Counting When It Counts – Part 2
If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple [Luke 14:26-27].
We concluded yesterday’s study by noting the need to put Luke 14:27 into context, in order to understand it aright.So what is the context for Luke 14:27? Answer: verse 26. In fact Jesus provided two illustrations of what He meant in verses 28-33. First we will note the context from verse 26, and then we will briefly taste the proof in the pudding of verses 28-33.
In v.26 Jesus presented the one condition everyone must meet, if he would be Jesus’ disciple. Note the context, viz., discipleship. This in and of itself refutes 99.99% of the references to the phrase “my cross to bear”.
Seldom are those words used in the context of discipleship. They are almost always spoken during times of personal issues, not issues resulting from persecution and martyrdom because we are serving Jesus. Ergo, the phrase isn’t used vis-à-vis discipleship.
Consequently it is used out of context.
What was Jesus’ one condition everyone is required to meet, in order to be His disciple? Answer: we must die to our old life in every aspect, in order to live His new life in us. Read v.26 and see if this isn’t true. Even our most prized relationships must be put on the back burner, in order to give Jesus first place. Nothing, absolutely nothing, must be allowed to come between Jesus and His disciple.
In that context reread verse 27 now. Verses 26 and 27 are given in the style of Hebrew poetry. They are spoken as synonymous parallelism. Today we rhyme words at the end of lines and call it poetry. In the Bible the Hebrews rhymed ideas between lines to create their poetry. Jesus did this in verses 26-27.
Verse 26 is synonymous with verse 27. How do we carry our own cross? Read v.26 and see. We renounce our own life, in order to replace it with the life of Jesus in us. We stop living to please self, and we start living to please Jesus. We don’t allow our family relationships to dictate our lifestyle or our actions. Instead we allow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to do so.
The Son of God took upon true humanity and lived in this very way. He willingly laid aside His prerogatives as Deity, and lived in the body by obeying the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. When He died on the cross, it wasn’t for His own sins. He didn’t have any sins. He died for our sins.
When I renounce my own life in favor of the life of Jesus in me, I am identifying myself on the cross of Christ with Him. I am dying to myself and all my family relationships, in order to rise out of death with Jesus to newness of life. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The old life is dead in Christ on His cross. The new life inside me rules me, so I live for Him as His disciple.
This is what it the phrase “cross of Christ” means to His disciples. And without first being born again no one can be His disciple. So when Jesus commands His disciple to take up his cross, He means for His disciple to renounce living for self by identifying how he died “in Christ” on the cross of Christ. The words “his own cross” in verse 27, when taken in context, mean the cross of Christ as it is recognized by the disciple to be his own cross because he was on that cross “in Christ”.
We will present further proof of this interpretation in tomorrow’s study. For now enjoy some quiet time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We concluded yesterday’s study by noting the need to put Luke 14:27 into context, in order to understand it aright.So what is the context for Luke 14:27? Answer: verse 26. In fact Jesus provided two illustrations of what He meant in verses 28-33. First we will note the context from verse 26, and then we will briefly taste the proof in the pudding of verses 28-33.
In v.26 Jesus presented the one condition everyone must meet, if he would be Jesus’ disciple. Note the context, viz., discipleship. This in and of itself refutes 99.99% of the references to the phrase “my cross to bear”.
Seldom are those words used in the context of discipleship. They are almost always spoken during times of personal issues, not issues resulting from persecution and martyrdom because we are serving Jesus. Ergo, the phrase isn’t used vis-à-vis discipleship.
Consequently it is used out of context.
What was Jesus’ one condition everyone is required to meet, in order to be His disciple? Answer: we must die to our old life in every aspect, in order to live His new life in us. Read v.26 and see if this isn’t true. Even our most prized relationships must be put on the back burner, in order to give Jesus first place. Nothing, absolutely nothing, must be allowed to come between Jesus and His disciple.
In that context reread verse 27 now. Verses 26 and 27 are given in the style of Hebrew poetry. They are spoken as synonymous parallelism. Today we rhyme words at the end of lines and call it poetry. In the Bible the Hebrews rhymed ideas between lines to create their poetry. Jesus did this in verses 26-27.
Verse 26 is synonymous with verse 27. How do we carry our own cross? Read v.26 and see. We renounce our own life, in order to replace it with the life of Jesus in us. We stop living to please self, and we start living to please Jesus. We don’t allow our family relationships to dictate our lifestyle or our actions. Instead we allow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to do so.
The Son of God took upon true humanity and lived in this very way. He willingly laid aside His prerogatives as Deity, and lived in the body by obeying the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. When He died on the cross, it wasn’t for His own sins. He didn’t have any sins. He died for our sins.
When I renounce my own life in favor of the life of Jesus in me, I am identifying myself on the cross of Christ with Him. I am dying to myself and all my family relationships, in order to rise out of death with Jesus to newness of life. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The old life is dead in Christ on His cross. The new life inside me rules me, so I live for Him as His disciple.
This is what it the phrase “cross of Christ” means to His disciples. And without first being born again no one can be His disciple. So when Jesus commands His disciple to take up his cross, He means for His disciple to renounce living for self by identifying how he died “in Christ” on the cross of Christ. The words “his own cross” in verse 27, when taken in context, mean the cross of Christ as it is recognized by the disciple to be his own cross because he was on that cross “in Christ”.
We will present further proof of this interpretation in tomorrow’s study. For now enjoy some quiet time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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