A Stark Choice

Wow! Hard words! It was easier when Jesus was telling parables.

If you are reading from the NIV, you might want to turn to the CEV for this section. It reads: “You cannot be my disciple unless you love me more than you love your father and mother” etc. (v 26). This reflects more accurately what Jesus meant. It clearly follows on from yesterday’s reading.

The words in v 27 are often misapplied in ordinary conversation when people say something like “I just had to listen to my mother-in-law complaining for an hour on the phone. Oh well, it’s just my cross, I suppose.” Usually said with some resignation about something irritating that we just have to put up with.

If you think about what the cross meant to Jesus, you won’t use his words this way. Crucifixion was common in the Roman Empire. No doubt, many in the crowd would have seen condemned people dying on a cross. It was always done in a public place as a warning to potential “criminals.” As part of the punishment, the victims were forced to carry their cross to the site of their crucifixion.

How could anyone contemplate joining Jesus on his way to the cross? Well, they couldn’t, if you read the rest of the gospel story. At the moment of testing, Peter denied him. At his crucifixion, all the disciples deserted him and fled.

But then he rose from the dead. He appeared alive to his disciples. They waited, on his instruction, for six weeks. Then the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, and the same fearful people were filled with a courage they never knew before.

Most of us will never be faced with the same stark threat of the Roman world. But there is a cost to being a Christian, and we will be challenged. If we choose to follow Jesus as our top priority and know what it means to have the Holy Spirit a daily presence in our lives, we can know the exhilaration of being a true disciple.

Respond in Prayer

Lord Jesus, You have faced me with a stark reality. I can be like the people in your stories here, and give up because the cost is too much, and I didn’t reckon on this when I first decided to follow you. Or I can step out and trust you and live a life in the joy and power of the Holy Spirit as your true disciple. Help me make the right choice. Amen.

Annabel Robinson

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®).