[CYM] 48.0 Count the Cost of Discipleship

Yeshua never concealed the cost of following Him. Instead, He clearly commanded His followers to “count the cost” before committing to discipleship. In Luke 14:25–33, He gives one of His most direct teachings on the subject. Seeing large crowds following Him, Yeshua turns and says:

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)

Here, “hate” is a strong Semitic expression meaning to love less by comparison. Yeshua demands absolute loyalty—even above family or self-preservation.

He follows with two analogies: a man building a tower and a king going to war. In both, Yeshua emphasizes the importance of carefully considering the cost before starting something significant (Luke 14:28–32). He concludes:

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

In Matthew 10:37–39, Yeshua echoes this:

He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.

Mark 8:34–35 and Luke 9:23–24 emphasize taking up the cross daily, symbolizing death to self.

While John focuses more on belief, it too presents discipleship as costly (e.g., John 15:18–20), highlighting the inevitability of suffering for those who follow Yeshua the Messiah.

Across all books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Yeshua commands thoughtful, wholehearted commitment. True discipleship involves sacrifice, surrender, and enduring faithfulness.