Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,
Parallel Translations
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Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,
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Ther went agreate company with him and he turned and sayde vnto them:
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Nowe there went great multitudes with him, and he turned and sayd vnto them,
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Luke 14:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 6:24-27 When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Even those affections, which are of themselves worthy of…
Even those affections, which are of themselves worthy of praise and commendation, must be ruled and ordered, that godliness may have the upper hand and preeminence.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 25 And there went great multitudes with him: and…
25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Ver. 25. And there went great multitudes with him] Expecting great things from him, and gaping after an earthly felicity. These he strives to undeceive in the following verses.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain We met with much the same Mat 10:37,38. The…
We met with much the same Mat 10:37,38. The sum of the words is, That no man can be a true disciple of Christ, that giveth any friend, or any thing, a preference to Christ in the affections of his heart. Christ must be loved above all. It appeareth that the words must not be interpreted rigidly, for then they would oblige us to a thing,
1. Impossible in nature: for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, Eph 5:29. Yet life is one of the things mentioned which we ought to hate.
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2. It is morally impossible: for the law of God commands us to honour our father and mother.
For the nonobservance of, or teaching contrary to, which law, teaching the people to say, Corban, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, Christ so severely reflected on the Pharisees. Himself therefore doth not here teach others to hate their fathers or mothers, taking hatred in a strict and absolute sense:
If any man hate not signifieth here no more than, If any man doth love his father, wife, children, brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life, more than me,
he cannot be my disciple. Nor is this any sense put upon the term hate, different from what must be the sense of it in other scriptures: Gen 29:31,
When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, that is, less loved, as is expressed, Luk 14:30; so it must be interpreted in Luk 14:33. It also signified less loved, Deu 21:15,17; Mt 6:24; Joh 12:25. We met with the substance of what is here, Luk 14:27, in Mat 10:38, and Mar 8:34.
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William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our Saviour by these expressions does not condemn natural…
Our Saviour by these expressions does not condemn natural love and affection, either to our relations, or our own lives, but only regulates and directs it.
Showing that our first and chief love ought to be bestowed upon himself; we may have, and ought to cherish, tender and relenting affections towards our near and dear relations, but then the consideration of Christ’s truth and religion must take place of these; yea, of life itself; and when they stand in competition with these, we are to regard them no more than if they were objects of our hatred.
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Learn hence, 1. That no man can be a sincere disciple of Christ, who gives any relation, or outward enjoyment, a preference to Christ in his heart and affections. Christ must be loved above all, or we love him not at all; less love he accounts and calls hatred. That which we can leave for Christ, we hate in comparison of that love which we bear to Christ. It is both impious and impossible to hate father and mother, and ourselves, absolutely: it must then be understood comparatively only; what we love less, we are comparatively said to hate.
Learn,2. That all the disciples of Christ must be ready and willing, whenever called to it, to quit all their temporal interests and enjoyments, even life itself, and submit to any temporal inconvenience, even death itself, all this willingly and cheerfully, rather than disown their relation to Christ, and quit the profession of his holy religion; upon easier terms than these can none of us be the disciples of Jesus.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain See how Christ in his doctrine suited himself to…
See how Christ in his doctrine suited himself to those to whom he spoke, and gave every one his portion of meat. To Pharisees he preached humility and charity. He is in these verses directing his discourse to the multitudes that crowded after him, and seemed zealous in following him; and his exhortation to them is to understand the terms of discipleship, before they undertook the profession of it, and to consider what they did. See here,
I. How zealous people were in their attendance on Christ (Luk 14:25): There went great multitudes with him, many for love and more for company, for where there are many there will be more. Here was a mixed multitude, like that which went with Israel out of Egypt; such we must expect there will always be in the church, and it will therefore be necessary that ministers should carefully separate between the precious and the vile.
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II. How considerate he would have them to be in their zeal. Those that undertake to follow Christ must count upon the worst, and prepare accordingly.
1. He tells them what the worst is that they must count upon, much the same with what he had gone through before them and for them. He takes it for granted that they had a mind to be his disciples, that they might be qualified for preferment in his kingdom. They expected that he should say, "If any man come to me, and be my disciple, he shall have wealth and honour in abundance; let me alone to make him a great man." But he tells them quite the contrary.
(1.) They must be willing to quit that which was very dear, and therefore must come to him thoroughly weaned from all their creature-comforts, and dead to them, so as cheerfully to part with them rather than quit their interest in Christ, Luk 14:26. A man cannot be Christ's disciple but he must hate father, and mother, and his own life. He is not sincere, he will be constant and persevering, unless he love Christ better than any thing in this world, and be willing to part with that which he may and must leave, either as a sacrifice, when Christ may be glorified by our parting with it (so the martyrs, who loved not their lives to death), or as a temptation, when by our parting with it we are put into a better capacity of serving Christ. Thus Abraham parted with his own country, and Moses with Pharaoh's court. Mention is not made here of houses and lands; philosophy will teach a man to look upon these with contempt; but Christianity carries it higher. [1.] Every good man loves his relations; and yet, if he be a disciple of Christ, he must comparatively hate them, must love them less than Christ, as Leah is said to be hated when Rachel was better loved. Not that their persons must be in any degree hated, but our comfort and satisfaction in them must be lost and swallowed up in our love to Christ, as Levi's was, when he said to his father, I have not seen him, Deu 33:9. When our duty to our parents comes in competition with our evident duty to Christ, we must give Christ the preference. If we must either deny Christ or be banished from our families and relations (as many of the primitive Christians were), we must rather lose their society than his favour. [2.] Every man loves his own life, no man ever yet hated it; and we cannot be Christ's disciples if we do not love him better than our own lives, so as rather to have our lives embittered by cruel bondage, nay, and taken away by cruel deaths, than to dishonour Christ, or depart from any of his truths and ways. The experience of the pleasures of the spiritual life, and the believing hopes and prospects of eternal life, will make this hard saying easy. When tribulation and persecution arise because of the word, then chiefly the trial is, whether we love better, Christ or our relations and lives; yet even in the days of peace this matter is sometimes brought to the trial. Those that decline the service of Christ, and opportunities of converse with him, and are ashamed to confess him, for fear of disobliging a relation or friend, or losing a customer, give cause to suspect that they love him better than Christ.
(2.) That they must be willing to bear that which was very heavy (Luk 14:27): Whosoever doth not bear his cross, as those did that were condemned to be crucified, in submission to the sentence and in expectation of the execution of it, and so come after me whithersoever I shall lead him, he cannot be my disciple; that is (says Dr. Hammond), he is not for my turn; and my service, being so sure to bring persecution along with it, will not be for his. Though the disciples of Christ are not all crucified, yet they all bear their cross, as if they counted upon being crucified. They must be content to be put into an ill name, and to be loaded with infamy and disgrace; for no name is more ignominious than Furcifer - the bearer of the gibbet. He must bear his cross, and come after Christ; that is, he must bear it in the way of his duty, whenever it lies in that way. He must bear it when Christ calls him to it, and in bearing it he must have an eye to Christ, and fetch encouragements from him, and live in hope of a recompence with him.
