A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on July 12, 2026.
And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said (Luke 18:28–34).[1]
There are certain moments in the Christian life when obedience feels costly. You may never say it out loud. No one else may even notice. But you do. Perhaps it’s what you have given up, what you have walked away from, what you could have pursued, what you might have gained, what you would have enjoyed had you not been following Christ: a friendship strained because you would not compromise, a career path narrowed because you would not sacrifice your conscience, a family tension endured because you belong to Christ, a reputation slighted because you would rather be faithful than admired, a comfort denied, a desire mortified, a sin forsaken, a future surrendered. And in such moments, if we are honest, we may find ourselves with Peter, in a kind of weary honesty, naming what we have left for Christ: “See, we have left our homes and followed you” (Luke 18:28).
In context, Peter said these words after Jesus’ encounter with the rich ruler, the man who came asking, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). He was religious, moral, earnest, and very wealthy. But when Jesus exposed the idol of his heart, calling him to sell all, distribute to the poor, and follow him, the man became very sad, “for he was extremely rich” (18:23). He wanted eternal life, but not at the cost of his idol. He wanted the kingdom, but not more than his riches. He wanted Jesus, so long as Jesus did not demand his all.
In response, Jesus said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (18:24). It was a provocative statement, leaving his listeners stunned and asking the inevitable question: “Then who can be saved?” (18:26). The question seems odd unless we understand their assumption: if even this rich man, so apparently blessed and so outwardly favored, cannot enter the kingdom of God, then who can? And yet, the same assumption is often made today in certain Christian circles. If you listen carefully to some forms of popular Christianity, you will still hear it said that wealth, success, and earthly increase are sure signs of God’s favor, and that if you only have enough faith, God will make you prosperous too.
But neither the way of the rich ruler nor the prosperity gospel of our own day is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel does not say, “Come to Jesus, and he will make you rich.” The gospel says, “Come to Jesus, because he is better than riches.” The gospel does not say, “Follow Christ, and you will never suffer loss.” The gospel says, “Follow Christ, and whatever you lose for his sake will not finally be loss.” The gospel does not promise that the kingdom comes by earthly success, visible prosperity, and worldly advantage. The gospel teaches us that the kingdom comes through the crucified and risen King.
The rich ruler went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. The disciples, though weak and imperfect, had left everything to follow Christ. But what Jesus teaches them, and us through them, is in the kingdom of God, loss for Christ is gain.
When Loss Is Gain
Peter’s statement may have been mixed—as so many of our questions are—part faith, part confusion, part desire for reassurance. Whatever the case, Jesus does not rebuke him or shame him, but instead gives him a promise: “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:29-30).Note what he names: house, wife, brothers, parents, children. He’s listing all the beautiful things we cherish: home, marriage, family, security, belonging.And these are not bad things; they are good gifts from God.Jesus is not denying the good things of this life.Nor is he calling husbands to neglect wives, parents to neglect children, or children to dishonor parents. He is teaching us that even the best earthly gifts must not become ultimate.
There are times when following Christ will bring division in families. There are times when allegiance to the kingdom will cost earthly comfort. There are times when faithfulness to Jesus will require saying no even to what is precious, good, and dear, not because the thing itself is evil, but because it cannot be ultimate.This is precisely what the rich ruler could not do. His wealth was not merely something he possessed; it possessed him. And Jesus put his finger on that one thing he loved more than God.This is why Jesus responds to Peter the way he does.In the kingdom of God, what seems like loss for following Christ is actually gain.
To be clear, Jesus is not saying, “Leave one house and I will give you ten,” nor is he promising that every sacrifice will be repaid in kind. He is not saying, “Give up earthly comfort and I will guarantee earthly success.” No, Jesus is not applying some kind of veiled prosperity-gospel arithmetic. Rather, he is reorienting our perspective from earthly loss to kingdom gain. If your family rejects you for Christ, you gain brothers and sisters in Christ. If your home is no longer home because of Christ, you gain a household of faith. If your earthly security is shaken for Christ, you gain a kingdom that cannot be moved. If you lose reputation for Christ, you rest in the favor of God. If you lose earthly comfort for Christ, you gain Christ himself. This is why the apostle Paul could say, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil. 3:7). Considering all the world has to offer, he counted it loss “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ” (3:8). Loss becomes gain when Christ is the gain.
This does not mean losses do not hurt. Jesus does not trivialize sacrifice. The disciples did not leave little; they left all. Or, for example, when God called Abraham in Genesis 12, he said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (12:1). Abraham had to leave what was familiar, familial, and secure. But God attached his command to promise: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (12:2-3). Abraham left because God promised. Peter left because Christ called. Paul counted all as loss because Christ was better. And so the question for you and me is not, “What have I given up?” but “Whom have I gained?” For if Christ is ours, then nothing truly necessary can be lost.
