Jesus attracted significant crowds to His ministry. His emphasis however, was not on numbers but dedicated followers. We have a tendency to measure success by the size of the crowd but Jesus was looking for disciples. Jesus downplayed the numbers by giving three reasons that disqualify one from being a disciple:

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

The word hate implies that our allegiance to Jesus must be so great that by comparison our allegiance to our families and ourselves seems like hatred. The second reason that disqualifies us is a reluctance to take up our cross:

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:27)

The cross signified a cruel and ignominious death. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him to come and die.” This is total abandonment – there is no thought of self. Jesus then told two parables:

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ (Luke 14:28-30)

The second parable looked at a king facing overwhelming odds – the best he could do was to seek to find a peaceful resolution:

Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (Luke 14:31-32)

Could it be that these parables are not about counting the cost of discipleship, but Jesus is pointing out the folly of non-discipleship? Jesus had just emphasized the need for self-abandonment! The third reason that disqualifies people is their failure to divest themselves of their resources:

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. (Luke 14:33)

We are not to rely upon our resources or power. The two parables Jesus presented revealed the folly of working in our own strength. People climb the corporate ladder only to find that wealth does not satisfy. The king will eventually face an army greater than his and he must concede defeat. The cost of non-discipleship is far greater than the cost of following Jesus.  Possessions, power, and pleasure are ephemeral compared with the enduring peace and joy that comes from following Jesus and becoming His disciple.