Jesus wants more than groupies who cheer and applaud what he is doing in his ministry. What he wants is disciples to commit themselves to being in ministry day in and day out throughout their lives. Our lives are tangled with all sorts of commitments. So much so that it is not unusual for us to trip over conflicting loyalties and get all tied up in knots in tangled commitments. In the passage we read today, Jesus was calling people to commitment, to be his disciples and telling them what this would cost them.
Choices have to be made.
Everything cannot be in first place. Everything cannot be our top priority. Everything cannot be our top loyalty. We have to chose what is our primary commitment. This is what Jesus was calling for in the passage that was read.