For the scripture reading this evening, we turn to Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9. The parallel passage for the text is found in Matthew 8, verses 18 through 22. We will not be reading that section together, but that's just for your awareness. Matthew 8, verses 18 through 22. Luke 9. is what we're going to be reading, starting at verse 43, and the text is verses 57 through 62. We will not reread that passage because it's at the end of the scripture reading. Luke 9, beginning at verse 43. This is after Jesus and his disciples came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, and he heals the child, the demon-possessed child, and delivers him again to his father. Verse 43, and they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered, every one, at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, let these sayings sink down into your ears. for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them that they perceived it not, and they feared to ask him of that saying. Then there arose a reasoning among them which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child and set him by him and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me, and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me. For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face. And they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. And now begin the words of the text. And it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." So far, we read God's holy and infallible Word. We will be looking at this passage. It will be profitable to keep our Bibles open as we walk through this passage together. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the introduction of this sermon, I want to draw your attention especially to verse 51. Let's go back and reread verse 51. And it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Now here with verse 51, it's hard to see with the chapter divisions, but here with verse 51, we have a major turning point in the book of Luke. Verse 51 marks a new section in the gospel of Luke. Up to this point in the book, Jesus has been mainly in the northern area of Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and performing miracles. And he's spent a couple of years carrying out this work. But now with verse 51, there's a shift in Jesus's focus. Now Jesus, as it were, sets his face as a flint to Jerusalem. And now he's focusing more intently on the main work that he came to do, namely, to lay down his life on the cross for the sins of his people. And he's already started to talk about it with his disciples. We read it in verse 44. Jesus is very explicit. If we would go earlier in the chapter, verse 22, Jesus is, again, very Exact, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain and be raised the third day. And now with verse 51, Jesus starts making his final trek to Jerusalem. Time-wise, it's still going to take about nine months for Jesus to get to Jerusalem and die on the cross, but here in a sense is where this final journey begins. And the point is this, Jesus is absolutely determined to go up to Jerusalem. Jesus is absolutely committed to do everything that he's been called to do from his Father for our salvation. Now as verse 51 makes clear, Jesus knew that his journey to Jerusalem wasn't just a journey that led to his death, but it was a journey that would ultimately lead to his ascension into heaven. It was a journey that had a higher destiny than just his death on the cross. It was a journey that would lead to glory at the right hand of his heavenly father. Yes, the journey involved Jesus carrying a cross, but it was a journey in which his cross would eventually be exchanged for a crown. And once Jesus fixes his gaze on the direction of Jerusalem and the work that is before him and the joy that is set before him, Jesus will not look back. Nothing will deter him. Nothing is going to distract him from this high calling that his heavenly Father has given him to do. Now, why do I bring all of this up by way of introduction on a sermon on discipleship? Well, exactly, because there's a thematic connection between Jesus' attitude in verse 51, as he begins to set out towards Jerusalem, and the attitude that his disciples also must have, as it's described and looked at in verses 57 through 62. That's the connection here with the text. In the text this evening, what Jesus is basically saying is this. If you want to be my disciple, if you want to follow me, know where I'm going. Know the attitude that I have as I walk my pathway. Realize it's going to cost you if you're going to follow after me. Count the cost and be committed. This is the attitude I have and must have as I go the way that the Father has ordained for me, and this is the attitude you must have as well if you would be my disciple. An attitude of complete commitment, an attitude of being committed to go all the way, following where I go, and an attitude of not looking back as you walk your way. Oh, it's certainly true. We don't walk the same path as Jesus in the sense that we too must die on the cross to atone for sin. No, that's where Jesus has finished the labors. He's done the work already. But nevertheless, to be Jesus' disciple, we must take that path of suffering and self-denial that Jesus has marked out for all those who would follow after him. The servant is not greater than his master. That's really what this passage is about, the thematic connection. between verse 51 and the passage before us. Well, in the text itself, what we have