The cost of true discipleship

The so-called “bandwagon effect” connotes popular acclaim given to a leader or a group who has attained a celebrity status.

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Throngs of people usually surround and follow their “idol” and such gathering or movement could end in a mass hysteria. Jesus dislikes this kind of crowds who seek their celebrity idols mindlessly and follow them blindly. If people follow behind Jesus, he wants to be sure that they are enlightened and are following him for the right reason. He honestly speaks of the necessity of carrying the cross in one’s life as a precondition of discipleship. At that time, the cross was not yet revered as the symbol of redemption and resurrection as we know it today. It was yet the symbol of oppression, cruelty, punishment, and death in disgrace. To mention the cross was a big turnoff to people who wanted to be his followers. Peter knows how unpopular the talk about the cross is so that at one point he remonstrates to Jesus and warns him not to speak about death or the cross if he wants to keep his numerous followers. Jesus reprimands Peter and identifies him to be Satan since he tries to pull Jesus away from the cross, thus sabotaging the Fathe