“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Lk. 9:24)
“If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.…So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple” (Lk. 14:26f, 33).
The Lord Jesus had a great multitude of people following Him that day. He sifted the crowd by explaining the high cost of being His disciple.
Love for Christ (v. 26)
He began by saying that if anyone would come to Him to be His disciple and did not hate his father, mother, wife, children, and brethren, and even his own self, he could not be His disciple. Some would object and say that the Lord is teaching that a disciple must hate his family in order to be a true disciple. However, the best commentary on Scripture is Scripture. The meaning of this passage is made very clear as we look at other instances where the Lord made similar statements. In Matthew 10, where the Lord is again explaining the high cost of discipleship, He makes this statement: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.”
When considering these verses in the full light of the New Testament, Jesus was not demanding literal hatred. He would not command, “Honor your father and mother” (Mk. 7:9-13), and simultaneously demand that we hate them. The Scripture would not command, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25), and then advise husbands to hate their spouses. What Jesus was saying was simply that our love for Him must be so great and so all-encompassing that our natural love of self and family should pale in comparison. He is to be our first loyalty. All other relationships must take second place. No one can take precedence over the Lord Jesus. And we must not only be willing to place our relationship with Christ above everyone else, but we must also be willing to renounce “even our own life” and put the interests of Christ above our own. He who is not willing to follow the Lord Jesus in such a radical way cannot be His disciple.
Death to Self (v. 27)
The Lord then expanded upon the thought of discipleship by saying that a man who does not bear his cross cannot be His disciple. In Luke 9:23 He said, “if any man will come after Me let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” The cross is an instrument of execution. The Lord is saying, “He who does not take up the instrument that speaks of death to self cannot be My disciple.”
Taking up the cross is, in reality, a series of deaths. It is a perpetual, daily dying to self and putting the interests of Christ above our own. The apostle Paul described the taking up of the cross as the crucified life when he said, “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Paul would also say, “But God forbid that I should glory, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). In Luke 9:23 it says that this is a daily self denial, a daily bearing of the cross. We often wonder if we can have a one-time surrender of our lives, but the Lord said it is a daily surrender. Jim Elliott said, “one cannot surrender a life in a moment of time; it takes a lifetime to surrender a life.”
At a conference last summer, I met two young men who had just visited William MacDonald and had a chance to discuss the real issues of life with him. They had asked Mr. MacDonald if he had set out to accomplish the writing of a one-volume commentary on the entire Bible, along with all his other books and accomplishments. His response was profound. His answer was no! He said all he did was get up every morning and tell the Lord, “Here is my life. You can do anything with it that You desire.” He continued, “All that has been accomplished was the Lord’s doing, one day at a time. Full surrender as a disciple of Christ is a daily denial of self and the taking up of the cross and following Him.”
In verses 28-32 the Lord uses the illustration of a builder building a tower and a king preparing for war. These verses can be viewed from the perspective of the workers and soldiers or from the perspective of the builder and the king. From the workers’ and soldiers’ point of view, they must count the cost to see if they are ready to be a part of such a building project or to go into battle with this king. From the builder’s and king’s point of view, they must count the cost and decide whether they have the right workers and soldiers to accomplish their task. But what is the point of these two illustrations from the Lord’s perspective? Are we the type of disciples that He would choose for a building project? Are we the type of disciples that He would enlist to fight His battles? Do we have a commitment level that will work to see the project finished and fight until the battle is won?
Forsaking All (v. 33)
There is a progression in the level of commitment in these verses. First, we are to put Him above all family relations. Second we are to deny even our own selves. Finally, in verse 33 the Lord says that whosoever does not forsake all cannot be His disciple. This speaks of something far more than just abandonment of one’s material possessions; it is absolute, unconditional surrender. Christ’s disciples are permitted to retain no privileges and make no demands. Their commitment to Him must be without reservation. In verses 26, 27, and 33 the Lord concludes His comments in each of these verses by saying that a person who does not meet each requirement cannot be His disciple.
Calvin wrote, “I have given up everything for Christ and what have I found? I have found everything.” Paul describes his experience in Philippians 3:7 where he says “But what things that were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “For me to live is Christ.” And the Lord said, “For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it. For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be a castaway?” (Lk. 9:24f). These two verses are not talking about salvation from hell, but the saving of a life so that it will count for all eternity. It is the difference between a saved soul and a saved life. In God’s estimation, a life lived for Christ is worth the whole world.
The only logical conclusion to the Lord’s teaching in these verses is found in Romans 12:1: “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
“one cannot surrender a life in a moment of time; it takes a lifetime to surrender a life.”
—Jim Elliott