A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

BBBB. The True Nature Of Being Christ’s Disciple

(Luke 14:25-35)

I. Introduction

A. When great crowds followed Jesus, and He knew the nation as a whole was rejecting Him, Christ realized that those individuals who decided to follow Him as true disciples were going to face great persecution.

B. For this reason, Jesus turned to the crowds and described the true nature of being His disciple, and what was involved in that discipleship, providing valuable information for anyone today who truly wants to follow Him.

C. We thus view that instruction in Luke 14:25-35 for our insight, application and edification (as follows):

II. The True Nature Of Being Christ’s Disciple, Luke 14:25-35.

A. Truly following Christ requires that a disciple put his love for Christ above family relationships, Lk. 14:25-26:

1. Jesus said that if anyone came to Him but did not “hate” his family members or his “earthly life” (psuche, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 901-902), he was not “able” (dunamai, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 275; Arndt & Gingrich, op. cit., p. 206) to be His disciple, Luke 14:25-26.

2. To understand what Jesus meant by “hate” in this context, we note that the Hebrew idiomatic use of “hate” can express either emotion or the will, and in this case, it refers to the will (J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, 1991, p. 332):

a. In Malachi 1:2-3 and Romans 9:13 where God said He loved Jacob but “hated” Esau, God did not refer to His emotional hate, but implied “He had chosen Jacob” while He “set Esau, the first-born, aside.’” (Ibid.)

b. “To love” Christ in this context then means that “people must reject every other authority and be solely under the authority of Christ. Further, they must hate their own life, that is, they must set aside their own wills and accept the will of Christ for their life. Otherwise, they cannot be Christ’s disciple.” (Ibid.)

B. Truly following Christ requires one to face rejection and mistreatment even to the point of death, v. 27-33:

1. In Luke 14:27, Jesus claimed that whoever did not bear his cross and come after Him was not “able” (dunamai again, cf. U. B. S. Grk. N. T., loc. cit.) to be His disciple.

2. Christ’s “reference to a cross needed no explanation, for the Jews had seen thousands of their countrymen crucified by the Romans. Allegiance even to death is demanded of Christ’s followers” (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Matthew 10:38).

3. Jesus then gave several illustrations on counting such a high cost before becoming His disciple, v. 28-33:

a. Christ gave the illustration of a man’s need to count the cost before building a tower, Luke 14:28-30:

i. If a man wanted to build a tower, he would need to sit down and count the cost to see whether he had sufficient funds to complete the job, Luke 14:28.

ii. If he failed to count such a cost and went ahead with laying the foundation only to find that he failed to have the funds to complete the task, onlookers would mock him for starting to build without properly planning so that he could finish what he had begun to do, Luke 14:29-30.

iii. Similarly, then, deciding to follow Christ as His disciple only to cease doing so due to the high cost involved would leave the disciple looking foolish to others.

b. Christ then gave the illustration of a king going to battle where the stakes were much higher, Lk. 14:31-32:

i. If a king went to battle against another king’s army, but he failed to seek advice on whether he could use his ten thousand soldiers to defeat his enemy of twenty thousand, he would not only look foolish but likely lose his own life or be taken prisoner and tortured after the battle, Luke 14:31.

ii. If the king realized before the battle that he was likely going to lose the battle, it would be better if he sent ambassadors to the other king to seek peace with him, Luke 14:32.

c. In summation, Jesus thus stated that unless one forsook all that he had to follow Him, he was not “able” (dunamai again, Ibid.) to be His disciple, Luke 14:33.

C. Noting that salt that had lost its savor was so useless that it had to be cast out, Jesus implied that one who wanted to be His disciple but then defected from following Him due to the high cost of discipleship would be as useless to the Lord as salt that had lost its savor, Luke 14:34-45.

Lesson: Truly following Christ demands a commitment to follow the Lord above all other relationships and authorities, and to continue to follow Christ at the cost of everything he has, including his own physical life.

Application: To follow Christ, may we be unconditionally committed to Him by the Holy Spirit’s power, Gal. 5:16.