are three men whom Jesus encounters on his way to Jerusalem. Three men who would be followers of Jesus. Three men who seem to have every intention of following Jesus. And yet, these three men evidently don't realize the kind of commitment and self-denial that Jesus requires of those who would be his disciples. And what Jesus emphasizes in the passage is the sheer impossibility of following Jesus on our own terms. The impossibility of following Jesus if we're not willing to give up everything to follow him. Just like Jesus himself had to give up everything to follow the way of his heavenly father, so we too must be willing and ready to give up everything, our own lives also, in order to follow after Jesus. On the sermon this evening, we're going to simply walk through the passage, through these three interactions Jesus has with each one of these men, and this is going to be a good word for these young ladies who've made confession of faith this evening, and it's a good reminder for all of us who've made vows of commitment to follow after Jesus. We take as our theme, The Cost of Discipleship, Part One. Lord willing, in a future sermon, We'll look at part two, another passage from the book of Luke. This evening, we look at just Luke chapter nine. And we look at that theme under three points, giving up the comforts of home, giving up the claims of family, and giving up everything. We're simply walking through the passage. In verse 57, we read this, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Now you can imagine at this point in Jesus' ministry, there is a great cloud of people who are following Jesus. Actually, it's worth commenting on, if you would look at Matthew's account in Matthew 8, we read that this man came up to Jesus while Jesus was still in the region of Galilee around Capernaum, and he's about to board a ship to cross the Sea of Galilee. And here in Luke's account, it reads a little different. It reads as if this event happens when Jesus is in the land of Samaria, passing through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem. Well, how do you explain the discrepancy? Well, the proper explanation is this. Here in Luke, Luke isn't interested in giving us information that's happening chronologically. in sequence of time. Luke is emphasizing themes. Luke is bringing different ideas together and Luke is very comfortable to write about something that happens and then take in something else that happens at an entirely different time in Jesus' ministry to emphasize a certain theme or teaching. And that's what Luke is doing here. He's emphasizing a theme. Matthew's account, at least with these first two individuals, Matthew's account would perhaps appear to be more chronological. Either way, you can imagine that as Jesus is walking on the way, there is a great group of people following him, whether he's in the northern region or walking through Samaria. And now out of that group, a man suddenly shouts, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And that's how we should picture this event, so that as we encounter this man in verse 57, there's a few things going on here, and a few things we can say about this man. First of all, this is a man who sounds like he's caught up in the excitement of the moment. This is a man who's caught up with the emotion. He's very, very eager to follow Jesus. In fact, I think it's legitimate to picture this man like someone who's at a concert today, who's been moved by the powerful music, who hears maybe an altar call to come forward to accept Jesus, and they run forward to the stage with great enthusiasm. If you would read the account in Matthew 8, you would see that this man has been, must have been witnessing the mighty miracles of Jesus. He's seen the power of Jesus, and he is ready to commit his life to Jesus. He's caught up in the excitement of the moment. Second of all, we can say that this man is a man who evidently knows something about the demands of discipleship. After all, just look at how he puts it. I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. This man knows that that's how discipleship works. In these days, where there was a rabbi, where there was a master or a teacher, that rabbi had his little flock of students that followed him as disciples. And this man must have seen Jesus' disciples following after him. And so this man also says, I will follow you wherever you go. And implied is that this man knows that discipleship is going to take more than just a momentary commitment. He volunteers without any conditions to go anywhere and everywhere with Jesus. And third of all, what we can say about this man is that this man was a scribe. That's what we learned from Matthew's account in the parallel passage. This man was a scribe. And that adds something to this passage. adds something interesting because scribes were very highly esteemed people in Jesus' day. Scribes, we could say, were lawyers. And not just any lawyers, but religious lawyers. who were trained and then authorized to interpret the teachings of the Bible, both politically and religiously for the people, for the Jews, for the nation. They were a very important part of the Jewish social system in those days, and they were very institutional, they were very loyal to the nation, and with that, they were very legalistic. And so by and large, these scribes were hostile to Jesus. They saw Jesus as a threat to their authority and to the nation. The scribes were part of the people who plotted against Jesus' death. But now here's this man, a scribe, educated, who declares publicly that he will follow Jesus wherever he goes. It's very powerful, it's very striking. And so the point is, everything about this man sounds good. It sounds like this man is going to be a great convert for Jesus. He can maybe use this man as an example to the people, look, I even have scribes who are following me. What a powerful witness he could be. But then you keep reading, you get to verse 58, and you read how Jesus interacts with this man, and that too is striking. