Cruciformity: Cross-shaped Living (Luke 9:51ff.)

In the midst of the rising of the Third Reich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote his brilliant exposition on discipleship. Surrounded by a sleeping and complacent church, he struggled to understand the difference between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without cost, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field…. It is the kingly rule of Christ; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life” (Discipleship, 44-45).

Discipleship has an incredibly high cost. The grace of God is free, but it is not cheap. In Luke 9:51-10:24 we come face to face with Jesus’ call of radical discipleship, discipleship with a cost. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to “deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow him” (9:23). We are called to a total reorientation of the ways in which we view the world. Following Jesus relativizes all other claims on our lives and challenges us to single-mindedly follow Jesus, who lived a cruciform life, life in the shape of a cross.

As Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem (9:51), he enters a new phase in his ministry. The success of the Galilean ministry is behind him. When he turns toward Jerusalem, he is heading for his death. Throughout the journey, we will see a band of disciples forming around Jesus. They are the faithful, the restored people of God who hear Jesus and respond favorably to his call. But as we see in Luke, this call is free, but it is costly. The call to self-denying discipleship opposes our American sensibilities and our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It critiques our religiosity, the smug security we place on right religious belief and observance (see esp. 9:59; 10:30-32). It challenges our self-absorption and shatters our stereotypes. Jesus lived his life for the sake of others. His life was cross-shaped. His call to us is to follow in his steps, to follow him to Jerusalem. Today, Luke asks us a dangerously serious question: Who will answer this costly call to discipleship? Who will receive the grace that costs a person his or her life? Who will embody the self-denying, cross-shaped life of Jesus? Who will embrace cruciformity?

“Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”