The Price to Pay for Following Jesus

Introduction

You want to follow Jesus? Be careful, this is not a small thing. In Luke 9:57-62, three men come to him expressing a desire to walk at his side. And each time, Jesus' answer is unsettling. He does not say "yes, come" lightly. He sets conditions. He exposes attachments. He points to priorities.

In this message, Pastor Malu BIALUTA (ICC Montreal) revisits this gospel scene to remind us of a truth we sometimes forget: following Jesus has a price. Not a price you can buy, but an inner price, that of renunciation, promptness, and refusing to look back. In a season when the Church is called to re-enter a true dynamic of discipleship, this text speaks directly to your heart.

Sermon Outline

1. Following Jesus is not an instinctive reaction

In the first-century Jewish religious context, life was structured around three pillars: the Torah and its observances, the central role of the family, and the social obligations that weighed heavily on everyone. The three men in Luke 9 react according to those norms. Their requests are, humanly speaking, almost normal.

But Jesus responds in a way that overturns everything. Why? Because he wants to show us that the kingdom of God stands above even the sacred laws of this world. He does not abolish family, he does not abolish duties, he puts them back in their place, under his authority. The disciple is not the one who follows Jesus out of instinct or emotion. The disciple is the one who accepts that Jesus reigns first.

2. The second man: a divided heart

"Lord, let me first go and bury my father" (Luke 9:59). That little word, "first," says it all. It reveals that something comes before God. The question to ask yourself today: what do I put "first" in my life, before God?

Digging into the text, we find that this man's father was probably not dying. The expression rather means: "let me wait until my father dies one day, and then I will follow you." This is an indefinite postponement. A "later" disguised as "soon."

Jesus points here to a real danger: putting something else ahead of him. He does not despise family, the Bible clearly says that whoever does not take care of their family is worse than an unbeliever (1 Timothy 5:8). But you cannot take care of your family at the expense of God's life in you. Look at your spouse and tell them: God before you. That is not coldness, that is order.

The kingdom demands an absolute priority, even over the most legitimate obligations.

3. The superficiality that distracts us

We have entered a season where superficiality reigns. Filters, makeup, appearances, the cult of personality, social media, deep messages shunned in favor of empty content. It is not bad in itself to take care of your body or to be well dressed. But the best makeup is that of the heart. True circumcision is that of the heart.

A superficial heart cannot follow Jesus promptly. And to follow Jesus, you need promptness. Look at Peter, Andrew, James, John: when they are called, they rise, leave their nets, and follow. Without negotiating.

4. The third man: looking back

"I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home" (Luke 9:61). Jesus answers: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).

Jesus uses here the image of the plowman. In farming, if you hold the plow and look back, your furrows go crooked. You complicate the sowing, you complicate the harvest. The disciple must move forward with a firm decision.

Looking back takes several forms:

• Nostalgia for the past: like the Hebrews in the desert who longed for the cucumbers, garlic, and onions of Egypt (Numbers 11:5). God pulled you out of the mud, washed you, placed you in his kingdom, and you long for the past?
• An attachment that refuses to die: Lot's wife turned back toward Sodom and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). Salt, a symbol of barrenness: where there is too much salt, nothing grows. A Christian life that looks back fades away over time.
• Spiritual hesitations: at first, God understands your hesitation. But at a certain point, he no longer does. Remember Moses striking the rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:7-12). When God gives you an instruction, you must obey, even if you do not yet grasp its spiritual scope.

5. Abraham, a figure of promptness

When God tells Abraham: "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:2), the Bible specifies that Abraham rose early in the morning (Genesis 22:3). A man without the Holy Spirit, coming from a family of idolaters, obeys promptly. And during the sacrifice, the angel has to call him twice to stop him, so resolved was he to do the will of God.

Our generation, on the other hand, argues, doubts, and puts things off. Ask yourself this question: if God asked you to resign from the job he himself gave you, would you obey promptly?

6. Coming out of familiarity with God

Many Christians live in familiarity with God. They call him Lord, but lend him their life with the idea of taking it back later. They give him two hours a week and think they have given themselves. They struggle with the tithe because "it's my money." They fail to grasp that their whole life belongs to the Sovereign.

To extend credit to God, in the old sense of the word, is to believe the word received. It is to give weight to his word. It is to risk everything because in him is the truth.

Key Takeaways

• Following Jesus has a price: giving up whatever comes before him, even if it is legitimate.
• The word "first" is revealing: whatever comes before God in your sentence is a potential idol.
• God asks for promptness: the spiritual world runs on an immediate readiness to obey.
• Looking back twists the furrows: nostalgia, attachments, and hesitations extinguish the disciple.
• God rests in the certainty of the outcome: where entrepreneurship is a risk, discipleship is a guarantee of building up.

Personal Application

Take a moment of silence. Write your answers next to your notes:

1. What is the "first" I place before God right now (a relationship, a project, a comfort, an expectation)?
2. What is delaying my total commitment? I know what it is, am I ready to name it before God?
3. Am I still looking back? Is there a "Sodom" that I secretly miss?
4. When God recently gave me an instruction, did I obey promptly, or did I strike the rock instead of speaking to it?
5. Am I in familiarity with God (lending him my life) or in submission to his sovereignty (belonging to him entirely)?

Scriptures Cited

• Luke 9:57-62 - The three men who want to follow Jesus
• Genesis 22:1-3 - The sacrifice of Isaac and Abraham's promptness
• Genesis 19:26 - Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt
• Numbers 11:5 - Israel's longing in the wilderness
• Numbers 20:7-12 - Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it
• Numbers 12 - Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses
• Jeremiah 31:2-9 - "I have loved you with an everlasting love"
• Exodus 23:20-22 - The angel who goes ahead
• Romans 8:28 - All things work together for good
• 1 Timothy 5:8 - Taking care of one's own

FAQ

Does Jesus really ask us to neglect our family in order to follow him?

No. Jesus does not abolish family, he teaches the order of priorities. The Bible affirms that whoever does not take care of their own is worse than an unbeliever (1 Timothy 5:8). But you cannot take care of your family at the expense of God's life in you. Family fares better when God is in his rightful place.

What does it concretely mean to "pay the price" to follow Jesus?

It means giving up everything that takes God's place: a comfort, an attachment to the past, a legitimate obligation that became an idol, a hesitation, a familiarity that refuses full lordship. It means deciding to obey promptly, without looking back, giving weight to his word.

Why did Lot's wife become a pillar of salt and not something else?

In the Bible, salt symbolizes, among other things, barrenness, where there is too much salt, nothing grows. The pillar of salt expresses the spiritual barrenness of someone who looks back. A Christian life torn between the past and the kingdom ends up fading away, unable to bear fruit.