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes. birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." And what Jesus is basically pointing out is that this would-be disciple fails to understand and appreciate the implications of discipleship. Jesus says, basically, you want to follow me? You want to follow me? Realize you're going to have to give up even the basic comforts of your home. The foxes have holes. They have their dens that they can go back to every night. The birds of the air, they have their nests to go to each night. But realize if you want to follow me, you're traveling with a homeless evangelist. I don't even have a place to go to each night. I don't have a place to go home each night. And not only was Jesus saying that, but to go deeper, what Jesus was really saying was this. You think you have it in yourself to follow me? You're too self-confident. You're too emotional. You're too caught up with the large crowds and the power you see and the glory that you think you see in me. The reality is I don't even have a place to call home. The reality is I am one who's unwanted on the earth. I am the man of sorrows acquainted with grief. People shake their head at me and they walk around me on the other side of the street. Yes, I do have friends who open up their homes to me, but the reality is I'm a pilgrim and a stranger. Are you ready to live that way? Well, reading these words does remind us of the many things that Jesus gave up in order to follow His Father's will, don't they? We can start off at the very beginning of Jesus' earthly life. It was always this way for Jesus. Here was the son of God who was dwelling in the glory of heavenly life, surrounded by the praise of the angels. Right? We saw it in adult Bible study this past week. He's the one who Isaiah saw sitting on the throne, high and lifted up, bedecked in the riches of heavenly life. And yet from that great glory, he came down into this dark and sin-cursed world. And right from the beginning, there was no place for him. Born in Bethlehem, and there's no room for him in the inn. while he's still in the womb of his mother. When he comes to his hometown of Nazareth, preaching the gospel, they tried casting him off a cliff. When he goes to the land of the Gadarenes, even though he heals a demon-possessed man, the people implore him, they beg him to just leave their coasts. And even here in Luke chapter 9, we read of how Jesus and his disciples are traveling through Samaria on their way down to Jerusalem. And what do we read? Luke 9 verse 52, we read of how Jesus sends messengers ahead to prepare lodging at the next village. And in Luke 9 verse 53, we read, they did not receive him. That is to say, the people of the village refused to let Jesus rest there for the evening. Because, as we read, his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And of course, we need to have some background information there, right? We need to be aware of the relationship that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans at this time. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. The Samaritans thought we should be worshiping at Mount Gerizim. They have their own temple. And so the Jews that are passing through their land on the way to Jerusalem, to the temple, They did not like them. They would not help out the Jews. You even read of how the Samaritans sometimes killed the people who passed through Samaria to worship in Jerusalem. Now, oftentimes the Jews would skirt around Samaria, but sometimes they would pass right through, just as Jesus was doing on this occasion. And here Jesus is passing through Samaria, and the reality is he has no place to lay his head. And then when he gets to Jerusalem, the people don't want him there either. He's betrayed with a kiss, seized by the authorities, and the crowds of people cry out early in the morning with hatred, crucify him, crucify him. That's Jesus. In the end, he was suspended on a cross between heaven and earth, earth rejecting him, heaven forsaking him. And that's what Jesus had to endure in order to follow his father's will and walk the path that his father had marked for him. And it's as if Jesus is saying to this man, are you ready for that? Are you ready to follow me where I'm going? This is the cost of discipleship. It's a very sobering interaction, isn't it? Now, we don't know what happened to this particular man, this scribe, this first man in the text. There are a few things that we can point out by way of application, things we can consider. I have three things. First of all, I think what we have here in this man is a pretty accurate picture of what so much of modern evangelicalism looks like and what it wants to have today. I mean, honestly, even in our own circles, we would love to hear people who come to church and cry out, I will follow Jesus wherever he goes. In a sense, that kind of passion is entirely right. And this is even the kind of emotional response that church leaders even try to evoke through the preaching and through the music