Click here for a .pdf version that retains all of the original formatting. Easier to read.

25 Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. 33 “So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This passage overturns all of the "excuses" given in the previous passage.  To belong to Jesus requires you transfer all property and all relationships and all interests to Him.  

I can't come to the feast because I'm more engaged with my own stuff.  I'm in the middle of a real estate deal.  I'm in the middle of a construction project.  I have to give all of my attention to _____________ you fill in the blank.  My wife.  My kids.  My divorce.  My career.  My stuff.  My animals.  My hobbies.

Property.  You shall not steal.  Ownership.  We have all grown up together in a culture that is highly sophisticated concerning private ownership.  There are thousands of laws that define our rights to our property.  And we all collectively pay taxes in order to hire police and courts to prosecute people who take things from us that belong to us.

The entire idea of individual ownership of property is based in this book.  God not only says You shall not steal, He also says You shall not covet.  God says it's a sin to even want something that doesn't belong to you.

The flip side of the negative is that our book respects private ownership of property.  Our nations codes and laws originated in this book.  

In recent decades something called civil forfeiture has increased.  That's where law enforcement officials seize property that is deemed to be part of illegal drug trafficking.  We argue that society is benefited by seizing property connected with drug dealers.  We argue that it is a strong deterrent in the war on drugs.

My question is;  How long will it be before our culture seizes property from other categories of perceived evildoers for the benefit of the greater society.  Like with drug dealers, but now expanded to people who insist on believing the words of this book to the perceived harm of all of the new sexual liberties.  

Relgious liberty vss sexual liberty.  Who do you think will be winning in 20 years.  10 years.  5 years.  Will the culture decide to seize property from stubbornly religious believers who continue to believe that some sex, in fact any sex outside of a man and a woman in the bonds of marriage is evil.  Wrong.  Sin.

Can it happen.  We're all for it in the war on drugs.  What about the war on religious people who cannot let go of the words clearly delivered in this book?  Does that seem far fetched to you?

And anyways, what does that have to do with the passage we read this morning.  Are you just making stuff up in order to beat on your favorite drum?  

I think it may eventually have everything to do with Jesus words in this passage this morning.  Hear me out, please.  What Jesus defines in awfully stark terms in this section is the necessary cost in order to have Him.

25 Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “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.

Before we begin with such a seemingly harsh statement and what it means, we need to define a single term.  The one at the end of vs. 26.  Disciple.  

Is Jesus laying down a framework for those who are desirous of being a deeper higher class of christian here?  In other words, this isn't for ordinary saved folks, this is for those who would push on to a higher level.  Separate the super christians from the ordinary christians as it were?

It's a common word.  μαθητὴς (math