The Reward of Discipleship

Jesus offers people eternal life. Any who want it can have it. There's just one condition: You have to follow Christ. Eternal life can be had on no other terms. Eternal life is like a far away city. You can go there if you want, but the only way to get there is by travelling the same road Jesus traveled.

So what road did he travel? He traveled the Cross-Road; that's the road that leads to crucifixion. You might call it the death-road, since it entails a daily death to self. And last time Jesus revealed what all this means for disciples and their possessions.

I told you last time that Jesus requires every disciple to renounce all he has to follow Christ. You do not get to be Lord over your possessions if you want eternal life. You have to give it all up to Christ.
Now let's face it: For most people that's a tall order. Too tall. Jesus is asking too much, people think. The rich young ruler thought that and he walked away from eternal life to go back to his possessions. That's tragic.

It's tragic because he abandoned a greater treasure to retain a lesser treasure. And that's the whole reason people balk at Jesus' commands concerning wealth: They don't know that eternal life is greater treasure than their possessions.
What Christ offers is a greater reward than anything we possess. And that's the subject of today's text: Jesus offers great reward for anyone who will renounce their possessions and become his disciple. Let's look at the text.