2. He bids them count upon it, and then consider of it. Since he has been so just to us as to tell us plainly what difficulties we shall meet with in following him, let us be so just to ourselves as to weigh the matter seriously before we take upon us a profession of religion. Joshua obliged the people to consider what they did when they promised to serve the Lord, Jos 24:19. It is better never to begin than not to proceed; and therefore before we begin we must consider what it is to proceed. This is to act rationally, and as becomes men, and as we do in other cases. The cause of Christ will bear a scrutiny. Satan shows the best, but hides the worst, because his best will not counter-vail his worst; but Christ's will abundantly. This considering of the case is necessary to perseverance, especially in suffering times. Our Saviour here illustrates the necessity of it by two similitudes, the former showing that we must consider the expenses of our religion, the latter that we must consider the perils of it.
(1.) When we take upon us a profession of religion we are like a man that undertakes to build a tower, and therefore must consider the expense of it (Luk 14:28-30): Which of you, intending to build a tower or stately house for himself, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost? and he must be sure to count upon a great deal more than his workmen will tell him it will cost. Let him compare the charge with his purse, lest he make himself to be laughed at, by beginning to build what he is not able to finish. Note, [1.] All that take upon them a profession of religion undertake to build a tower, not as the tower of Babel, in opposition to Heaven, which therefore was left unfinished, but in obedience to Heaven, which therefore shall have its top-stone brought forth. Begin low, and lay the foundation deep, lay it on the rock, and make sure work, and then aim as high as heaven. [2.] Those that intend to build this tower must sit down and count the cost. Let them consider that it will cost them the mortifying of their sins, even the most beloved lusts; it will cost them a life of self-denial and watchfulness, and a constant course of holy duties; it may, perhaps, cost them their reputation among men, their estates and liberties, and all that is dear to them in this world, even life itself. And if it should cost us all this, what is it in comparison with what it cost Christ to purchase the advantages of religion for us, which come to us without money and without price? [3.] Many that begin to build this tower do not go on with it, nor persevere in it, and it is their folly; they have not courage and resolution, have not a rooted fixed principle, and so bring nothing to pass. It is true, we have none of us in ourselves sufficient to finish this tower, but Christ hath said, My grace is sufficient for thee, and that grace shall not be wanting to any of us, if we seek for it and make use of it. [4.] Nothing is more shameful than for those that have begun well in religion to break off; every one will justly mock him, as having lost all his labour hitherto for want of perseverance. We lose the things we have wrought (Jo2 1:8), and all we have done and suffered is in vain, Gal 3:4.
(2.) When we undertake to be Christ's disciples we are like a man that goes to war, and therefore must consider the hazard of it, and the difficulties that are to be encountered, Luk 14:31, Luk 14:32. A king that declares war against a neighbouring prince considers whether he has strength wherewith to make his part good, and, if not, he will lay aside his thoughts of war. Note, [1.] The state of a Christian in this world is a military state. Is not the Christian life a warfare? We have many passes in our way, that must be disputed with dint of sword; nay, we must fight every step we go, so restless are our spiritual enemies in their opposition. [2.] We ought to consider whether we can endure the hardness which a good soldier of Jesus Christ must expect and count upon, before we enlist ourselves under Christ's banner; whether we are able to encounter the forces of hell and earth, which come against us twenty thousand strong. [3.] Of the two it is better to make the best terms we can with the world than pretend to renounce it and afterwards, when tribulation and persecution arise because of the word, to return to it. That young man that could not find in his heart to part with his possessions for Christ did better to go away from Christ sorrowing than to have staid with him dissembling.
This parable is another way applicable, and may be taken as designed to teach us to begin speedily to be religious, rather than to begin cautiously; and may mean the same with Mat 5:25, Agree with thine adversary quickly. Note, First, Those that persist in sin make war against God, the most unnatural, unjustifiable war; they rebel against their lawful sovereign, whose government is perfectly just and good. Secondly, The proudest and most daring sinner is no equal match for God; the disproportion of strength is much greater than that here supposed between ten thousand and twenty thousand. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? No, surely; who knows the power of his anger? In consideration of this, it is our interest to make peace with him. We need not send to desire conditions of peace; they are offered to us, and are unexceptionable, and highly to our advantage. Let us acquaint ourselves with them, and be at peace; do this in time, while the other is yet a great way off; for delays in such a case are highly dangerous, and make after-applications difficult.
But the application of this parable here (Luk 14:33) is to the consideration that ought to be exercised when we take upon us a profession of religion. Solomon saith, With good advice make war (Pro 20:18); for he that draws the sword throws away the scabbard; so with good advice enter upon a profession of religion, as those that know that except you forsake all you have you cannot be Christ's disciples; that is, except you count upon forsaking all and consent to it, for all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, and yet continue to live godly.
3. He warns them against apostasy and a degeneracy of mind from the truly Christian spirit and temper, for that would make them utterly useless, Luk 14:34, Luk 14:35. (1.) Good Christians are the salt of the earth, and good ministers especially (Mat 5:13); and this salt is good and of great use; by their instructions and examples they season all they converse with, to keep them from putrefying, and to quicken them, and make them savoury. (2.) Degenerate Christians, who, rather than part with what they have in the world, will throw up their profession, and then of course become carnal, and worldly, and wholly destitute of a Christian spirit, are like salt that has lost its savour, like that which the chemists call the caput mortuum, that has all its salts drawn from it, that is the most useless worthless thing in the world; it has no manner of virtue or good property in it. [1.] It can never be recovered: Wherewith shall it be seasoned? You cannot salt it. This intimates that it is extremely difficult, and next to impossible, to recover an apostate, Heb 6:4-6. If Christianity will not prevail to cure men of their worldliness and sensuality, if that remedy has been tried in vain, their ease must even be concluded desperate. [2.] It is of no use. It is not fit, as dung is, for the land, to manure that, nor will it be the better if it be laid in the dunghill to rot; there is nothing to be got out of it. A professor of religion whose mind and manners are depraved is the most insipid animal that can be. If he speaks of the things of God, of which he has had some knowledge, it is so awkwardly that none are the better for it: it is a parable in the mouth of a fool. [3.] It is abandoned: Men cast it out, as that which they will have no more to do with. Such scandalous professors ought to be cast out of the church, not only because they have forfeited all the honours and privileges of their church-membership, but because there is danger that others will be infected by them. Our Saviour concludes this with a call to all to take notice of it, and to take warning: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now can the faculty of hearing be better employed than in attending to the word of Christ, and particularly to the alarms he has given us of the danger we are in of apostasy, and the danger we run ourselves into by apostasy?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If any man come to me,.... Not in a…
If any man come to me,.... Not in a corporeal, but in a spiritual way; nor barely to hear him preach; but so come, as that he believes in him, applies to him for grace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; professes to be his, submits to his ordinances, and desires to be a disciple of his;
and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple: not that proper hatred of any, or all of these, is enjoined by Christ; for this would be contrary to the laws of God, to the first principles of nature, to all humanity, to the light of nature, to reason and divine revelation: but that these are not to be preferred to Christ, or loved more than he, as it is explained in Mat 10:37 yea, these are to be neglected and forsaken, and turned from with indignation and resentment, when they stand in the way of the honour and interest of Christ, and dissuade from his service: such who would be accounted the disciples of Christ, should be ready to part with their dearest relations and friends, with the greatest enjoyment of life, and with life itself, when Christ calls for it; or otherwise they are not worthy to be called his disciples. The Ethiopic version inserts, "his house", into the account.
