What does it mean to carry your cross? Luke 14:25-35

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Jesus said whoever does not carry his cross cannot be his disciple, followed by startling claims about hating your family and your own life. If we claim to follow Jesus, then we need to know exactly what he requires to be his disciple.

Passage

²⁵Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  ²⁷Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. ³⁴Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  – Luke 14:25-35

Broadly speaking, people approach this passage two different ways:

1. Some take the passage at face value, arguing that we can’t follow Jesus unless we literally (to one degree or another) hate our parents, take up our crosses and give all our possessions to the poor.
2. Others argue that since we know believers are justified by faith alone, being a disciple is something extra that not every believer is called to do and is not required to be saved.

Disciple = Believer?

• In the New Testament, the word disciple is used interchangeably with the word believer (e.g. Acts 11:26).
• You can be a disciple without ultimately coming to faith. But if you believe, you are also a disciple (e.g. John 6:60-69; John 8:31-32).
• See What is a disciple?

Peter’s confession

Jesus uses similar language in other contexts.  These other contexts give us some explanation as to what Jesus means in Luke 14.

Jesus uses this same language in the talk he gives after Peter’s confession (Mark 8:27-38; Luke 9:18-27; Matthew 16:13-28).

• Jesus asks his disciples who the crowds think he is. 
• They answer, some say John the Baptist, other say Elijah and others say one of the prophets who has risen.
• Jesus asks, who do you say I am. Peter answers, you are the Christ. 
• Then Jesus explains that he is going to be killed and raised again. 
• Peter pulls Jesus aside, saying he can’t die.  Jesus rebukes Peter, then turns to his disciples and the crowd and gives a talk.

In each of the talks after Peter’s confession, Jesus tells them three things in addition to this language about taking up your cross.

1. Whoever would save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will find it. 
2. What will it profit you if you gain the world and lose your own soul?
3. Whoever is ashamed of Jesus, Jesus will be ashamed of him. 

Sending the twelve

Jesus also uses this language in the talk he gives the twelve before he sends them out on a missionary journey (Matthew 10:1-42). Jesus warns them that they will be persecuted because they follow him.

These talks have a similar theme: What are you going to do when others make you suffer the way they made Jesus suffer? 

Jesus is teaching that choosing to follow Jesus often means losing something in this world — from family to freedom to your very life.  

Passage

²⁵Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”  – Luke 14:25-26

• Jesus uses strong language to get their attention.
• The thing that you love is the thing that you hold on to; the thing that you hate is the thing that you let go of.
• Jesus is picturing a scenario in which the gospel divides a family.  Those who reject Jesus are also likely to reject other family members who accept Jesus. Those who accept the gospel are then faced with a hard choice:  who’s side are you on: Jesus or your family?
• Compare with Matthew 10:34-38; 16:24-26.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:27

• A cross is not something you use to commit suicide. A cross is something that somebody else nails you to.
• The crowds following Jesus were familiar with the scene of a condemned criminal carrying his cross to the place of his execution.
• In all the contexts where we see this language about carrying your cross, the context is the world will hate you and make you suffer for following Jesus.
• Carrying your cross is having the willingness to accept the rejection of the world.

²⁸For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.   – Luke 14:28-32

• Jesus is not saying decide whether you have what it takes to be my disciple. If you don’t have it, quit before you start. None of us has what it takes.
• The builder is wise not to start construction. The king is wise to seek terms of surrender before the stronger king arrives. The analogy is to our standing before God.
• If I think that someday I’m going to stand for before the throne of God and convince Him that I deserve heaven on my own, I’m a fool.  I’m going to lose that case. 
• The wise course is assess your situation realistically now and choose to follow Jesus.
• In other words, I need to realize the cost of discipleship is worth whatever I lose in this world, even if it’s my life. 

³³So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. ³⁴Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  – Luke 14:33-35

• In this context, Luke 14:33 is not a command to give away all your possession. Rather, nothing in this life should be more important than following Jesus. In that sense, you should be willing to lose everything.
• It’s going to cost you to follow Jesus.  It could cost you the affection of your family, your career, the respect and approval of your peers, or your very life.  Is that cross you are willing to carry?

For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.

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Series: The Parables of Jesus: Pictures of the Kingdom

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