There is No Victory Without Sacrifice
Gospel Reflection: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Luke 14:25–33
In today’s Gospel, Jesus does not soften His words. He speaks plainly: to follow Him is not a matter of comfort or convenience, but of courage, surrender, and sacrifice. True discipleship is not about adding Jesus to the margins of our busy lives, but about placing Him at the very center—even when it means carrying the Cross.
Jesus warns the crowds that unless they are willing to “renounce all their possessions” and “carry their cross,” they cannot be His disciples. These words are startling, but they reveal an essential truth: there is no victory without sacrifice. The Cross is not optional—it is the doorway to life.
Then he said to them all:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up
their cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Costly Grace vs. Cheap Grace
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian who resisted the Nazi regime and gave his life for Christ, captured this tension in his classic work The Cost of Discipleship. He contrasts “cheap grace”—forgiveness without repentance, discipleship without the Cross—with “costly grace.” Costly grace demands everything, even our lives, yet it gives us the greatest gift of all: Christ Himself. Bonhoeffer reminds us that to follow Christ is to embrace the Cross, not to avoid it.
St. Paul’s Witness
St. Paul lived this costly grace. He wrote: “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7). Paul surrendered status, freedom, and security for the Gospel. In Galatians 2:20, he testified: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” His chains could not bind the Gospel. Even in prison, Paul interceded for others, like Onesimus, and proclaimed Christ with boldness. The Cross, for Paul, was not a burden to escape but the very path to freedom and life.
Wrestling with the Cost
Even the apostles struggled with this truth. Peter once asked Jesus: “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus promised that those who sacrifice for His sake will receive far more—not in worldly riches, but in eternal life and in the hundredfold blessings of God’s kingdom. The logic of discipleship is not worldly gain, but eternal reward.
A personal story illustrates this. A friend who once entered a Cistercian monastery in France was shown, on his very first day, not only the grounds and chapel but also the cemetery—his future resting place. Confronted by the reality of sacrifice, he quietly packed his bags the next morning and left. Discipleship is never romantic or easy. It requires us to face even death.
The Pastor’s Reflection
As our pastor reminded us today: The path of Jesus does not lead to worldly triumph, but to freedom—the freedom to live for Christ, to be converted daily, and to serve. True discipleship means placing Christ above all other securities, values, and comforts. It is about embracing trials and sacrifices with faith, trusting that God’s grace transforms even suffering into life. Through the Cross comes victory, and through sacrifice comes the joy of resurrection.
Living the Gospel
To follow Christ today means carrying the crosses that come our way—whether they are burdens of family responsibilities, health struggles, financial worries, or even the daily grind of choosing love over selfishness. Each cross, when united with Christ, becomes not a loss but a path to deeper life in Him.
The Cross is not the end; it is the beginning of victory. Jesus calls us to see beyond the pain of sacrifice to the promise of eternal life. This is the paradox of Christian discipleship: we lose everything only to gain Christ, and in Him, gain everything.
Reflection Question
What “cross” do I find most challenging to carry right now, and how is Christ inviting me to see it not as a loss, but as a path to deeper life in Him?