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Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Luk 14:25-27. And there went great multitudes with him…
Luk 14:25-27. And there went great multitudes with him — It seems they accompanied him from place to place, with eager desire, doubtless, to have the Messiah’s kingdom erected; proposing to themselves all manner of wealth and temporal advantage therein. One day, therefore, as they were on the road with him, he thought fit to show them plainly their mistake: he turned and said, If any man come to me, and hate not, &c. — As all the hopes of temporal felicity under his reign, which his disciples entertained, were to be blasted; as he himself was to suffer an ignominious death; and as they were to be exposed unto all manner of persecutions, he declared publicly to the multitude, that, if they proposed to be his disciples, it was absolutely necessary that they should prefer his service to every thing in the world, and by their conduct show that they hated father, and mother, and wife, and children, that is to say, loved the dearest objects of their affections less than him. As in this, so in several other passages of Scripture, the word hatred signifies only an inferior degree of love. Father and mother, and other relations, are particularly mentioned by our Lord, because, as matters then stood, the profession of the gospel was apt to set a man at variance with his nearest relations. Whosoever doth not bear his cross, &c. — See on Mat 10:37-38.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain See notes on Mat 10:37-38.
See notes on Mat 10:37-38.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain H. The Son of Man opening His Mouth in…
H. The Son of Man opening His Mouth in Parables.
Luk_14:25 to Luk_17:10
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1. The Address to the People (Luk_14:25-35)
25And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, 27and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Andwhosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost,29whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply [perhaps], after he hath laid the30foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying,This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31Or what king, going to make war against [marching to a hostile encounter with] another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh againsthim with twenty thousand? 32Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendethan ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33So likewise, whosoever he be of you34that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt [therefore6] is good: but if [even7] the salt have lost his savour [become insipid], wherewith shall itbe seasoned? 35It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men [they] cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk_14:25. And there went great multitudes with Him.—This whole Pericope is also peculiar to Luke, and although expressions like Luk_14:26; Luk_14:34, appear elsewhere, yet nothing hinders us from believing that the Saviour repeated, from time to time, pregnant sayings of this kind, not to mention that the form of these varies in different passages. The parables of the Building of the Tower and of the Warring King appear to have been delivered at the same time, and are very well suited for the greater number of those who came after the Lord on this occasion. In order to see the suitableness of this method of teaching, it is above all things necessary that we realize to ourselves the point of time in which we here meet the Saviour. He is about to depart from Galilee, see Luk_13:32-33, but at this very time He sees Himself surrounded by a continually increasing multitude. Are they impelled by a presentiment that they shall not see the Master again in this region, or by Messianic chiliastic expectations, or by the desire, over against the augmenting hatred of His enemies, to give to the Saviour an unequivocal proof of continued adherence? However this may be, the Searcher of hearts allows Himself as little as before to be deceived by an illusive semblance. He has compassion on the people, since He knows how hard it will soon become for well-meaning but superficial friendship to manifest for Him steadfast faithfulness. From love, therefore, He is stern enough to portray to them in the darkest colors the conditions of being His disciples, that they may be held back from foolish fancy, and led to self-examination. Earlier requirements which He had addressed exclusively to the Twelve, He now extends in yet severer form to all without distinction. Whoever, after such seemingly terrifying, but, in fact, attractive, words, did not yet recede, but persevered in the resolution to follow Him in this way of decision, he was to the best of Masters doubly, yea tenfold, welcome.
Luk_14:26. If any man come to Me.—The coming to (πρός) Jesus is not the same as the coming after (ὀπίσω) Him, Mat_16:24. The latter presupposes that one is already His disciple, the other that one desires to become such. At the very first, it speaks for the Saviour’s deep knowledge of man, that the people who, in the literal sense of the word, are coming along behind Him, so that He must turn Himself around in order to address them, are treated by Him as people who have as yet by no means made the first decisive step to Him, but, in the most favorable case, are in the way now for the first time to take this step.
And hate not.—Comp. Mat_10:37. “The nearer He is to His end, the more decided and idea do His requirements show themselves to the people that are inconstantly and undecidedly accompanying Him.” The lax interpretation of μισεῖν = minus amare (Kuinoel, De Wette, and many others), dilutes unnecessarily the powerful sense of this declaration, and finds in Mat_6:24 no support; rather must we compare what is written, in Deu_33:9, of Levi. Not in and of itself is hatred anything antichristian, but only when it is in conflict with the commandment of supreme love, as the Lord, Luk_20:37-40; Joh_13:34-35, has given it. Even to the God of love hatred is ascribed, Rom_9:13; our Lord, who loves what is human in Peter, hates and rebukes what is Satanic in Simon Bar-Jonah, Mat_16:21-23, and we may even assert that he who is not capable of hating has never known love in its full power. This is the deep sense of the famous sentiment of tragedy: Va, je t’aimais trop, pour ne pas te haïr [Go, I loved thee too much not to hate thee now]. That the Saviour here means no hatred towards one’s nearest relatives in itself, needs no explanation, comp. Eph_5:29. He has only that in them in mind which intervenes irreconcilably between the heart and His kingdom, and defines plainly enough His meaning still more specifically by the concluding clause, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν. All, therefore, which stands in relation with the sphere of the ψυχή, instead of that of the πνεῦμα, must be hated and given up. Leave must be taken thereof when it comes into conscious conflict with the requirements of the kingdom of heaven. Certain as it is that one may hold his kindred dear in Christ, and that faith does not dissolve family ties, but knits them closer, and sanctifies them, it is at the same time indubitable that not only at the time of our Saviour, but even now, circumstances may occur in which the union of the duties of faith and of merely natural love is impossible, in which, on the contrary, a conflict is absolutely inevitable. Comp. Mat_10:34-36.
Luk_14:27. And whosoever doth not bear his cross.—See remarks on Luk_9:23, and the parallel passages in Matthew and Mark. We scarcely need remind the reader that here it is by no means all suffering on earth, but exclusively suffering for Christ’s sake, that is spoken of.
Luk_14:28. Intending to build a tower, πύργον.—We are not so particularly to understand a tower in the strict sense of the word, but rather a lofty palace, a sumptuous building, in short, a material erection which requires a more than ordinary development of resources. Here we have the image of seeking after the kingdom of God and of entrance into its discipleship, to which one cannot come without the most strenuous exertion and the most earnest consideration. In a graphic way the Lord sketches the project of the tower-builder. This one has, namely, in the first place, a great plan, which is steadily present to his mind (θέλων). He considers next, not only slightly, but at the fullest leisure, what is required for the carrying out of this plan (καθίσας ψηφίζει. Bengel. “Sedens dato sibi spatio ad faciendam summam rerum suarum”). Thirdly, he does not pass to the carrying out of the plan before he has on the ground of this calculation well persuaded himself that he has really τὰ πρὸς ἀπαρτισμόν, that is, that which is necessary for completing it without and within. Thus does he escape scoffing, which does not befall him if he does not begin at all, but certainly will if he begins without consideration.
Luk_14:29. Lest perhaps.—As in the following parable it is especially the danger and ruinousness, so in this it is the folly and ridiculousness, of an inconsiderate project which is brought to view. We can scarcely avoid the thought that the recollection of the building of the Babylonian Tower, Gen_11:1-9, floated before the Saviour’s mind. While the decidedly Christian life constrains the world to involuntary respect, half Christianity provokes it to not unnatural scoffing. Not a little is the force of the representation heightened by this, that the Saviour represents the scoffers themselves as saying δεικτικῶς to one another, οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, κ.τ.λ. In the third person the mockery is yet more delicate than if it were addressed, in the second person, directly to the imprudent tower-builder, comp. Mat_27:40-42.
