There is a cost when you become a Christian. In our zeal to win souls, do we neglect to tell people the cost of becoming a disciple of Jesus? It is not about being baptised or singing in a choir. We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. We are to come to God on His terms. See Luke 14:27. There are two main barriers that we face.

1 – The barrier of human comforts (vs. 18-20)

Note these two human comfort barriers that prevented this man from following Jesus:-

• He expressed a willingness to follow Jesus anywhere. The scribes were scholars who upheld all the Jewish traditions of the day. A scribe proclaims that he is ready to follow Jesus anywhere. The scribe calls Jesus a great teacher. He knew about Jesus but he did not know Jesus.
• A commendable offer, but does he know what it means? Jesus did not even have the comforts of the animals! He has nowhere to lay his head. The “Son of Man” shows the humiliation of Jesus. The Lord Jesus is both God and man. He who had created all things has nowhere to lay his head. Jesus did not have a tent, never mind a home. He owned nothing in this world. See John 7:53-8:1. Jesus had no home to go to. Jesus lived under the stars.

Words are not enough. Shallow declarations will not cut it with Jesus. There were many who followed Jesus because of the miracles that they saw. It is the same today. Things are fine until things don’t go your way. You have to count the cost of following Jesus. See Matthew 13:8, Luke 8:4-15 and Mark 4:1-20. It is tougher to be a Christian. Why? See 2 Timothy 3:12. If you don’t live a godly life than things are easier as you have few rules if any. The Devil knows you are on your way to Hell!

2 – The barrier of human circumstances (vs. 21-22)

Notice these barriers.

• Putting family responsibilities before the Lord. This was a man who followed the Lord from a distance. He wanted time to go bury his father before he followed Jesus. Jesus seems harsh. This was a common expression used in the Far East. The father was not dead. He wanted to look after the family responsibilities until his father was dead. If he doesn’t look after these affairs then he would lose his inheritance. He doesn’t want to miss out on his money!
• Accepting jobs when they know it will hinder their service to the Lord. He has to count the cost all right! He will follow Jesus – when he gets his inheritance. Jesus calls us to follow him – NOW. Let this old world take care of its own affairs. We are not to be so tied to our jobs, family and money that we can’t follow Jesus. What you get is a whole lot more than you give up!

There are many good and noble things that can be done in relation to kin and occupation. But as Disciples of Christ, we have a higher and nobler calling – 1 Peter 2:9-10. So count the cost!

Categories: Matthew