and through the lighting and everything else. There's the fiery preaching, there's the heart-rending stories that tug at the heartstrings. And as I was thinking about this this past week, I look back at my youth and coming across a few videos from Rob Bell, maybe some of you who are my age or a little older remember those videos, those new months they were called, and they were powerful stuff. But now look at Jesus. Jesus here in this passage isn't playing on anyone's heartstrings. Jesus rather has a very sobering way of interacting with this prospective disciple. He gets right to the heart of it. And what Jesus says is this, discipleship is no easy breezy one-time decision. This is a lifelong commitment. It requires complete devotion. It's no one-time event. It's the rest of your life. And it will cost you the rest of your life. As Jesus says elsewhere, we've already considered this in a previous sermon on this occasion of confession of faith, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself. I think that how Jesus interacts with this man flies in the face of so much of modern day evangelical efforts, evangelism efforts, where people are inclined to say right away, Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, when the reality is, follow Jesus, And He has a difficult plan for your life. Now, we know the joys of the gospel. We know it is a wonderful plan. We know the joys of following Jesus. But the point is, Jesus is always honest and direct with the costs involved in following Him. Second of all, what we can point out is this. I think what we see in this would-be follower of Jesus is an example of one who is perhaps a very strong-willed and strong-minded person. This man, it would seem, has too much self-confidence, too much assurance that he would be able to follow Jesus wherever Jesus went. And the question has to be asked, really, with all three, but with this man particularly, do you know anything of your sin? Do you know anything of your need for Jesus as the Savior? Oh yes, you say you're willing to give your heart to Christ, but the reality is this, salvation comes from Christ giving something to you. And what Jesus gives us, first of all, is this, a sorrow over our sin, and a sense of our complete dependence upon Him. The gospel is not this. What am I willing to do for Jesus? That's not the gospel. The gospel is this. What has Jesus done for sinners, sinners such as me? And no matter where the disciple of Jesus is in his life, that's the posture at the center of his heart. He even says, even in my discipleship, day by day, I have need of thee. Leave me not, O Lord, lest I wander from thee, because I go astray as a sheep so easily. And it's that gospel of Jesus redeeming work, of what Jesus does that propels the disciple and compels him in his walk of discipleship. This is why I follow Jesus, because I know what He has done for my soul. I don't want to be too hard on this would-be follower, but I think in the response Jesus gives this man, Jesus is showing that He knows the heart of this man, and He knows what this man needs to hear. That's the point. too self-confident. And being a disciple of Jesus does not mean we're just strong-willed and strong-minded people. Being a disciple of Jesus means having a posture of reliance upon Jesus as our Savior. Third of all, what we can point out is this, how easy it is to let earthly things get in the way of true discipleship. Discipleship may very well involve giving up the comforts of home. Discipleship is much more than just the excitement of adding Jesus to your life. It involves sacrifice. It involves trials. It involves making choices that go directly against what you, according to the flesh, would envision for your life and desire for your short time here on earth. It involves living in ways that don't make rational sense. to your neighbor who's not a believer, who isn't a disciple of Jesus. It doesn't make sense to them why you're doing what you're doing because, and you do that, you're living that way because you're a disciple of Christ. Now, Jesus doesn't always call us, He doesn't call us all to experience this sacrifice and self-denial in exactly the same way, but it does involve these things. You know it yourself. And the question Jesus puts before us is this. you willing. You must be willing. And if Jesus asks something of you, whatever it may be, you must do as He asks. Perhaps it was there that that verse came to my mind, God makes us willing in the day of His power. Well, that's what Jesus is putting before this first would-be disciple. Well then, in verses 59 through 60, we come across the second would-be disciple of Jesus. We read in verse 59, And just as it was with that first would-be follower of Jesus, we can imagine that Jesus is walking here in a crowd of people, a crowd who is following him. So the point is, with saying that is that this man, in a certain sense, is already a disciple of Jesus. Right? He's part of the crowd following Jesus. And that becomes even clearer when you consider that at the end of verse 60, Jesus calls this man to preach the kingdom of God. The point is, this man is already fully acquainted with the preaching of Jesus. He knows what Jesus' teaching is on the kingdom of God. And Jesus says, preach the kingdom. But look at how this man responds. The first man that we just finished looking at, he seems, in a sense, too eager, too fast to follow Jesus. And the second man that we come across, he seems too slow to follow Jesus. He says, first, let me go and bury my father. You