Luk_14:31. Or what king.—Plainly the Saviour is concerned to impress on the hearts of His hearers the same thing again, although the representation this time is a somewhat different one. The words themselves are not hard to understand. Συμβαλεῖν belongs together with εἰς πόλεμον; the numbers ten thousand and twenty thousand are designedly chosen to denote a comparatively important, and yet entirely unequal, military power, and the τὰ πρὸςεἰρήνην = to the previous τὰ εἰς ἀπαρτισμόν, designates, not peace itself, but that which he must entreat from the too powerful enemy, in order to come into the enjoyment of a lasting peace. [It appears to me that the author has not brought out the point of the particular disproportion. Many a battle has been gained by a force only half as large as that of the enemy. Yet, unquestionably, the probabilities are very greatly against this. The numbers, therefore, appear to be chosen to indicate a disproportion so great as to make success improbable, but not so great as to make it impossible.—C. C. S.] As respects the subject itself, we may, perhaps, distinguish thus, that the building of the tower is the image of the internal, the war, that of the external, development of the Christian life. So far, Bengel is right in saying that the first image is taken designedly from a res privata, the other from a res publica. Entirely arbitrary is it, on the other hand, to see in the ten thousand soldiers an allusion to the Ten Commandments, and yet more forced to see in the king with twenty thousand a designation of God the Lord Himself (Stier, Lisco). How it can be said of God, in this connection, that He marches against any one to battle, while yet the ten thousand of His adversaries are to be the type of spiritual forces bestowed by Himself, we do not comprehend. The symmetry of the discourse requires imperatively that we should coördinate the thoughts; not to follow Jesus inconsiderately, not to begin the building of the tower without reckoning of the cost, and to beg for peace (that is, not to give up, but to postpone the strife). Comp. Lange, L. J. ii. p. 1041.
Luk_14:33. So likewise, whosoever he be.—According to De Wette, this application is not exact. It is, however, at once obvious that the consideration commanded by the Saviour, Luk_14:28-31, must necessarily lead to self-renunciation, and that the building of the tower remains unfinished, the strife undecided, precisely when one is disinclined in his heart to such a renunciation. Precisely because self-denial is required is earnest consideration absolutely unavoidable. (See the γάρ, Luk_14:28.)
Luk_14:34. Salt, therefore, is good.—“Nil sale et sole utilius.” Plin. H. Nat. xxxi. 9. According to the οὖν (see the notes on the text) this sentence does not stand here independently, but is in some measure the application of the previous remarks, comp. Mat_5:13; Mar_9:50. “Adagium hoc sœpiuscule Christus usurpavit, ut et alia ejus sœculi.” Grotius. The saying would here be hardly congruous (De Wette) only in case it were addressed to the people in just the same sense now as formerly it was to the Apostles. This is, however, by no means necessary to be assumed; nothing hinders us from supposing that the sense of the declaration is modified by a look at the hearers. As the disciples were a purifying salt with reference to the unbelieving world, so was Israel (here represented in the people following) called to be such a salt for the heathen nations. The Saviour, by the pregnant concluding remark, will lead the throng following Him to deeper reflection as to whether, and how far, they have satisfied this high vocation, and show them that they, persevering in unbelieving and unfaithfulness, run the danger of being condemned as saltless salt, of being cast out upon the highways of the heathen world, and trodden down by unclean feet. On this interpretation the figurative mode of speech is applicable even to a mixed throng, and expresses thus the thought which, as is visible from the parable of the Great Supper, nay, from more than one expression in the foregoing chapter, hovered continually, just in these days, before the Saviour’s soul—the thought, namely, that Israel, in consequence of rejecting the Messiah, should itself be rejected. Such a warning was, more than any other, worth being crowned with the concluding admonition: “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Compare, moreover, the remarks on the parallel passages.
Luk_14:35. Not fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill.—By this addition the figurative expression of the salt in this connection acquires peculiar force. It belongs to the nature of salt that it can only be used for the purpose peculiar to it, and is good for nothing else. It is as little used for manure, as it is necessary to sow upon salt, Psa_107:34. The people of God, as well as each individual who fails of his original high destination, has, therefore, become not merely in a manner less usable, but wholly unusable. The end of the whole address, such a reminder must make the hearers sensible that it helps nothing, even if one originally might have had some ground to expect something of them, so far as they did not advance to victory in the strife begun, and to the completion of the tower already commenced. Whoever is like the inconsiderate builder, and resembles the presumptuous warrior, he deserves no better name than “Salt that has lost its savor.” Neither directly nor indirectly is he good for anything, who has failed of his high destination.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The whole Pericope presents before our eyes the lofty earnestness and the severe requirements of the Christian life. The word here spoken has the purpose of deterring the inconsiderate and leading the light-minded to self-examination. What the Saviour here holds up before His contemporaries, is now, as ever, of high significance for all impelled to come to Him by a superficial feeling. There exists a remarkable coincidence between the instruction here given, and the answer which the Saviour once gave a well-meaning scribe, Mat_8:19-20.
2. As this instruction has high significance for the beginning, so has it not less for the continuance and completion, of the Christian life. How many a one accounts all as accomplished when he finds a beginning of the new life, a pietistic awakening in his heart, and believes that therewith all is won. The Saviour gives such to consider that it is of the least possible value if one even comes to Him once, but does not go along steadily behind Him, and that a genuine disciple must be recognized at least by two traits of character: by not beginning before all is maturely weighed, and also, after such a beginning, by not ceasing before all is completely accomplished. Thus is the saying justified: “It is easier to throw away the life, than to live it Christianly.” Nitzsch. The beginning signifies nothing unless it leads to the end; a good ending is impossible without careful calculation and continually renewed exertion of all inward powers. Only then is the lofty destination of the Christian life, which is comprised in two words, “Building and Warring,” happily attained.
3. The scoffing of the world at so much that calls itself Christian loses much of its surprising character if we consider how much half-Christianity there is, showing itself in all manner of forms, and coming forward with the pretension of being already complete Christianity. So long as the City of God shows so many incomplete towers and heaps of ruins, it cannot possibly make upon its enemies the impression of an impregnable fortress. The world is fully justified in laughing aloud or in secret at so many who have indeed a desire to distinguish themselves from it, but show no power to vanquish it.
4. But what if, even after careful calculation of forces, it should appear that one is not in a condition to build a tower, not in a condition to overcome the enemy? To this question the parable gives no answer, and we should certainly completely misunderstand the Saviour, if we from His words should conclude that in this case it is better not to think at all of building or warring. The tower must be built; the strife must be striven; the kingdom of heaven must at any price and above all be sought. But when the severe requirement of self-denial and of conflict has brought the sinner to the consciousness of his own impotency, then the Gospel composes our distress by assuring us that all which the Lord requires He Himself can give, and that what is impossible with men is now as ever possible with God, Joh_1:17; Mat_19:26. This whole instruction, therefore, is admirably fitted to bring home to us the prayer of the old father: Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis.
