Luke 14:25-35

The Way of Dispossession (2)

Luke changed his immediate focus on meals and returned to the broader theme of discipleship.

Luke 14:25-35 - The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Large crowds were travelling with Jesus.

He turned round and said to them,

²⁶ "If people come after me

and do not hate their father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters,

and indeed their own life,

they cannot be disciples of mine.

By distinguishing large crowds and disciples Luke was effectively showing Jesus himself inviting all to discipleship, even though in the process he clearly emphasised the cost involved. Discipleship was not cheap. Jesus’ use of the word hate needs to be seen as an idiomatic exaggeration, common in Aramaic (that spoke in superlatives - because the language lacked relative words). By hate Jesus meant love less. In cases of conflict of allegiance, discipleship ranked higher than blood relationship. The new family comprised of fellow disciples of Jesus took precedence over natural family ties. Indeed, the following of Jesus meant letting go all self-interest. True life was greater than superficial attachments.

To relate at any depth to others, disciples needed to be “their own person”, individuals no longer lost in the collective.

²⁷ Whoever do not carry their cross and follow me

cannot be disciples of mine.

Jesus did not ask more of his disciples than he was prepared to forego himself. Jesus had already spoken to the disciples about their taking up their cross [9:23]

²⁸ If one of you wants to build a tower,

will he not sit down first and work out the cost

to see whether he has the wherewithal to complete it

²⁹ so that, after he has put down the foundation

and is then unable to finish it,

the onlookers will not laugh at him

³⁰ saying, 'Here is someone who started to build and could not finish'?

³¹ Or what king, going to war against an enemy,

would not first sit down and work out

whether with ten thousand men

he could engage with another marching towards him

with twenty thousand?

³² If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away,

he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.

Jesus’ warning was clear. Discipleship was not to be undertaken lightly.

³³ So therefore, none of you can become my disciple

if you do not give up all your possessions.

By adding Jesus’ reference to possessions Luke returned to a theme that he had already highlighted previously. Did he expect to be understood literally? Or was he referring rather to the inner attitude of the disciple that distinguished possessing from making use of? Possession could refer to an addictive attitude that looked to things as source of security and control. Whereas God’s providence allowed disciples to use and to be grateful for what they needed of the world’s goods, their reliance on God excluded all worrying [12:22]

³⁴ “Salt is good;

but if salt has lost its taste,

how can its saltiness be restored?

³⁵ It is not suitable to put on the ground

or even on the rubbish heap;

people throw it out...

Disciples who reverted to being no different from others – unfree, possessive, elitist – were missing out themselves on the experience of the Lord’s year of favour, and were useless witnesses to its power and attractiveness.

... Let those with ears to hear listen!”

Luke’s inclusion at this point in his narrative of Jesus’ general invitation of the need to take to heart all that he had to share was a timely reminder to his hearers. For Jesus, as now for Luke, the stakes were high indeed. Jesus’ teaching was not simply of academic interest. It dealt with life and death.

Next >> Luke 15:1-10