Matthew 5:3-4

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a disciple is a follower of Jesus during his life, especially one of the twelve Apostles, or a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher.

Jesus himself told us what we must do to be his disciple:

Luke 14:33 — So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

All of these together give us a lot of information.

First of all, the very first definition in the OED, the definitive dictionary of the English language, tells us that the word disciple is so associated with Jesus Christ that He is singled above all other teachers, leaders or philosophers as having disciples.

So, even if you’re living in a Western Culture which is by all accounts a post-Christian society, disciple primarily means a follower of Jesus, not a follower or student of Nietzsche, Rousseau, Buddha or anyone else.

Even with the worldwide spread of Islam, people don’t usually refer to Muslims as followers of Muhammed, they usually say followers of Islam.

But, as Christians, we are called to be followers, students, disciples of a man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And, since the Bible is a thorough furnisher, Jesus tells us how to be his disciple, how to follow him, how to be his student.

Forsake all that you have.

Forsake means to leave or abandon something. So, Jesus is telling us to leave everything we have behind. Abandon it to follow him.

That sounds radical doesn’t it? Leave everything behind?

We see examples of this in the early church when the disciples voluntarily pooled all of their earthly possessions, giving up their personal ownership of them to follow him.

Looking back in Luke chapter 14 before our scripture above, we see that Jesus listed some things for us to give up, just so we’re clear about how serious he is.

Luke 14:26-27 — If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Is the Lord suggesting here that we must leave our parents and our families alone to fend for themselves and go and follow him? Is he suggesting that we neglect our own lives, not take care of ourselves, our health, etc. to follow him?

How do we reconcile this with the commandment to honor our fathers and mothers (Eph 6:2)? And to provide for our families or else if we don’t we are worse than an infidel (1 Tim 5:8).

It’s so important to rightly divide the word. Jesus often used hyperbole to make a point and was often misinterpreted by his contemporaries. We have the advantage of having the whole word of God, both the Old and New Testament which are perfectly consistent and without error.

I think the correct interpretation of this instruction of how to be a disciple is to make Jesus your #1 priority! You have to be willing to put everything else in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place. Even sometimes your parents, your family, your job, everything!

You must sometimes be willing to leave or abandon your parents, your family, your job, and anything else that may get in the way of your service to your Lord.

This seems like it would be hard to do, painful and distressing sometimes, yet Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

When we make up our minds to really follow him, to be his true disciples, we will find that we can honor our parents, we can provide for our families, we can do our jobs, but we can still have our Lord as the #1 priority in our lives, too.

Our highest calling is to love him by following his commandments.

Honor your father and mother. Provide for your family.

Follow Jesus.

May God Bless You.