5. Three times the Saviour warns His followers against the fate of the salt that has lost its savor, as He elsewhere speaks of the vine that is cut down and cast into the fire, Joh_15:6. To view such warnings as ideal threatenings, because they do not admit of being reconciled with the ecclesiastical dogma of the Perseverantia Sanctorum, is as arbitrary as to emphasize them at the cost of other declarations which appear to intimate exactly the opposite, e. g., Joh_10:28-30. It is obvious enough that the same subject in the Gospel is sometimes regarded from the theological, sometimes from the anthropological side; but that the warnings of the Saviour are quite as earnestly meant as His promises are true and faithful. It belongs to the hardest, but also to the noblest, problems of believing science, to investigate with continually greater profoundness the connection between freedom and the election of grace; to recognize with continually greater impartiality the connection of the Divine and the human factor in the work of salvation, and when the solution of every difficulty in this relation presents itself, perhaps, as impossible on this side the grave, to accord equally its due to the one truth on both sides, and to hope for the full explanation of the problem from the world where our knowledge shall no more be in part, 1Co_13:9. In no case can a difference of opinion in respect to this mystery justify a lasting separation of really believing Evangelical Christians.
6. What is true of every individual and of Israel, is still true also of the Church of the New Testament, which is planted in the midst of the unbelieving world, in order as a purifying salt to preserve it from destruction. If it fails of this destination, it is wholly unprofitable, and deserves, therefore, to be rejected: comp. Rev_2:5; Rev_3:3-16. This word of the Saviour gives, therefore, into our hands the key to the answer of the question why so many a candlestick, whose flame burned lower and lower, has been finally taken away from its place. In the denunciation of this judgment, love speaks; in the carrying out of it, the most inexorable severity reveals itself.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The Saviour is as far from being misled by a great number of followers, as from being discouraged by the decrease of their number, Joh_6:67.—The preacher of the Gospel also must propose severer requirements when a varied mixed throng follows him.—[“Large demands are often more attractive than large concessions”—a thought worthy of being well considered by the minister.—C. C. S.]—The hatred and the love of the genuine disciple of the Saviour.—Not all who outwardly follow Jesus come in truth to Him; not all who in the beginning come to Him persevere in following Him.—The hard and the easy side of the discipleship of the Saviour.—The disinterestedness of the Saviour over against the brief enthusiasm of the people.—The requirement of self-denying love to Jesus: 1. A seemingly preposterous and yet extremely simple; 2. a seemingly arbitrary and yet perfectly warranted; 3. a seemingly exaggerated and yet absolutely indispensable; 4. a seemingly harmful and yet infinitely blessed; 5. a seemingly superhuman and yet certainly practicable, requirement.—How the Saviour calls His disciples: 1. To earnest consideration before; 2. unconditional surrendery in; 3. to enduring watchfulness after, the resolution to follow Him.—The disciple of the Saviour called to build, and at the same time to war, Neh_4:17.—Better never begun than only half-ended.—The discipleship of the Saviour a matter of special and earnest consideration.—We have to see to it: 1. What; 2. how; 3. why, we choose.—The Christian a builder: 1. Plan of building; 2. the cost of building; 3. the completion of building.—The scoffing of the world at half-religion: 1. Its fully warranted jest; 2. its terrible earnestness.—The Christian a valiant warrior: 1. The enemy; 2. the armor; 3. the conflict; 4. the event.—Even Christ left all to be our Saviour.—It is precisely the noblest things that are exposed to the greatest corruption.—The cast-away salt: 1. What it once was; 2. what it now Isaiah 3. what it necessarily becomes.
Starke:—Canstein:—Christ is not concerned about the great number of hearers, but about the honest heart.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—Self-love is death, and the suicide of the old man is life.—Believing, doing, and suffering, admit of no separation in religion.—Brentius:—God is served with no great Babylonian tower.—Christians must at the commencement of all things ever look at the end.—There is no lack of scoffers at true religion, but let us look to it that we give not cause and occasion for scoffing, comp. 1Pe_3:16; Tit_2:7-8.—Satan and the world leave here no peace to true Christians.—It is not always true that a Christian must forsake his own for Jesus’ sake, but a heart prepared thereto is required of all, Act_21:13.—Whoever in and with Christ finds all, such a one can very easily for Christ’s sake lose all.—Canstein:—True Christians are profitable to themselves and the world, in words and works, Col_4:6, but hypocritical Christians are the most unprofitable men on earth, like spoiled salt.—Brentius:—That a backsliding or apostasy from Christianity may not be accounted a small thing, for this reason has the Lord Jesus added so strong and powerful an awakening voice: Oh that they were wise.
Zimmermann:—Weighty questions for every one that will enter into the kingdom of God: 1. What shouldst and wilt thou build? 2. against what hast thou to combat? 3. hast thou also means and energies for the carrying through of this strife?—The whole Pericope admirably adapted for a confirmation discourse. In the sphere of missions also advantageous for the answer of the question whether one can continue the building and conflict begun or not. The pro and contra admit of being weighed successively; the result of the consideration cannot be doubtful, but gives then new excitement to arouse to increased zeal.
Footnotes:
[6]Luk_14:34.—On the authority of B., [Cod. Sin.,] L., X., &c., we receive οὖν, with Tischendorf, [Tregelles (brackets it). Alford,] into the text.
[7]Luk_14:34.—According to the testimony of B., D., [Cod. Sin.,] X., &c., καί must be here inserted, by which the force of the language is not a little heightened. “If even the salt itself becomes insipid, which least of all might be expected to lose its taste,” &c. Καί appears to have been omitted hero only because it is not found in Mat_5:13; Mar_9:50.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain ADDRESS TO GREAT MULTITUDES TRAVELLING WITH HIM. (Luk 14:25-35)
ADDRESS TO GREAT MULTITUDES TRAVELLING WITH HIM. (Luk 14:25-35)
great multitudes with him--on His final journey to Jerusalem. The "great multitudes" were doubtless people going to the passover, who moved along in clusters (Luk 2:44), and who on this occasion falling in with our Lord had formed themselves into one mass about Him.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 25. There went great multitudes—These multitudes followed him as…
§ 91.—JESUS STATES THE DIFFICULTIES OF PROFESSING CHRIST.
25. There went great multitudes—These multitudes followed him as friends and partizans perhaps as he walked from the feast to his place of abode.
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See note on Luk_13:32. The miracles, the preaching, the power of Jesus’s character, attracted floating multitudes, whose feelings were deeply stirred, but whose souls were not renovated by the truth. They trailed after his footsteps rather than followed his precepts; being followers not in a spiritual but in a mere bodily sense. So it is that, in periods of religious excitement, light minds are often flung upon the Church, which she hardly knows what to do with.
Turned. and said—Jesus presents to them that true disperser of such chaff—the cross.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 25-35. Lessons of Whole-heartedness, and of Counting the Cost;…
25-35. Lessons of Whole-heartedness, and of Counting the Cost; the Tower-builder; the warring King; the SAVOURLESS SALT.
25. And there went great multitudes with him] This is evidently a scene of the journey, when multitudes of the Galilaean pilgrims were accompanying Him on their way to one of the great Jewish feasts. The warning might have prevented them from following Him now, and shouting ‘Crucify Him’ afterwards.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 25-35. The qualifications of his real disciples. Two…
Vers. 25-35. The qualifications of his real disciples. Two short parables illustrative of the high pries such a real disciple must pay if he would indeed be his. The halfhearted disciple is compared to flavourless salt .
And there went great multitudes with him. These great multitudes were made up now of enemies as well as friends. Curiosity doubtless attracted many; the fame of the Teacher had gone through the length and breadth of the land. The end, the Master well knew, was very near, and, in the full view of his own self-sacrifice, the higher and the more ideal were the claims he made upon those who professed to be his followers. He was anxious now, at the end, clearly to make it known to all these multitudes what serving him really signified entire self-renunciation; a real, not a poetic or sentimental, taking up the cross (ver. 27). Even his own chosen disciples were yet a long way from apprehending the terrible meaning of this cross he spoke of, and which to him now bore so ghastly a significance.
