Jesus on Discipleship - Introduction

Last Sunday we were confronted with a passage of Scripture not typically found in the forefront of sermons and Bible studies.  In Matthew 10:34-38 Jesus speaks in part to the cost of being His disciple.  “37He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me.  38And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” 

With strong and graphic language Jesus reveals that being His disciple requires placing Him at the center of our lives.  What does that look like?  To some, it will look like we hate our families because of our steadfast devotion to Jesus.  To others, we may look foolish for meeting head-on the struggles that following Jesus will bring instead of running away.  In short, being a disciple looks like one who is willing to suffer loss of relationships and what is known as “the good life” to stay in step with Him.

Martin Luther seems to capture the attitude of a disciple in His sixteenth century hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.  The fourth verse states: “…let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also…”  To a disciple, the value of following Jesus is so great that to do so is more precious than material goods, earthly relationships, even our very lives.

Jesus has much to say about being His disciple and I want to explore this in four of our upcoming weekly papers.  Jesus commands us to “make disciples.”  To do this, we must know what a disciple looks like.  There is no greater authority on the topic than Jesus Himself.  I encourage you to track with this series of articles as we encounter Jesus speaking on discipleship.