Jesus was on His final journey to Jerusalem, and great crowds were traveling with Him. Now, He addresses the people and gives three conditions for discipleship in the Gospel today.
First, Jesus demands a commitment from His disciples greater than one’s attachment to family members. Second, a disciple of Jesus must carry his own cross. This means embracing suffering, sacrifice, and self-denial. And, third, a disciple must renounce all their possessions. We must surrender attachment to material possessions and personal ambitions, and prioritize the Kingdom of God over worldly wealth and security.
Jesus, then, tells two parables to flesh out these three conditions.: one about building a tower, and one about a king going to war. We need to count the cost of discipleship and be fully committed.
Each parable illustrates the need for preparation and assessment to ensure that we can complete the demanding journey of discipleship. We need to understand the sacrifices involved, and whether or not we are willing to pay the full price of following Jesus. The second parable highlights how victory in our spiritual battles involves prudently overcoming obstacles like temptation, persecution, and worldly attachments.
His message to us today is really about our commitment to Him, our own dedication to His Gospel values, and our allegiance to Christ over everyone and everything else in our lives.
His bottom line challenge is to ask us the question, “Is there any personal cost for being a Christian, for being a disciple, for trying to live the Gospel?” For example, “Has it cost you your time, your talent, your money or property, your reputation, or the possibility of a promotion, or your family peace and harmony to follow Him?
This Gospel message is about our personal cost, the cost of being a Christian, the cost of being ridiculed, being laughed at, of being ignored or rejected, the cost of being foolish. “Does being a Christian ever cost me anything?”
Just look over the past few weeks, months, or years and examine your life. Was there any time you felt you had to pay a price, even a small one, for being a Christian? Think about it.
People want to follow Jesus without a cross, without personal cost, without sacrifice. Yet, the cross is the proving ground of our discipleship. It is where we show our fidelity, our loyalty to Christ.
We all have a cross. It is obviously not a wooden cross like that of Calvary. But, it can be the cross of a family problem, an illness, a troubling, or troubled person at work. It can be a personal burden of our own that we have. It can be responsibilities we have or the cross of trying to be a family.
Everyone has cross. And, every cross is unique. Our cross is like our fingerprint. No two are the same. People may have the same illness, but the pain is experienced differently, personally. Carrying our cross is our way, our unique, and very personal way of showing our fidelity to the Lord. That is a cost to be a disciple, to be a Christian.
The cross is part of life. We can either stare at the cross, complain about it, curse it, ignore it, deny it, or follow Jesus by carrying it as faithfully as we can. Each of us has a cross. But, we don’t have to worry about it. We can carry our cross because God is with us always. He is walking with us to help us.
Commenting and talking about the cross doesn’t bring salvation. We have to carry it. Each Mass is a chance to break the silence that follows Jesus’ question about whether we are willing to carry our cross and follow Him.
We are walking with Jesus either as a crowd of fans or as committed disciples. The fans will hear and sing about new life in Christ. But, only the disciple will know the power and peace and glory of the new life that comes from carrying our cross with Christ, whatever that cross may be.
We must ‘count the cost’ and be ready to follow Jesus in the way of the cross if we want to share in His glory and victory. The Lord does not leave us alone if we choose to follow Him.
Here, we are blessed with His word; here, we are blessed with His real presence among us; here, we have received the grace we need to seek Him, to find Him, and to follow Him.
“Lord Jesus, enlighten our minds and hearts to count the cost of being your disciple. Do not let us be overwhelmed by any suffering or trials ahead. We need to be confident in your grace and power. As well, do not let us be blind to the dangers ahead. Grant us true humility to know our strengths and weaknesses and how to trust more deeply in the Father’s care. Amen.”