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25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ~ Luke 14:25-27
When the Lord Jesus left the meal at the Pharisee’s house, great crowds followed Him, but they weren't really following Him. He knew that most of those in the crowd wanted only to see miracles. The expectations of the crowds were in accordance to their definition of life, not His.
These who were following the Lord Jesus that day didn't understand the difference between justification and sanctification. Justification is a one time event when we trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin. This is our entrance into the family of God. Sanctification, on the other hand, is the process that we enter after being justified before God whereby God is changing us from the inside out. We embrace this process of sanctification more and more as we recognize this is the truth and it is worth dying for.
In fact, this is why many find themselves embracing the false teaching of earning our salvation. This is why we must understand that there is one pathway to justification which is faith in Christ alone. After we have entered into a relationship with God, we enter this process called sanctification which is the process we go through whereby God is changing our minds and our wills. We can have justification without sanctification, but we cannot have sanctification without justification. This explains why there are some Christians who seem to be deeper in their walk with the Lord.
According to v.25, the Lord Jesus turned to the crowds and began teaching on discipleship which only appeals to the justified. To be a “disciple” is to be one who attaches himself to a Rabbi in order to learn from Him. Perhaps our nearest modern equivalent is “apprentice,” one who learns by watching and by doing. The word disciple was the most common name for the followers of Jesus Christ and is used 264 times in the Gospels and the book of Acts.
The Lord Jesus clearly made a distinction between justification and sanctification. And, discipleship is synonymous with sanctification. Justification is open to all who will come to Him for justification by faith, while discipleship is for believers willing to pay a price. Justification means coming to the cross and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sin, while discipleship means denying self, carrying our cross and following the Lord Jesus.
In New Testament days, at the age of five, young boys went to the local synagogue school to learn Hebrew and memorize the Torah. By the time of his bar mitzvah at age 13, a typical Jewish young man was very conversant with God’s Word having memorized the whole Old Testament.
Those young men who showed great promise in this initial phase of learning were encouraged to continue their education following their bar mitzvahs. This would entail studying the wisdom and authoritative interpretation of the Torah by the sages known as “The Rabbi.”
After that next multi-year phase, the young men who continued to show great promise were further encouraged to extend their training by spending time (typically from ages 17-20) with a rabbi in a multi-year yeshiva experience. There they would hone their ability to interpret God’s Word as it relates to all the practical issues of daily life.
According to v.26-27, to be Christ's disciple, we must increasingly love Christ supremely, even though we will never be perfect in doing so. We must remember here that we are not earning our justification, we are experiencing His sanctification.
The word "hate" in v.26 does not suggest positive antagonism but rather "to love less." Our love for Christ must be so strong that all other love is like hatred in comparison. In fact, we must hate our own lives and be willing to bear the cross after Him.
Being Christ's disciple demands abandonment of our priorities. We take on a completely different worldview, past, present and future. And it all begins with an abandonment of us calling our own shots. Again, we will never be perfect at this, but to the degree that we are sanctified will be the degree that we grow in God's wisdom.
In v.27 to “carry the cross” means to daily die to self and to live unto God and His will. The cross was a tool accomplishing a slow, agonizing death. It means death to self, to our own plans, and ambitions, and a willingness to serve Him as He directs. A cross is something we willingly accept from God as part of His will for our lives.
The word “carry,” bastazō, metaphorically means to bear a burden, to bear pain or to bear suffering. We have come to the place where we're willing to put our lives on the line, take whatever comes, even if it's death. We do this because we see that His heart is for us and He and His way is the truth.
