THE HIGH COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
Wisdom 9:13-18b | Psalm 90 | Philemon 9-10, 12-17 | Luke 14:25-33
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
Christianity is not cheap, and discipleship is not for the fainthearted. In today’s Gospel (Luke 14:25-33), Jesus makes it clear: following Him comes with serious demands. He is brutally honest—He doesn’t lure anyone with empty promises of comfort or prosperity. Instead, He lays down a standard so radical that only the determined remain.
He uses two parables to drive home the point: no builder starts a house without calculating the cost; no king goes to battle without checking his army’s strength. In the same way, no one should claim to follow Jesus without first asking: Am I ready to pay the price?
Sadly, many Christians love Jesus’ miracles but reject His cross. At His ministry’s peak, the crowds were large, but at Calvary, only a handful remained. True discipleship is not about cheering Jesus in the crowd but carrying His cross in commitment.
Let us then unpack the demands of discipleship:
- Absolute Renunciation: “Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33) Renunciation doesn’t mean hating your parents or despising your life literally. It means loving God above all things. Jesus Himself explained in Matthew 10:37: “Anyone who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Discipleship requires letting go of idols, money, pride, lust, gossip, envy, materialism, that subtly take God’s place. At baptism, we renounced Satan and his empty promises, yet many of us later reclaimed them through sinful living.
To be a disciple, renunciation must be:
- Not partial, but total.
- Not temporary, but permanent.
- Not external, but from the heart.
- A Church that doesn’t teach renunciation is raising followers of convenience, not disciples of the cross.
2.Taking Up the Cross: “Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27). The cross is not optional—it is central. A Christianity without the cross is a fraud. You cannot be in the wrong ship and arrive at the right destination! The cross is both bitter and beautiful:
- A sign of death but a promise of life.
- A symbol of suffering but a gateway to glory.
- A weight that crushes pride but lifts up the humble.
- Job understood this paradox:“If we accept good from God, shall we not accept trouble too?” (Job 2:10).
Beloved, that unanswered prayer, that loss, that disappointment—those are crosses. They may be bitter, but they make you better. Jesus Himself prayed, “Father, take this cup away,” but surrendered, “Yet not my will but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). The cross you carry today is shaping the crown you’ll wear tomorrow.
3.Following Jesus:
To follow Jesus is not to chase comfort but to embrace commitment. It means:
- Obeying His commandments (John 14:15).
- Remaining steadfast when mocked, persecuted, or marginalized (Matthew 5:11-12).
- Resisting corruption, oppression, and ungodly systems (Acts 5:29).
Following Christ may cost you friends, family approval, wealth, or position. But it guarantees eternal life. For what we lose for Christ, we gain in God. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”(Psalm 23:6)
Discipleship is not about being a fan of Jesus, it’s about being a follower. Fans cheer when things go well, but disciples stay when the cross gets heavy. Christianity is not a cheap religion; it is a costly relationship. So today, Jesus asks: Will you still follow Me when the crowd disperses and the cross appears?
4 Wisdom & Love in Discipleship
The first reading reminds us: “Who can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills?” (Wis. 9:13). Left to ourselves, we cannot understand the mystery of God’s call; but through the gift of the Spirit, God makes His ways known. This means discipleship is not just human effort—it is grace-enabled. On our own, renunciation and cross-bearing seem impossible, but with divine wisdom, the Spirit strengthens us to endure and discern rightly.
In the second reading, Paul’s letter to Philemon shows us another face of discipleship—love in action. Paul appeals not with authority but with love, asking Philemon to accept Onesimus not as a slave but as a beloved brother (Philem. 16). True discipleship transforms relationships: it breaks social barriers, heals divisions, and makes us see one another through the eyes of Christ. To follow Jesus, therefore, is not only to renounce possessions and bear the cross but also to embrace others in love, even when it costs us our pride, comfort, or position.