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Vers. 25-33. The time and the room for calculation in religion.
What room is there in the religion of Jesus Christ for calculation? What amount of reckoning before acting is permissible to the disciple of our Lord? When and in what way should he ask of himself Can I afford to do this? Have I strength enough to undertake it?
I THE CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH SUGGESTED THE IDEA. It was the temporary popularity of Christ that led him to the strain of remark we have in the text. "There went great multitudes with him" (ver. 25), fascinated by his presence and bearing, or struck by his teaching, or marvelling at his mighty works. And these men and women were far from entering into his spirit or sharing his high purpose; it was necessary that they should understand what discipleship to Jesus meant, what absolute self-surrender it involved. So the Master gave utterance to the strong and trenchant words recorded in the context (vers. 26, 27). And the words of the text itself are explanatory of this utterance. Their import is this: "I say this because it is much better you should know what you are doing by following me than that you should enter upon a course which you will find yourselves obliged to abandon, than that you should undertake a duty to which you will find yourselves unequal. All wise people, before they definitely commit themselves to any policy carefully consider whether they can carry it through. Every wise builder calculates the cost before he begins to build; every wise king estimates his military strength before he declares war. So do you consider whether you are prepared to make a full surrender of your will to my will, of your life to my service, before you attach yourselves to my side; for whoever is not able to "forsake all that he hath at my bidding, cannot be my disciple" Ponder the matter, therefore; weigh everything before you act, count the cost, decide deliberately and with a full understanding of what it is you are doing.
II THE PLACE THERE IS FOR CALCULATION IN PERSONAL RELIGION.
1. At the entrance upon a Christian life. It would seem as if there could be no room for reckoning here. We may well ask When God calls us to himself, when Christ invites us to come unto him, what time should we allow ourselves before responding to his summons? Should not our response be immediate, instantaneous? We reply Time enough to understand what we are undertaking to be and to do; time enough to take the Divine message into our full and intelligent consideration; so that our choice may be not the impulse of an hour, but the fixed and final purpose of our soul. God would not have us act in ignorance, in misconception. In malice we may well be children, but in understanding we should be men. There is no step any man can take which is comparable in importance with that which is taken when a human soul enters the kingdom of God: on that hang everlasting issues. Let men, therefore, diligently and reverently inquire until they understand what it means to have a living faith in Jesus Christ, to enter his spiritual kingdom, and become one of his subjects; let them understand, among other things, that it means the cheerful and full surrender of themselves to the Saviour himself, with all that such surrender involves (ver. 33).
2. At the entrance on a public profession of personal religion. Here is a visible "Church" which we are invited to join, taking upon ourselves the Christian name, and openly avowing our attachment to our Lord; thus honouring him before men. This is a step to be taken deliberately. Before taking it, a man should certainly ask himself whether he is prepared to act in accordance with his profession everywhere, in all circles and in every sphere; not only where he will be encouraged to do the right, but where he will be solicited to do the wrong thing; not only in the midst of genial influences, but in the throng of perilous temptations. But while these things are to be carefully taken into account, there must be reckoned, on the other side, the assurance which genuine piety may always cherish of needed Divine succour. If we go forth in the Name and in the strength of our Lord to do that which is his own command, we may confidently count on his support; and with him at our right hand we shall not be moved from the path of integrity and consistency. Look the facts in the face, but include all the facts; and do not forget that among these are the promises of the faithful Friend.
3. Before undertaking any post of sacred service. It would be worse than foolish for a Christian man to go forth to any enterprise requiring an amount of physical strength, or of intellectual capacity, or of educational advantages, which he knows well he does not possess. That would be to begin to build and to be unable to finish, to declare war with the certainty of defeat. At all times, when we are thinking of Christian work, we must carefully consider our qualifications. A wise and modest refusal is a truer sacrifice than an indiscreet and unwarrantable acceptance. But, again, let our judgment include the great factor of the Divine presence and aid, and also the valid consideration that competency comes with exercise, that to him that hath (uses his capacities) is given, and he has abundance (of power and of success). C.
Vers. 25-35. The cost of discipleship.
The Pharisee"s banquet being over, our Lord continues his journey towards Jerusalem, and, as a crisis is evidently at hand, he has a goodly multitude of expectant followers. Have they any notion of the cost of discipleship? Are they prepared for all which it involves? Jesus determines to make this unmistakable, and so he gives them the admonition contained in the present section. He gives point to his advice by mentioning the folly of beginning to build a tower without calculating the cost of finishing it, or of beginning a war without calculating the reasonable chances of success. Each follower would have a costly tower to build in the devoted life he must lead, and a costly war to wage in the contest for the faith. It was every way desirable, therefore, that they should go carefully into the meaning of discipleship, and undertake it intelligently.
I NOTHING LESS THAN THE FIRST PLACE IN THE HEART MUST BE OFFERED UNTO JESUS. (Ver. 26) He insists on being put before father and mother, before wife and children, before brothers and sisters. All relations are to be put below him. He must be more than them all. It is a great demand, and yet a most reasonable one. For:
1. The love of Jesus anticipated all parental love. In fact, the love of our parents is only the latest expression of his far-seeing and foreseeing love. The generations to whom we owe so much have only mediated for us the love of Jesus.
2. The unity of marriage only feebly illustrates the intensity of Christ"s love. Husband owes much to wife, and wife to husband. The marriage union is a close and intimate one; but Jesus comes closer to our hearts than husband or wife can. He is nearer, and should be dearer, than either.
3. The rising generation does not lay so much love and hope at our feet as Jesus. Children are dear; the promise of their young lives and hearts is precious; they come as pledges for the future; they are prophecies of the world about to be; but "the holy Child Jesus" comes closer to our hearts than even they. He is the prophecy of all coming time, the goal and ideal at which, not the rising generation only, but generations yet unborn, are to aim.
4. He gives us a more profound brotherhood than brothers or sisters can. The brotherhood of Jesus, "the elder Brother born for all adversity, and who can never die," is an experience which brothers and sisters can only help us to understand. Jesus consequently claims first place, because in his manifold relations he is not only more than each, but more than all combined.
II WE MUST PRIZE CHRIST MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. (Ver. 26) Life is another precious benefit which we naturally prize. Satan, in the trial of Job, imagined that Job would give all that he had rather than lose his life. (Job_2:4) He fancied that the patriarch, who would not curse God under the loss of children and property, would break down if God touched his bone or his flesh. But Job was so spiritually minded as to be ready to trust God, even should he, for some mysterious and hidden reason, slay him. (Job_13:15) Now, Jesus comes and insists on being put before life itself. When the two come into competition there must be no question about yielding the palm to Christ. Jesus is more to us than physical life, because he is our spiritual life. (Joh_14:6) We can never forfeit blessed existence so long as we trust in Christ, and the mere existence of the body is but a bagatelle in comparison.
III SELF-SACRIFICE IS THE MARCHING ORDER OF THE REDEEMED. (Ver. 27) The idea of cross-bearing is often interpreted as if it simply meant enduring those "crosses" to which life is heir. But much more is meant than this. In the Revised Version it is put, "Whosoever cloth not bear his own cross." Now, as Christ carried his cross to die upon, so must we take our lives in our hands, and be ready at any moment to sacrifice them for Jesus. He was crucified for us: are we ready to be crucified for him, or to die in any other way he wishes? It is the martyr-spirit which Christ here insists upon. He is surely worthy of such self-sacrifice.