see, this man has other things that come before Jesus, really. He wants to follow Jesus on his own terms. Now, that seems hard right away. but Jesus' interaction with him shows that this is what Jesus is thinking. There's two different ways to understand the language and especially what Jesus says in verse 60. First, there are those who say that this man's father wasn't actually dead yet. And according to that view, the idea is that this man was asking Jesus to let him go back home and take care of his father during his declining years until his father died. And then after his father died and he buried his father, he would find Jesus and start following Jesus. And there are many who hold to that understanding of the passage because they say, why would this man be in the crowd of people following Jesus if his father had actually just physically died? Because in these days when people died, they would be buried very soon. If possible, they would be buried the self same day, if not the very next day. And so if this man's father has just died, this man wouldn't be in this crowd of people. And then in addition, for those who take this view, they will say that this man was waiting for his father to die so that this man could receive his father's inheritance. As if the language he uses was kind of a saying in those days, first let me go and bury my father. That kind of language meaning that first let me receive my father's inheritance and then I will follow you. So that the idea is this man is characterized as one who's worried about his money first, rather than about following Jesus. That's a possible way of understanding the passage. The second way to understand the language, however, is like this. To understand that the man's father has indeed just died physically, and the man is in transit, he's on his way to bury his father. So that when Jesus tells him to follow Jesus, the man very honestly says, let me go first bury my father. That to me fits more with the passage and the language that's used. This man is asking Jesus for permission to go home and bury his father who has just died. And if that's the case, then what Jesus says is very powerful indeed. Jesus basically says, no, you've got more important things to do. He says in verse 60, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." And what Jesus means is this, let those who are spiritually dead take care of these earthly things. You, you be busy in spiritual things. Now, I think that reading is the better way to read the passage, but if that is the reading, then it does sound like a very harsh statement on Jesus' part. It sounds harsh. And it sounds harsh, of course, because we should be careful to honor our parents. The man seems right. This is a reasonable request, to go home and first bury his father. But the point Jesus is making is this, no, nothing comes before following me. When Jesus says, follow me, you don't say, first let me do this. No, you follow him. You follow him. That's where our priorities must lie. Now we don't know all the circumstances here, right? Maybe when this man said, suffer me first to bury my father, it was revealing that his heart wasn't entirely devoted to Jesus. If you would look at the parallel passage in Matthew chapter 8, you would see that when Jesus speaks these words to this man, The man, Jesus, is about to board a ship to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And so maybe that's the context. So that the idea would then be, this man needs to make a choice right here, right now. Either get in the ship with Jesus, or choose your family. Which will it be? Jesus says, you follow me. Come with me. Now, we shouldn't take this passage to an extreme and conclude that we can't be involved in burying our loved ones because we have to be involved instead in spiritual things. Of course, there are times when caring for your loved ones is exactly the way that Jesus wants you to follow him as his disciple. But the point is, for this man, at this particular time in his life, this is what he needed to be confronted with. Jesus' word to him was this, follow me. He needs to commit to Jesus. The claims of family have their God-given place in life, but we must never let a false sense of duty get in the way of our real duty to Christ, whatever that is in our particular situation. And that, again, is the word we need to take from these verses, right? How do I define myself? Young ladies who've made confession of faith, how do you define yourself? How do we define ourselves? Do you define yourself first by your family relationships? Do you define yourself first as a husband, or as a wife, or as a daughter, or as a sister, or as a son, or a brother? Do you define yourself first as a student, or as an engineer, or as a farmer? Or do you define yourself first as a follower of Jesus? The point is, the kingdom takes the priority. Lord willing, we'll look at it in this future sermon, part two, of the cost of discipleship, but what we have here in Luke 9 is very similar to Luke 14, where Jesus 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. And that might sound like strong language, But the reality is, beloved, it's very reasonable. It's very, very reasonable if only we remember who Jesus is. Who is Jesus? Jesus of Nazareth. who lived and walked on the earth 2,000 years ago is the eternal and natural son of God. He is the Emmanuel, God come in the flesh. He is the savior of sinners, the seed of the woman who laid down his life on the cross and who went through the agonies of hell for me. For