Jesus warned His listeners that it would not be easy to be His disciple. Matthew 10:34-39  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘Set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Jesus said He did not come to bring peace.  He means that those who follow him may very well have conflicts in their life.  In a family, if one of the family members has faith in Jesus and the other members did not, there will be conflict; in some extreme cases the family members become enemies of each other based upon their faith.  This happened in the time of the early church and has also happened in some families today.  A new Christian needs to count the cost and understand that they are called to love Jesus more than their parents, their son or daughter, or anyone else.

Then Jesus said “He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” I have always found it odd that Jesus uses the analogy of a cross at this time in His ministry before He was crucified.  But the disciples of Jesus must have understood the analogy.  Bearing one’s cross implies accepting the pain of self-denial.  The cross is the symbol of doing our duty, even at the cost of the most painful death. Jesus obeyed the Father and fulfilled His ministry against much opposition; He obeyed even unto death on the cross.  As a result, the cross has stood as the emblem of suffering for the sake of Christ and the gospel.  Each one of us may have a different cross that we must take up.  However, if we do not take up our cross and follow Jesus, we are not worthy of Him. We follow Him by taking Him as our master, our teacher, our example and our savior.

Then Jesus said “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” He who selfishly does what he wants and avoids commitment to Jesus will in a sense find his life.  But, by doing so, he will waste his life and lose eternal life.  On the other hand, he who loses his life by giving his life to Jesus and accepting the cross that he must bear, will find fullness in life and receive eternal life.

In a parallel passage in the gospel of Luke, Jesus goes on to use other analogies. Luke 14:28-33  “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

Suppose you go down the street in your city and see the weathered frame of a house with walls but no roof or windows or doors and grass growing up through the foundation.  You would wonder why the house was never finished.  Perhaps the owner did not count the cost of building his house and got so far and never finished it.  Or suppose the leader of your country decides to go to war with another country without considering that the other country has more soldiers, better air force and navy, better weapons and greater resources.  Or else, before he actually goes to war, he decides to come to peaceful terms with the other country.  These are real world examples.  Whether it is the homeowner that starts to build a house or the leader of the country that is considering going to war, they need to count the cost before starting something that they cannot finish with success.  In the same way, before we decide to become a disciple of Jesus, we should consider what the cost will be to follow Jesus.  Are we willing to dedicate our lives as true followers of Jesus and finish with success?

Jesus later had more to say about this matter. Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.’”

Here Jesus adds “let him deny himself”.  Following Jesus requires self-denial.  We are told what we must deny ourselves in Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Part of counting the cost of following Jesus is realizing that we must deny ourselves ungodliness and worldly lusts.

Jesus also talks about profit and loss, which is part of counting the cost.  If you save your life and even gain the whole world, but you lose your soul, you have made a poor decision.  On the other hand, if lose your life by give yourself to Jesus, you will be rewarded by the Father and gain eternal life; you have made the best decision and will come out in the end far better.  I encourage you to count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus and renew your decision to follow Him.