All who profess the Name of the Lord Jesus profess to be His disciples. Some are mere professors with no real desire in the heart for Christ, the One they profess to follow and serve. When tested they are like those of John 6 who, when they heard of the death of Christ, said, "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" (John 6:60). They were prepared to follow a Christ who could provide them with bread to eat, who could make life easy for them, but to follow a rejected Christ who was about to die made no appeal to them, so that "From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him" (John 6:66). There were, however, those who were true disciples, like Simon Peter who, when the Lord said, "Will ye also go away?" replied, "Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68). Peter and his fellow disciples were not attracted to the Lord by loaves and fishes, but to Himself and His words of eternal life.
In John 8:31 the Lord said to the Jews "which believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." Like Peter and the disciples of whom we have just written, the true disciple will value the word of the Lord, will continue in it by walking in the light of it, and will seek in all things to do what is pleasing to the Lord. Such an one was Mary of Bethany who, while her sister Martha was cumbered about much serving, "sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word" (Luke 10:39-40). Without the knowledge of the word of the Lord we would be ignorant of His will and desires for us, and His word must be ever present in the mind and heart if we are to continue in it.
In John 14 the Lord said to His disciples, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me… If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:21-23). Love for the Master is surely one of the marks of true discipleship, and love is manifested by obedience to His commandments and His desires for His own.
Another mark of the true disciple is found in John 15, where the Lord said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (John 15:8). The fruit of which the Lord spoke is the expression of His own life in those who follow Him, and those who bear much fruit, in whom there is abundant evidence of the holy, heavenly life of the Son of God, are evidently followers of Him who, when on earth, was the true Vine who brought infinite pleasure to the heart of God the Father. The secret of fruit bearing that glorifies the Father is found in the Lord's words, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me" (verse 4). Discipleship involves constant dependence upon and communion with the Lord.
After speaking of the rich grace of God that prepared the "great supper," the Lord Jesus turned and said to the multitudes, "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" (Luke 14:26). This is not the old nature hating, but the divine nature in the believer hating in ourselves, or in those nearest and dearest to us, anything that would hinder us from following the Lord or carrying out His will. The divine nature that loves is the nature that hates, even as it is written concerning our Master, "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity" (Heb. 1:9).
Then the Lord added, "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). There has not only to be the hatred of self, but the end of self, if we are to be true disciples of the Son of God. Do we not see this exemplified in the Apostle Paul where he writes, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake"? (2 Cor. 4:10-11). The true disciple is content to share the place the world has given to his Lord, even as Paul wrote, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20).
The third claim that the Lord makes on His disciples in Luke 14 is found in the words, "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). No one, or nothing that we possess, can be allowed to hinder the true disciple from following in the steps of his Master and Lord. When the Lord said to Levi, "Follow me," the call brought with it the power to follow, "and he left all, rose up, and followed" Jesus (Luke 5:27-28). In Jesus, Levi found a new object, the attraction of whom enabled him to leave all and take the path of discipleship.
There was the ruler in Luke 18 who desired to have eternal life, but who was not prepared to take the way of life, for Jesus said to him, "Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor … and come, follow me" (verse 22). In Mark the word is "come, take up the cross, and follow me" (Mark 10:21). Alas! there are many like the rich ruler who have their heart in their possessions, not prepared to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Not only Levi but Simon Peter and his fellow disciples had taken the path of true discipleship, for after the rich man had gone away Peter said to the Lord, "Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee" (Luke 18:28). How very touching this must have been to the heart of the Master, who knew perfectly what His grace had wrought in the devoted hearts of His own, and who encouraged them by telling them of the "manifold more" that would be theirs in the present life, and of eternal life for them in the age to come.
Every claim that this world makes on the disciples of Christ, if disputing His claims, must be refused. Every right claim of nature must be subservient to Christ's claims. Every claim that seeks to turn the believer from the path of discipleship, even if from our nearest and dearest, must be hated, for Christ alone has title to dwell in our hearts so as to control every movement of our lives. Christ as Creator has claims on every man, but He also has claims on all as having tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9), but His claims on His disciples rest on His having redeemed them from the bondage of sin and Satan so that they can serve and follow Him.
Discipleship cannot be taken up lightly or in the enthusiasm and energy of the flesh. To the man who said, "Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest," Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head" (Luke 9:57-58). We do not hear of how this man responded to the Lord's words, but it seems clear from the Lord's answer that he had not counted the cost of following a rejected Christ.
In the next verse we read of one to whom the Lord said, "Follow me." This man had not offered himself for the path of discipleship, but was called to it by the Lord, and he showed how unprepared he was for such a path. Natural ties had a strong hold on him, for he said, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. It is good to see the claims of natural relationships recognised, relationships that God has formed, but the claims of nature must give way to the claims of Christ.
The Lord's answer to the claims of nature is, "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." Even if reluctant to set aside the things of nature, the true disciple would receive grace from the Lord to carry out what He had ordered him to do.
Another also said, "Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house" (Luke 9:61). This man wanted to make his discipleship conditional, but no conditions must interfere with a path that demands unqualified devotion to Him, for there can be no compromise with the things of nature in the path of discipleship. Other Scriptures show that the things of nature have their place in the Christian life, being enhanced by the grace of Christ. but nothing can be allowed to come between the soul and Christ.
The path of discipleship in Christianity is more demanding than that of Elisha when called by Elijah. When Elijah cast his mantle upon Elisha, he was plowing, and "he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee" (1 Kings 19:19-20). The request of Elisha was granted by Elijah, but here the Lord refuses a similar request. There can be no turning back when He calls.
Had this man who wanted to go home to bid farewell to his friends been allowed to go, he might have been persuaded to remain at home; and had the man, called by the Lord to follow Him, waited at home till his father was dead, there might have been the grave danger of his staying away from the Lord altogether.
Discipleship makes great demands on the followers of Christ, but the grace that calls us to follow a rejected Master provides all that we need to meet every demand. Although no one has ever answered perfectly to the claims of the Lord, there can be no lowering of the standard of discipleship, and how encouraging it is for us when we realise that the Lord only asks us to do what He Himself has done in His path of obedience to His God and Father.
The disciple who walks closest to the Master will readily accept the word of the Apostle James, "In many things we offend all" (James 3:2); and the weakest would say with the Apostle Peter, "Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee" (John 21:17). What a privilege it is to follow such a Master, perfect in all His steps, and infinite in His love and grace. No matter how weak we feel ourselves to be, and no matter how sensible we are of our failures, the Master would say to us what He said to the restored Simon Peter, "Follow me" (John 21:19).