When Promise Is Fulfilled
The supreme example of this Kingdom perspective is Christ himself.And while we have the benefit of looking back through the pages of Scripture, Jesus’ disciples did not yet understand fully what was to come.And so, Luke records, “And taking the twelve, he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem . . .’” (18:31).Jesus takes the twelve aside and speaks to them not in parables, but plainly and privately.What may sound at first like an abrupt shift in the text is actually clarifying the whole context.It is likely that the disciples still thought in terms of kingdom glory, visible victory, thrones, triumph, and vindication. And indeed, these things will come, but first, the cross. First, the substitutionary, atoning sacrifice of the Son of Man, the Lamb of God. And this will not come by accident, but according to God’s sovereign plan of redemption.
Jesus says, “. . . everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished” (18:31). Everything? Everything!The prophets had spoken of the suffering servant, wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.The psalms had spoken of the righteous sufferer, mocked and pierced, surrounded by enemies. Daniel had spoken of the Son of Man receiving dominion and glory and a kingdom, but also of an anointed one cut off. Zechariah had spoken of the shepherd struck and the sheep scattered. The whole Old Testament, in promise, pattern, prophecy, sacrifice, priesthood, temple, Passover, and covenant, was moving toward this moment.And Jesus knows it well.
He does not stumble unknowingly into Jerusalem. He walks with full knowledge of the betrayal, the mockery, the shame, the spitting, and the scourging.He knows the nails, the darkness, the wrath: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (Matt. 27:46).He knows the grave, and still he goes.
The King of the kingdom will be treated with contempt. The Judge of all the earth will be judged by unjust men. The Holy One will be mocked by sinners. The Lord of glory will be spat upon by those whose breath he gives. The Shepherd will be struck. The Son of Man will be killed. But that’s not all: “And on the third day he will rise” (18:33).
Jesus truly died. His death was not symbolic or partial. The grave received him, but it could not hold him. He was truly dead and buried, but on the third day he rose.
When Death Is Life
This is why death is life. Not death in itself. Death is an enemy. Death is the wages of sin. Death is not natural in the sense of being part of God’s good creation. Death is judgment, grief, loss, a curse. But in the hands of the Savior, death became the way to life, because Christ entered death as our substitute and rose as our representative. He was delivered over that we might be delivered from wrath. He was mocked that we might be welcomed. He was shamefully treated that our shame might be covered. He was spat upon that we might be cleansed. He was flogged that by his wounds we might be healed. He was killed that we might live and rose that we might rise to new life in him.
This is the heart of the gospel, not merely that Jesus gives us a good example of sacrifice, though he does; not merely that Jesus shows us how to suffer, though he does; not merely that Jesus demonstrates love, though he does; but that Jesus dies for sinners. And this is the greatest news in all the world.
This is why we must be careful not to turn this passage into a sermon merely about what disciples give up. The disciples’ sacrifice is real, but Christ’s sacrifice is saving. The disciples leave homes; Jesus leaves heaven’s glory. The disciples suffer loss; Jesus bears wrath. The disciples follow; Jesus redeems. The disciples need mercy; Jesus purchases it.
And though in the moment they still do not understand it, though it was “hidden from them,” though they could not yet “grasp” it (18:34), Jesus knows and he still goes. He is not a victim of circumstances but the obedient Son. He knows the cup and still drinks it. He knows the cross and still carries it. He knows the grave and still enters it. Why? For the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of the Father’s glory, for the sake of those given to him, for the sake of sinners like you and me.
This is what transforms our own losses. We do not leave things for Christ to earn the kingdom. We leave things for Christ because Christ has secured the kingdom for us by his death and resurrection. We share in his sufferings, not to atone for sin, but because we belong to him. We become “like him in his death,” as Paul says, because we have been made alive in him (Phil. 3:10). And we wait for the resurrection, not as wishful thinkers, but as those whose Savior has already been raised. When death is life, the cross is not the end of hope but the foundation of it.
So, what do we gain if we follow Christ? We gain Christ. And if we gain Christ, then nothing necessary can finally be lost. The rich ruler went away sorrowful because he could not part with his treasure. Peter and the others left all, though imperfectly, because they had begun to see that the true treasure was standing before them. And Jesus went to Jerusalem because only through his death and resurrection could sinners like you and me receive the kingdom.
Therefore, for the sake of the kingdom, hold this world loosely. Receive God’s gifts gratefully. Love your family dearly. Use your possessions faithfully. But cling to Christ supremely. For loss with Christ is gain, every promise of God is fulfilled in him, and death in Christ is life.
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
(Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 