

to do

this,

and so

you don't

really

accomplish

the goal.

And so

Jesus clearly

perceived that

this man would

leave him and

return back to

his family.

So he goes,

no.

Right?

So,

in case that's

not enough,

you can go

back to Luke

now.

Go back to

Luke.

Luke.

In case

that's not

enough,

Jesus goes

on to

expound more

a little

later.

Like,

look at

Luke 14.

Let's go to

Luke 14 a

few chapters

later,

and he

returns to

this idea

of discipleship.

So if that's

not enough,

again,

like Jesus

basically says,

you have to

renounce all

you have in

order to be

my disciple.

So this is

his final

journey to

Jerusalem.

Think about

this.

He's not like

the most

upbeat.

He's like

feeling lonely.

He's feeling

the weight of

what's going

to go on.

And he's

being followed

by these

crowds of

people that

basically just

want him to

do cool

tricks.

Right?

A lot of

them.

And he

just,

it's one of

those moments

where he

has it.

You know,

he's had it

and he goes,

hey,

listen to me.

Listen very

carefully.

He boldly

turns around

and confronts

this crowd,

this sort of

flirting with

him,

if you want to

put it that

way,

and warns

them of the

heavy weight

and cost it

means to be

his disciple.

Don't be

quick to

become my

follower.

And he

uses two

examples of

building,

one building,

and one going

to war to

illustrate this.

Luke 14,

Luke 14:25

verse 25.

Great crowds

accompanied him

and he

turned and

said to

them,

here it

is,

if anyone

comes to

me and

does not

hate his

own father,

mother,

wife,

children,

brothers,

sisters,

yes,

even his

own life,

he cannot

be my

disciple.

Whoever

does not

bear his

own cross

and come

after me

cannot be

my

disciple.

For which

of you

desiring to

build a

tower does

not first

sit down

and count

the cost

whether he

has enough

to complete

it?

Otherwise,

when he's

laid a

foundation

and he's

not able

to finish,

all see

it and

begin to

mock him,

saying,

this man

began to

build and

was not

able to

finish.

Or what

king,

going out

to encounter

another

king in

war,

will not

sit down

first and

deliberate

whether he

is able

with 10,000

to meet

him who

comes against

him with

20,000?

And if

not,

while the

other is

yet a

great way

off,

he sends

a delegation

and asks

for terms

of peace,

so therefore,

any one

of you,

so personal,

any one

of you

who does

not renounce

all he has

cannot be

my disciple.

Gosh.

So this

isn't like

seeker friendly,

this isn't

like he's

really wanting

to just build

a cool church

and have a lot

of people,

he's like,

no.

Like if you

don't love me

more than

anything else,

even your own

life,

you cannot

be my disciple.

That's a

condition.

Again,

it's not

replacing our

gospel message

of grace

and our

gospel message

of faith

alone in

Christ.

It basically

is just

saying,

you know

what,

if you

truly believe

who I

am,

none of

this will

be a

problem.

But as

Westerners,

as Americans,

we read this

and it just

doesn't quite

ring true,

but in

Jesus'

world,

the people

he's talking

to,

for them

to become

his disciple

could mean

death.

It could

mean separation

from family.

Many years

ago,

there might

be two people

here who

remember this,

Nathan being

one of them.

I had a

friend from

Kyrgyzstan

come and

visit and I

got like a

large crowd

of college

students,

probably like

80 to 100

in here,

to hear him

talk.

It's a

buddy of

mine,

his name's

Ossal.

And he

basically said,

hey,

in America,

when people

want to become

Christians,

they walk

the aisle,

they shake

the pastor's

hand,

they pray a

prayer,

they're baptized,

and then they

are expected

to kind of

show up on

Sunday and

be a pretty

good person

and give to

the church,

just outwardly,

right?

But he's like,

in Asia,

when you become

a Christian,

first your

family rejects

you and

kicks you

out.

Secondly,

your community

will ostracize

you.

And then

thirdly,

the government

will either

not allow

you to

work,

or they

will imprison

you or

kill you.

And then

he said,

and if

someone we've

been sharing

Christ with

does all

that,

we know

they're a

true Christian.

So,

even today,

this is true

for many

places in

the world.

And I

don't think

that Jesus

would say to

us,

hey,

Americans,

that's not

you,

so be

thankful you

live in the

land of the

free and the

home of the

brave.

I think

he would

say,

no,

I demand

that same

loyalty

from you.

And that's

chilling.

But firstly,

we see in

Luke 14

right here,

a superior

love to

family and

self,

right?

He doesn't

say,

the term

hating here

doesn't mean

malice,

evil,

towards your

family or

your friends.

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

love to

me.

You should

cultivate such

a love and

devotion to

me that all

other loves

in comparison

look like

hate.

Right?

So,

very similarly

in Matthew's

Gospel,

you don't have

to turn

here,

but very

similar

passage about

the cost of

following Jesus.

Jesus said,

do not think

that I have

come to

bring peace.

I have not

come to

bring peace,

but the

sword.

The person's

enemies will

be those of

his own

household.

So,

meaning,

that Christ's

real presence

in your life

will cause

division.

It will cause

people to

not want to

be around

you.

I lost a

lot of my

friends when

I first

became a

believer,

just because

I didn't

want to

shoot guns,

hunt,

fish,

and blow

things up

every day

anymore.

That was

like the

context of

our friendship,

plus a few

other things.

But,

some remained

friends,

but I basically

just said,

look,

I'm done

with that.

Look,

I'm not

living for

this anymore.

I just

exposed that

they weren't

really my

friends,

sort of,

to begin

with.

But,

a superior

love to

our family

and our

friends,

like it

could cost

you that.