IV WE MUST FORSAKE ALL AS A GROUND OF CONFIDENCE IF WE WOULD FOLLOW JESUS. (Ver. 33) Christ, having insisted on disposing of our lives as he pleases, next insists on disposing of our property. He comes in with his right to tell us, as he told the rich young ruler, that we must give up our all for his sake. Not, of course, that he exercises this right often. Voluntary poverty has been an exceptional way of serving him. But we may all show plainly that our property is his, and that, when Christ and our possessions come into competition, all must give way to him. If we prize property more than Jesus, then he is nothing to us. We must be ready to put him before everything which we have, and to sacrifice everything when he claims it from us. In this way we make Christ first and all in all.
V THE WORLD NEEDS SUCH PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE TO KEEP IT FROM CORRUPTION. (Vers. 34, 35) Were it not for the self-sacrifice of souls, the world would become utterly corrupt. Now, it is this heroic element which Christ"s cause has par excellence supplied. Only by the martyr-band, whose pure self-sacrifice was unmistakable, has the world been kept from utter selfishness and corresponding corruption. It was mindful of this martyr-spirit which his gospel ensures, that Jesus told his servants they were "the salt of the earth". (Mat_5:13) Unless this wholesome antidote to natural selfishness be supplied, society must go to pieces. It cannot be built on selfishness. The economics which assume no higher ethical element than each man looking after himself, may give expression to tendencies; but they must be overpassed by realities if the world is to keep moderately sweet and habitable. But suppose that Christ"s servants make a mere profession of self-sacrifice, and do not carry out the spirit of their Master, then they become but insipid salt, which can only be trodden underfoot of men on the highway, where nothing is meant to grow. In other words, the Christians who are not genuine are sure to be despised. They are trodden down by a world whom they have vainly tried to deceive. A false professor is the most contemptible of all men. R.M.E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain If any man come to Me, and hate not,…
Luk_14:25-26
If any man come to Me, and hate not, etc
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The statute-law of discipleship
I.
THE NATURE OF THIS NECESSARY QUALIFICATION OF A TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST.
1. An esteem of Christ above all.
2. The heart renounces its property in all things of the world, in the day of its closing with Jesus Christ.
3. The soul resigns all to the Lord; lays down all at His feet, to be disposed of as He will.
4. The soul accepts of Christ for, and instead of the things resigned.
5. The soul is disposed to part with them, when the Lord calls for them; has an habitual readiness to part with them for Christ.
6. There is in the soul a new power of living, without them, on Jesus Christ; a life which is an absolute mystery to every Christless soul (Joh_6:57). We now proceed--
II. To confirm the doctrine of the text, or show, that no man can be a true disciple of Christ, to whom Christ is not dearer than what is dearest to Him in the world. For this purpose, consider--
1. That the soul cannot truly lay hold on Christ, hut it must of necessity part with the world--No man can serve two masters (Mat_6:24).
2. It is impossible that the love of God, and the love of the world (the persons and things of the world), can at the same time be predominant in the heart. One of them must of necessity be uppermost.
3. That if Christ be not dearer to us than the world, fhere is no universal resignation, which is necessary to prove the sincerity of the heart.
4. That if Christ is not loved supremely, there is a root wanting, the fruit of which is necessary to evidence sincerity. Because of the deceitfulness of your heart, it will be good to be very distinct and particular in this point, on which eternity depends. In consequence I would advise you--
(1) To give up with all your lusts. You have held the grip long, let it now go--Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? Hos_14:8).
(2) To lay down at the Lords feet your nearest and dearest relations, so as that you may never break with Christ for them: His favour, truths, and ways, must be dearer to you than they. And sure I am, ii thou meetest with Christ at His table, thou wilt say, Henceforth know we no man after the flesh.
(3) Lay down at the Lords feet your substance in the world, be it great or small, houses and lands, goods, etc., that He may dispose of them as He may see meet.
(4) Lay down at the Lords feet your credit and esteem in the world. This is often a great idol, and goes betwixt many a man and Christ.
(5) Lay down at the Lords feet your ease and liberty (Act_21:13).
(6) Lay down at Christs feet your desires. Your desires shall be to your spiritual Husband, who shall choose for you your inheritance (Psa_47:4).
(7) Lay down at the Lords feet your life. Let your bodies be given now to the Lord, not only for service, but also for a sacrifice, if He requires it. I now proceed--
III. To offer some reasons why Christ is dearer to His true disciples than what is dearest to them in the world. Among other reasons the following are mentioned.
1. Because to every true disciple, sin, of all bitter things, is the bitterest.
2. That God is mans chief end; and when He made him, He made him pointing towards Himself as His chief end (Ecc_7:29).
3. That as there unquestionably is, so they have seen, a vanity and emptiness in all things of the world, even the things that are dearest to Psa_119:96).
4. Because they find Christ of all objects the most suitable to them, and therefore He cannot but be dearer to them than the dearest thing in the world.
5. Because He is their greatest benefactor; His unparalleled benefits command their hearts to be all His: He has done for them what none other could do.
6. Because they are sensible that whatever they have in the world, they have it through and by Him. And so they behold Him as the fountain of all their mercies. Thus--
(1) They have the enjoyment of their blessings through Him.
(2) They have the comfort of them through Him.
7. Because, if it were not so, Christ would have no Church in the world. If imprisoning, banishing, spoiling of goods, fields and scaffolds reeking with the blood of the saints, would have deterred all persons from following Christ, there had been no Church in the world this day. But God will have a Church in spite of devils and wicked men. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Christ worthy of our highest esteem
I. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE LOVE HERE SPOKEN OF.
1. An esteem and valuation of Christ above all worldly enjoyments whatsoever.
2. A choosing Him before all other enjoyments.
3. Love to Christ implies service and obedience to Him; the same love that when it is between equals is friendship, when it is from an inferior to a superior is obedience. Love, of all the affections, is the most active; hence by those who express the nature of things by hieroglyphics, we have it compared to fire, certainly for nothing more than its activity. The same arms that embrace a friend, will be as ready to act for Him.
4. Love to Christ implies an acting for Him in opposition to all other things; and this is the undeceiving, infallible test of a true affection.
5. Love to Christ imports a full acquiescence in Him alone, even in the absence and want of all other felicities: men can embrace Christ with riches, Christ with honour, Christ with interest, and abundantly satisfy themselves in so doing; though perhaps all the time they put but a cheat upon themselves, thinking that they follow Christ, while indeed they run only after the loaves.
II. THE REASONS AND MOTIVES THAT MAY INDUCE US TO THIS LOVE.
1. That He is best able to reward our love.
2. That He has shown the greatest love to us.
III. THE SIGNS, MARKS, AND CHARACTERS WHEREBY WE MAY DISCERN IT.
1. A frequent and indeed a continual thinking of Him. Where your treasure is, says our Saviour, there will your heart be also. That is, whatsoever you love and value, that will be sure to take up your thoughts.
2. The second sign of a sincere love to Christ, is a willingness to leave the world, whensoever God shall think fit to send His messenger of death to summon us to a nearer converse with Christ. I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, says St. Paul.
3. A third, and indeed the principal sign of a sincere love to Christ, is a zeal for His honour, and an impatience to hear or see any indignity offered Him. A person truly pious will mourn for other mens sins, as well as for his own. (R. South, D. D.)
