The cost of following Jesus may be high. The cost of not following him is even higher.

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

I was once asked by my manager to write my report on a particular foster carer’s renewal that would ensure that she would not be approved as a carer anymore. I refused to report falsely or unfairly just because my manager had a personal issue with the carer. I did so knowing that she would performance manage me if she found any grounds for it. Would I still have done it if she had threatened to kill me? I don’t think so.

Jesus was on His mission to bring God’s kingdom to earth. The cost was huge, and he had counted it. Even though he was threatened to be killed and he knew that at the very height of his mission he would die the most horrible death, it still didn’t stop him. He almost scoffs at the warning and presses on.

As Jesus looks over Jerusalem, he cries over his people. He paints a beautiful and tender picture of how he would just want to gather his children as a mother hen gathers her children under her wings to protect them from disaster, to bear the brunt of whatever the threat is, whether it be natural elements or predators, like a fox. He is sorrowful as his children are not willing to come to him for protection and because of his gift of free will he cannot force them.

At the end of his mission, Jesus will spread his arms, and he will bear the full force of the threat, the punishment of our sins, death on the cross. We have a choice: do we want to be under his wings,  at the cross and accept him as our saviour, or will we run to do our own thing and die?

Head: How do you share in Jesus’ mission today?

Heart: At what cost are you willing to part take in the mission? What if it required your time? Your money? Your life?

Hands: Count the cost of following Jesus. Is it worth it?

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for me and taking the punishment that I deserved. I accept you as my saviour and I want to live for you no matter the cost. Help me to not hold on to my possessions and time and money but relinquish everything for your mission. I love you. Amen.

A song to listen to: This Life I Live

Petrina Rangiawha – Living Church Creek Road