In Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus almost challenging the great crowds in attendance, most of whom know Jesus as a teacher, not as a Savior. Jesus wants people to understand more fully the cost of discipleship. Jesus understands that discipleship is a very personal journey: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” These are words designed to shock people into thinking, and not blindly go with neighbors as they follow Jesus.
Jesus presents the essence of the Truth: In order to have the freedom to love, to respect and to follow Jesus, it is necessary to deconstruct familial obligations and social customs or controls. To be free means to make decisions that might vary from those of your father or your mother. When you give yourself to Jesus, you are changed.
Jesus is again blunt: “In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions, cannot be my disciples.” ALL possessions? Possessions are the good-news-bad-news of our lives. We collect possessions, even as they limit us and take resources (time, money) to control or maintain them. How many things does one really need to live?
Jesus is also clear with the great crowds as related to his fate....“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Jesus clearly sees the road he and his followers are on.
--Jackie Bacon,
OLMC, December 14, 2021
Image source: https://bible.art/meaning/luke-14%3A26
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