d,
proposed also to become a disciple--but not yet. "I will follow thee;
but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house."
That, too, appeared only a fit thing to do; but again the answer seems
stern and severe. "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Even the privilege of
running home to say "Good-by" must be denied to him who follows Jesus.

These incidents show, not that Jesus would make it hard and costly for
men to be his disciples, but that discipleship must be unconditional,
whatever the cost, and that even the holiest duties of human love must
be made secondary to the work of Christ's kingdom. Another marked
instance of like teaching was in the case of the young ruler who wanted
to know the way of life. We try to make it easy for inquirers to begin
to follow Christ, but Jesus set a hard task for this rich young man.
He must give up all his wealth, and come empty-handed with the new
Master. Why did he so discourage this earnest seeker? He saw into his
heart, and perceived that he could not be a true disciple unless he
first won a victory over himself. The issue was his money or
Jesus--which? The way was made so hard that for that day, at least,
the young man turned away, clutching his money, leaving Jesus.

Really, a like test was made in every discipleship. Those who followed
him left all, and went empty-handed with him. They were required to
give up father and mother, and wife and children, and lands, and to
take up their cross and follow him.

Why were the broad invitations of the heart of Jesus so narrowed in
their practical application? The answer is very simple. Jesus was the
revealing of God--God manifest in the flesh. He had come into this
world not merely to heal a few sick people, to bring back joy to a few
darkened homes by the restoring of their dead, to formulate a system of
moral and ethical teachings, to start a wave of kindliness and a
ministry of mercy and love; he had come to save a lost world, to lift
men up out of sinfulness into holiness.

There was only one way to do this,--men must be brought back into
loyalty to God. Jesus astonishes us by the tremendous claims and
demands he makes. He says that men must come unto him if they would
find rest; that they must believe on him if they would have everlasting
life; that they must love him more than any human friend; that they
must obey him with absolute, un