The Cost Of Following Jesus
In this lesson we will look at some things
Jesus said to people who were almost ready
to follow him, or who had just begun to
follow him. The passage to read is Luke
14:25-33.
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone
comes to me and does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brothers
and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he
cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who
does not carry his cross and follow me
cannot be my disciple. 28 "Suppose one of
you wants to build a tower. Will he not
first sit down and estimate the cost to see
if he has enough money to complete it? 29
For if he lays the foundation and is not
able to finish it, everyone who sees it will
ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began
to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or
suppose a king is about to go to war against
another king. Will he not first sit down and
consider whether he is able with ten
thousand men to oppose the one coming
against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he
is not able, he will send a delegation while
the other is still a long way off and will
ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way,
any of you who does not give up everything
he has cannot be my disciple.
Large crowds were going with Jesus, but he
knew that not all of them realized how much
he really demanded of them. Maybe some
thought they would follow Jesus just because
it seemed to offer an exciting change from
the routine, or because they found his
teaching interesting.
The first thing he told them sounds
shocking: "If you want to follow me you must
hate your family members." Did Jesus mean
that we are not to love our parents or that
we should mistreat our brothers and sisters?
No. In the language of Jesus’ time the word
"hate" was often used to mean "to love
someone less than someone else." For a
follower of Jesus, love for one’s own family
must take second place.
1. According to Jesus, who should his
follower love even more than his own family?
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2. If a follower has to choose between doing
what his family wants and doing what Jesus
commands, whom must he obey?
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Jesus also said that to be his follower one
must hate even his own life.
3. If a follower has to choose between doing
what he himself wants and doing what Jesus
commands, whom must he obey?
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Then Jesus told two parables. The first was
about a man who wanted to build a tower, the
second about a king going to war. Both
parables make the same point. Think about
them carefully, then answer the following
questions.
4. Why is it important for a person who
wants to build a tower to carefully estimate
how much it will cost?
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5. Why is it important for a person to
consider what it will cost him before
deciding to follow Jesus?
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6. Why does a king need to consider the
strength of his enemy before deciding to
fight a war?
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7. Why must a person who wants to be a
follower of Jesus first consider how strong
the opposition will be?
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8. What do you think it would cost you to
follow Jesus?
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