Some of

you have

had family

issues because

you've been

loyal to

Jesus.

You've

said,

I'm not

going to

compromise on

what Christ

said.

I'm sorry.

And they've

responded harshly

to you.

They don't

understand why

you think the

way you think.

Right?

But secondly,

he wraps that

up by saying

that you have

to love me

more than

even your

own life.

and he

calls them

to bear

their cross.

Earlier

in Luke

9,

if you want

to go back

to Luke

9,

and then

we'll,

you know,

you don't

have to

turn anywhere

else.

We'll go

back to

Luke 9

really quickly.

More of a

selection of

scriptures today

from Luke.

But Luke

9,

if you go

to verse

23,

a little

earlier in

the chapter,

okay,

he says,

if any

one of

you would

come after

me,

let him

deny

himself,

take up

his cross

daily

and follow

me.

For whoever

would save

his life

would lose

it,

and whoever

loses his

life for

my sake

will save

it.

For what

does it

profit a

man if

he gains

the whole

world and

loses or

forfeits

himself or

his soul

in some

translations?

Alright,

so take

up your

cross and

not wear a

cross necklace.

It is an

invitation to

come and

suffer and

die.

I have

no problem

with cross

necklaces.

Just saying,

it is an

invitation,

it is not

a pretty

thing at

all.

One would

literally be

saying farewell

to this

life,

to their

family,

to their

plans,

and like

saying,

yep,

I could

die.

And in

the world

we are

told to

constantly,

we are

told to

protect

yourself,

promote

yourself,

preserve

yourself,

entertain

yourself,

and comfort

yourself,

Christ says,

slay

yourself.

Slay

yourself.

Not to

just abstain

from certain

things,

but to

relinquish

control of

your life.

Right?

A willingness

to follow

and serve

Him,

and to

keep His

commandments,

to suffer,

and maybe

even perhaps

die for

Him.

But think

about it

this way,

I am not

trying to

put words

in Jesus'

mouth,

so you

can check

me

here,

but

paraphrasing,

if He

said to

you,

if you

knew

that coming

after me

and being

my disciple

meant that

it could

cost you

your life,

would you

do it

anyway?

Are you

that desperate

for me?

Am I

that glorious

to you?

Would you

be willing

to give

up your

life here

to have

eternal

life later?

Would you

be willing

to?

You might

not,

but it

could happen.

Would you

still come?

Were you

that desperate?

Would you

give it

up?

So it's

not to

be a

believer,

not just

a call

to learn.

I love

theology,

I love

doctrine,

it's

awesome,

I'll

nerd out

with you

all day,

but becoming

a follower

of Jesus

is not

about just

learning some

cool things

and dogma

to make

our lives

better,

it's a

call to

a person.

And

Bonhoeffer,

Dietrich

Bonhoeffer,

a lot of

us know

that name,

he wrote

a book,

Cost of

Discipleship,

and after

it was

published in

the U.S.,

he had a

choice,

they said,

here in

America,

hey,

why don't

you stay

here?

Stay here,

you'll have a

successful

ministry,

a lot of

people will

listen to you

and trust you

and you can

have a great

ministry here

in life,

don't go back

to Germany,

right?

the Third

Reich is

firing things

up,

and he

basically

just said,

I'm paraphrasing,

like,

if I don't

go back

to Germany,

everything I

wrote in

this book

is a

lie.

And so

he goes

back,

you know,

and we all

know the

story,

he eventually

is martyred

by the

Nazis.

But he

said,

salvation

is free.

Thank

goodness,

right?

But

discipleship

will cost

you your

life.

And so

salvation

costs nothing,

but discipleship

will cost

us everything.

And it's

a lifetime.

Delinquished

control of

all things.

If I had

to pull

in a passage

that Paul

wrote that

goes alongside

this,

right?

Talking about

the death

of Jesus,

he says,

he died

for all

so that

all those

who live

would no

longer live

for themselves,

but for

him who

died and

was raised

for their

sake.

Second

Corinthians

5.15,

that we

would no

longer live

for ourselves,

but live

for him

who saved

us.

So if you

are a

believer,

have you

taken the

command of

Christ to

deny yourself

and take up

your cross

daily,

seriously?

Or is it

just floating

around?

I confess

there's many

days I'm

just sort

of getting

by and I'm

not really

thinking about

what it

means to

follow Jesus

daily in

the context

that I

am,

denying

myself,

denying

myself

comfort,

sleep,

food,

whatever else,

things that

I want

for the sake

of other

people,

and to

give those

over fully

to Christ.

Has your

life reflected

a love and

devotion to

Christ that

appears funny

and different

to the fallen

world around

you?

Already you

just blend

in and

nothing looks

different.

It's something

to think

about.

So all

of that

was point

number one.

Christ

demands that

you weigh

the cost.

And then

wrapping it

up,

point number

two,

this is the

beautiful part.

Christ is

worth losing

everything to

gain.

Right?

Christ is

worth losing

everything to

gain.

Right?

The reality

is that

Christ alone

is worthy

of our lives.

It overrides

everything

else.

No human

relationship,

no employment,

no hobby,

or anything

else you

have compares

to the

greatness of

knowing Jesus

Christ our

Lord.

All things can

be taken away

from you.

And one of

my questions

I asked guys

I'm sharing

the gospel was

like, hey

man, what are

you living

for?

And they'll

say, fill

in the blank,

you know,

money,

comfortable

life, to

be a good

athlete, to

get married

and have a

nice place

to live

and a good

job, to

have good

health.

That's a big

one.

Especially when

you're talking

to college

students because

they think

that they're

invincible.

And then

you just

say, can