Jesus’ discourse on the cost of discipleship, or on the mission His disciples share with Him, fundamentally details the detachment they must have from everything else and their total commitment to Him (Matthew 10:37-42). The love of Jesus Christ must come before all else and must be the basis of all else.
More than father or mother
The total commitment of Jesus to the will of His heavenly Father sets the tone for those who would follow after Him. One has to make a decision: elect his way and become His disciple, or reject it and deny Him. To believe in Jesus is to go the full extent of the way of His gospel: God alone is absolute and ultimate. This radical claim underlines the fact that God demands of us an absolute and unique commitment. Ultimate reality demands ultimate commitment. “I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). Love of God with one’s entire being is the first commandment; it is second to none.
Disciples must have proper priorities. Not worthy to be his disciple is anyone who loves father or mother, son or daughter more than Him. The revelation of God in Jesus Christ demands that we measure up to Him. The ties of kinship marked by natural love and affection must take second place to commitment to Him, even if that may cause suffering, alienation and a sense of loss.
Carrying the cross
Matthew rounded up the necessary attitude of the followers of Jesus by referring to the postresurrection understanding that the cross is the root of their identity. Christ’s cross represents both his total commitment to God’s purposes and the human, religious-political rejection of those purposes. And as the cross was the measure of Jesus’ love for us, it is now the measure of our love for him. We cannot be worthy of Jesus if we do not take up our cross, symbolizing our total commitment to God and to Jesus and His gospel, and duly our readiness to suffer any pain, and even death. Anybody following Jesus whose total commitment is to God will necessarily have to face the rejection and opposition of those from one’s own family or from society, who would want our ultimate loyalty, the allegiance we owe only to God.
The cross, to loss one’s life on account of Jesus, is the way to life. Playing with the idea of finding and losing, to “find” one’s life means to live on one’s own terms and to go about everything in one’s own self-centered framework. Such a “selfie” life that one has, by oneself, arranged and invented can give only temporary satisfaction, never a life of ultimate fulfillment. The life that one willingly “loses” in self-sacrifice and in communion with Jesus will be rewarded with ultimate life. We Filipinos are proud of our first kababayan to be canonized to have measured up to Jesus Christ’s total commitment to God, Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, who faced martyrdom with extraordinary flair, proclaiming that he would offer a thousand lives if he had them for his God whom he would never deny or exchange for anything.
Alálaong bagá, discipleship also has its rewards. The dynamic relationship between Jesus and his followers reflects the intimacy between Him and his heavenly Father. Just as to receive Jesus is to receive the Father who sent Him, to receive his disciples is to receive Him. “Whoever receives you receives me”, demonstrates the esteem Jesus has for his followers. He identifies Himself with His disciples, as they are asked to identify themselves with Him. Jesus identifies Himself with every just person, be they the least of the little ones, and He promises a sure reward to anyone who receives Him in their persons.
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