me, these young women have said this evening. And with all due respect, With all due respect, does my father or does my mother or does anyone else hold a candle to Jesus? And if my father or mother or anyone else also knew and knows who Jesus is, wouldn't they say amen to that? And say the exact same thing if you know who Jesus is. And if you know what He has done, what He has done for you that is of eternal significance, then there's no way around it. He takes top priority. He's first in my life. Isn't that exactly what God wanted to see in Abraham's life when God called Abraham to offer up his only begotten son, Isaac? That's the attitude of discipleship. giving up, if the Lord calls me to do it, the claims of family. That's the second would-be disciple of Jesus. And when we get to the third would-be disciple of Jesus, it's the same thing, although in a sense, it's intensified. You can't even say goodbye to your family members. We read in verse 61, and another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee, but let me first co-bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus is emphasizing. When it comes to discipleship, Jesus will not take second place. When it comes to discipleship, Jesus will not hear these words, but first this, Master. First this, Master. Jesus demands everything. Even the normal courtesies of family affection must give way to the overriding demands of the kingdom of God. To use the language of Colossians 1 verse 18, Jesus must have the preeminence, so that in all things He might have the preeminence. That's God's purpose with Jesus. That's God's calling with our lives. No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Children, you know what I think? When I read that, maybe you teenagers can understand. I think of mowing the lawn. Because when I was a teenager, living at home with my parents, I had to mow the lawn. And in order to mow the lawn, what was required? Sitting there on the lawnmower, what was required was this. You had to focus on where you were going. You had to keep your eye on the grass to make sure you're making the most economical use of the lawnmower every strip you're going down and to keep the lines nice and straight. You need to be focused so that you do a faithful job. It's like the same with a farmer who's plowing or in the harvest season, a combine going through the harvest, going through the field, singular devotion. That's what Jesus is talking about here. You need a singular focus on the kingdom of heaven. You can't halt between two positions and you can't put your hand to the plow and look around you and be focused on other things or be longingly looking back at something else maybe that could have been in your life. So especially you can't do this. You can't put your hand to the plow and look longingly back to your previous life of sin. There's no looking back there. Discipleship involves total commitment. Well, as we consider these three would-be disciples of Jesus, it's hard for us not to wonder what actually became of them, right? We don't read that. We can't read positively or negatively what happened to them. What did become of them? Did they ever decide to follow Jesus, make Him their willing choice? Well, we don't know. The one thing we do know is what Jesus did after these interactions. Jesus, of course, after these interactions, kept going ahead on his way to Jerusalem. Having set his face toward that great city, nothing could deter him from reaching his appointed destination. He had already himself given up all the things that he was calling his disciples to give up as they followed him. And with single-minded, wholehearted devotion to the glory of God, Jesus made it to Jerusalem. And he made it to the cross before also being taken up to glory where he exchanged his cross for a crown. And now Jesus calls us to follow after him, to make whatever sacrifices he calls us to make. and carry the cross that he gives us to carry here below. And he calls us also to set our face like a flint, being devoted to walking with single-mindedness in his way, carrying our cross, also knowing the joy that has been set before us in heavenly glory, the crown that we will be given in heavenly glory. We know what He has done for us. We know the gospel of our salvation. We know also where the pathway ends, just as Jesus had the hope that was set before Him and endured. Knowing these things, thankfulness, love, and reverence move us to follow in His way and not look back. So may it be with you three young ladies, in the pathway that Jesus calls you to walk through this earthly life. Knowing the cross that God gives you to bear, but knowing also that there will be that time when you will be received up into glory to be with your Christ, your King, your Lord in the world to come and life everlasting. May God encourage you and bless you and give you strength on your way, as he certainly will. Amen, let us pray. Our Father, we thank Thee for these words. They are sobering words, but they are right. And there is nothing less than what Thou hast demanded us. There is nothing less that we should expect than what Thou hast demanded us. For Thou art worthy. Thou the God of our salvation. Thou the Savior of our souls and of our bodies. To Thee belong the glory. Command what Thou wilt and give what Thou dost command. Bless us preaching to our hearts and to our lives. Strengthen us through the means of grace. And bless us all in our daily walk with Thee and our personal devotion to Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.