Luke 9:23–24, 57–62; 21:1–4; Romans 12:1–2

Bible Studies for Life
Associate Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, Samford University

A Lifestyle of Sacrifice
Luke 9:23–24, 57–62; 21:1–4; Romans 12:1–2

Looking Through a Cross-shaped Lens (Luke 9:23–24)
Last week, we saw the paradoxical nature of what it means to follow Jesus: Those who desire to be first must become slaves of all (Mark 10:43–44). Similarly, in this week’s passage, Jesus claims if we would save our lives, then we must lose them for His sake. It is tempting to read these admonitions as careful strategies for gaining our heart’s desire: greatness, power, life. Greatness, traditionally understood, does not lie just around the bend after we complete a lifetime of sacrifice. Rather life in the Kingdom calls us to re-imagine greatness and, indeed, all human measures of success through a cross-shaped lens.

Followers of Jesus Are Strong (Luke 9:57–62)
What does it mean to follow Jesus? In a telling phrase that immediately precedes this passage, Luke tells us that Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), knowing where that journey would end. Of all the Gospels, Luke is the most explicit in depicting Jesus’ agony as He approached the cross (Luke 22:39–46), and in this passage, discipleship is outlined in no uncertain terms. In modern society, Christian faith and “family values” are often spoken of in the same breath. So Jesus’ advice to His would-be follower that he ignore his traditional family responsibility and “let the dead bury their own dead” falls hard on our ears, as does Jesus’ teaching elsewhere that anyone who would follow Him must hate his or her family (Luke 14:26). Given Jesus’ ethic of love on display throughout the Gospels, however, such admonitions are best seen as hyperbolic statements intended to put a sharp edge on true discipleship and highlight the difficult choices sometimes forced upon His followers. Christianity is woven into the fabric of today’s society, but in the early church, choosing faith often meant challenging basic social institutions. Jesus Himself led an itinerant ministry in which His followers often left their families behind (Luke 18:28). The story of the early Christian martyr Perpetua (d. 203) movingly portrays her determination to maintain her faith in the face of death, even when renunciation would have meant staying alive to raise her newborn daughter. Following Jesus was, and is, not for the faint of heart.

Followers of Jesus Are Determined (Luke 21:1–4)
Luke’s Gospel is the gospel of the marginalized. Gentiles, women, sinners, the sick and the poor all come to the fore throughout as models of faith. The sinful woman who bathed Jesus’ feet with her tears (Luke 7:36–50), the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), the persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8) and tax collector-turned-benefactor Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10) all showcase the single-minded determination that marks Jesus’ followers. Here a poor widow, otherwise powerless in society, provides a most powerful example of sacrificial giving. The widow gave two lepta, the smallest coin in circulation, one of which equaled 1/128 of a denarius, a day’s wage for a common laborer. Suffice it to say that no building would be constructed with her contribution and no memorial erected in her honor. Her gift’s value as observed by Jesus lay in the context of her life. She gave what she had. Her sacrifice calls to mind the widow at Zarephath who ministered to the prophet Elijah (I Kings 17:8–16).

Followers of Jesus Are Obedient (Rom. 12:1–2)
The apostle Paul was no stranger to the gospel’s harsh demands. In this passage, however, he invited the Roman Christians to grow into the light of what God has accomplished for them. God has acted decisively in Christ to save (Rom. 3:21–26), and those in Christ now live in the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8). Coming to know this reality requires that we be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Like the grayest dawn that gives way to the most brilliant noon, God’s grace breaks over us to save our minds, and ourselves, from the poverty of the world’s notions of greatness.