Follow Me…What Jesus Requires From Disciples

The question I want to start by asking is this…Why do some begin with a passionate zeal for Jesus but soon fizzle out? Why do some rave about what Jesus has done in their life but soon forget about Him? Why do some say, “I am all in on Christianity,” but don’t live a life devoted to what Christ values? Invariably we all can come up with multiple reasons why this happens. May I propose a reason that is often left undiscussed? “They were never truly told what Jesus said following Him (i.e., discipleship) requires.”

The word “requirement” often scares us when we are discussing salvation. And rightfully so, we should be wary of ever making salvation a works based gift instead of the free and marvelous gift that God says it is (Eph. 2:8-9). The 500-year anniversary of the Reformation reminds of this importance. But conversely, we must also be cautious of underemphasizing what following Jesus requires. The good thing is that Jesus wasn’t ambiguous. In Luke 9 Jesus very clearly communicates His requirements for being His disciple. But first, let’s understand the context of this passage.

Luke 9:57a And as they were going along the road,

Jesus is traveling along a road around Capernaum with His wider group of disciples’ (i.e., not just the 12 disciples). And the reason He is on this road is that He is desirous of a brief respite from all the ministry that He has been doing. And it’s as he is traveling along this road that three men receive from Jesus a clear lesson regarding what is required to follow Him.

DISCIPLES MUST FORSAKE COMFORT

Luke 9:57b someone said to Him, I will follow You wherever You go.”

So, apparently, they are moving along the road and a person in Jesus group of disciples pipes up and says, “I’m all in.” The Gospel of Matthew helps us to see that this man was actually a Scribe (Mt. 8:18-19). For this man to outspokenly assent to follow Jesus was to depart from his posse, friends, and peers. This truly was a bold move. But notice how Jesus responds, He says, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Lk. 9:58).

Instead of a simple “Let’s Go”! Jesus responded with a statement. Jesus, knew that all this Scribe wanted was the comfort and the popularity that came with being associated with Him. There wasn’t a genuine desire to be made right with God. There wasn’t a genuine desire reject his former manner of life. This bold profession wasn’t because he had been brought to his knees out of the awareness of his sinfulness. It was simply he wanted the comfort and popularity that came with Jesus. 

So, Jesus essentially says, Scribe, man, your misplaced desire for comfort and popularity will not be found by following Me. You want earthly benefits but don’t realize following Me requires earthly sacrifice.  And in Jesus response we find an important truth for all Christians today. Following Christ does not promise comfort in this life. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Following Christ brings a promise of hate from the world because of our allegiance to Him (Lk. 21:17).

DISCIPLES MUST RePRIORiTIZE

Luke 9:59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

Our second exchange between Jesus and professing disciple happens when He says, “Follow me”. And the man responds with “Permit me first to go and bury my father.” The man’s response on the surface seems like a legitimate one. Not only was it the responsibility of the sons to bury their father in that culture (Gen. 25:9; 35:29; Lev. 21:2-3), this just seems like the right thing to do, right? Well again, Jesus response makes us see that there was something deficient in this 2nd man’s response to Jesus call. Jesus says… “But He said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead;” (Lk 9:60a). 

Well that’s harsh, right? That’s very unloving of Jesus. Who would want to follow a Savior who would say something this insensitive? Now while there have been multiple explanations regarding why Jesus said this (e.g., this man wanted to receive his inheritance, he would become unclean, etc…), the principle is still clear. Our priority to follow Christ is greater than any other priority that we have. This is evident as we read the ending of Jesus response to this second man, “but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:60b). 

Warren Weirsbe succinctly summarizes this exchange, “Jesus was not asking the man to be disrespectful to his father (who was not yet dead), but to have the right priorities in life. It is better to preach the Gospel and give life to the spiritually dead than to wait for your father to die and bury him.”

DISCIPLES MUST BE LASER FOCUSED

Luke 9:61a And another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”

This third man was obviously present and probably heard Jesus conversations with the previous two men and couldn’t help but declare his allegiance to Christ. But he also, as the 2nd man, had a stipulation, “I want to say goodbye to my friends and family.”

All this man wanted to do was to say goodbye to his loved ones before their journey across the Sea of Galilee. Again, this doesn’t seem like too bad of a proposition, right? He’s not asking to stay a long time. But once again we learn much from Jesus response, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:62). In other words, a disciple must be laser focused upon Christ, His Word, His Kingdom, and His work.

To not be laser focused upon following Christ as Lord over our lives and to constantly look back is to showcase an allegiance to the world that is more important than our professed allegiance to Christ. 

DISCIPLES MUST BE FULLY COMMITtED

While we are not Jesus, and we cannot see into the hearts of men and women. May we not shy away from declaring the Gospel in a faithful manner. A Gospel that not only is a free and marvelous gift, but the same Gospel that requires an all-out commitment (discipleship) to Jesus because that is the only reasonable response (Rom. 12:1-2)! As Vance Havner said, “Our Lord never put discipleship in fine print in the contract. He called on us to forsake all, take up our cross, deny self, love him more than anything else. We are not our own, we are brought with a price, the personal property of Jesus Christ with no right to anything. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

May we not make discipleship a fine print when Jesus did not!