Loving Christ above all, the character of His true disciples
I. Let us consider WHAT IT IS TO BE WORTHY OF CHRIST. And this we find is very well explained in the passage just now referred to by this expression, he cannot be My disciple; that is, ha cannot be a sincere Christian; he may call himself by that name.
II. To consider THE LOVE OF CHRIST AS IN COMPARISON WITH, AND OPPOSITION TO THE LOVE OF FRIENDS, and all other worldly interests. Such affections have deep and firm foundation in nature and reason. As this may be justly attributed to God as its Author, and His wisdom and goodness shine in it, religion is not intended to root it out, or in any degree to weaken the bonds of humanity. But the immediate ends of these natural relations are not the highest ends of our being. We are capable of nobler pursuits and higher enjoyments than the ease and conveniences of our present condition. It is the predominant affection which constitutes the character and temper of a man. The covetous is he in whom the love of wealth prevails over all other inclinations; the ambitious, in whom the love of honour; the voluptuous, in whom the love of sensual pleasures. Each of these will sacrifice every other interest to his idol, and every other desire, which is even natural to him, yet not so strong. But to preserve an universal harmony in the mind of man, and to constitute a truly religious and virtuous character, the love of God and of goodness ought to be predominant. Other affections are not to be rooted out, but this must be supreme; and they gratified and indulged only by its permission, and so far as not to be inconsistent with it. This is the true meaning of my text. For what I would principally observe for illustrating this subject is, that the love of Christ, and the love of God and goodness, is just the same. And as moral excellence is the inseparable character of the Deity, so it is absurd to pretend that we love Him without loving it; that we love the holiest and best of all Beings without loving holiness and goodness itself. Again, let us consider that to be worthy of Christ, to be His true disciples, and obtain His acceptance, it is absolutely necessary that we should adhere to Him inviolably, that we should hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, and be stedfast and immovable in good works. For they only who endure to the end shall be saved, and to them alone who remain faithful unto death, the crown of life is promised. Now, the only possible security of this stedfastness, is love to Christ, and to religion and virtue above all. I shall only add that a stedfast and universal obedience to Him is imported in our being worthy of Christ, or His sincere disciples. It remains now that we make some application of this subject; which may be the better done, because our Saviour Himself has gone before us in applying it to one of the highest and most difficult points in the practice of religion, that is, to the case of suffering persecution. For can there be any sincere affection to God, to our Saviour, and to His cause of pure religion and virtue, if it be not a prevailing affection, stronger than any other, which opposes it in the heart? But, we may apply this also to other and mere ordinary purposes in the practice of religion. If the commanding love of Christ be a sufficient defence against the strongest temptations, it may well support the mind against lesser ones. Our affection to our friends and worldly interests may mislead us by flattery as well as terror: and their insinuating smiles may prove a snare as well as their frowns. Besides this, there are other temptations which derive their force from the same root, the love of our intimate friends; and are only defeated by the same principle, a superior affection to Christ. There is nothing more common in the world than for mens families to be snares to them; while to make a large, or (as they pretend) a competent provision for them, they violate their consciences, and sin against God, either by direct injustice, or, at least, by such immoderate solicitude and incessant toil as is inconsistent with piety, leaving no room for the exercises of it; or by such narrowness, and withholding more than is meet, as is directly contrary to charity. But let us remember that this is to render ourselves unworthy of Christ, by loving sons or daughters, or other worldly interests more than Him. Besides, distresses befalling our friends, their deaths and misfortunes, which, considering the vicissitude of human affairs, are always to be expected, and they are to some minds, at least, among the most sensibly affecting trials in life; these are to be supported on the same principle. (J. Abernethy, M. A.)
Lore for Christ greater than love for a sister
There is a beautiful story, which some of you will probably know, as it forms the groundwork of one of the best tales of modern times, and which affords a noble example of what I have just been saying. The daughter of a poor Scotch farmer--her name was Helen Walker--after her fathers death, supported her mother by her unceasing labour, and by submitting to every privation. She had a sister, many years younger, whom she brought up and educated, and loved as her own child. This sister, however, brought great grief and shame upon her. She fell into foul sin. She was delivered of a child. The child was found dead. The mother was tried for child-murder. This trial was a terrible one for poor Helen. Notwithstanding her sisters sin, she could not forget how she had loved her; she could not cast her out of her heart: she longed that her sisters life should be spared, so that she might have time to repent. A fearful temptation assailed her. It seemed as though her sisters life hung upon her word--a single falsehood might save her. If she would but say that her sister had made any preparations for the birth of the child, or had ever mentioned it to her, her sister would be acquitted. Her sister implored her; her love for her sister rent her heart; but Helen said, It is impossible for me to swear to a falsehood. Whatever betide, I must speak the truth. Thus the sister was condemned to death; and the thoughtless looked upon Helen as hardhearted. But she had shown that she loved God above her sister. She now showed how deeply she loved her sister, with a love far deeper than it would have been, had she attempted to save her life by a lie. She resolved to take up a petition herself to the King, to spare her sisters life.
She walked to London barefoot, a journey of above four hundred miles; such a journey in those days, a hundred years ago, being far more difficult and dangerous than it is now; and though she was only a poor, helpless peasant, such was the energy and boldness with which her love inspired her, that she gained the Kings pardon, carried it back on foot, and arrived just in time to save her sisters life. I have told you this story, because it is such a beautiful example of the right proportion between love and duty, whereby both are greatly strengthened--of the right proportion between our love to God and our love to our earthly friends. It is an example too, which if we kept it in mind, might often help to admonish us of our duty. For the temptation which Helen Walker resisted is a very common one, and comes across us in a number of shapes. We are often tempted to do something that is not quite right, to say something that is not strictly true, for the advantage, as we deem it, of those whom we love; and because our love is feeble and shallow, and shrinks from pain and sacrifices, we yield to the temptation. Sometimes the temptation may be very strong. You, who are fathers, may see your wives and children suffering from want. At such a time evil thoughts will rise up; you will think you may do anything to save your wife and children from starving. So you may, and ought to do everything, everything in your power, and even beyond your power, provided it be not against the law of God. Whatever is, you should shrink from, remembering our Lords words, that, unless you love Him above wife and child, you cannot be worthy of Him. (J. C. Hare, M. A.)
Love of Christ greater than love of relatives
While discussing this passage one day, I noticed that a beam of sunlight had fallen upon the mass of glowing coal in the grate, and where the sunlight fell the bright redness was turned into absolute blackness. Ah! thought I, there is the meaning of this passage. As the glowing coal appears black beneath the far more intense light of the sun, so Christ asks that the light of our love for Him should be so intense as to render our earthly loves even as hatreds in comparison. In reality, although the red coal appears black under the sunlight, it is still as hot as before, yea, hotter than before, because of the added heat from the sun; so our love for friends and relatives, though it should appear as hatred beneath our love for Christ, will not be quenched by it, but added to, and rendered deeper and purer. (H. Stanley.)
Christ demanding hatred
The word hate is a strong word, and I believe that it points both to strong feeling and strong action. The words hate his own life also are the key to the whole aphorism. A disciple is to hate his relatives and friends in the same sense in which he is to hate himself. In what sense, then, can a man hate himself? He can hate what is mean and base in himself. He can hate his own selfish life. To cling to life is natural; to desire ease and comfort is natural; to gratify the appetites is natural; but all this natural life, whenever it comes into collision with the spiritual side of our being, may be even hated. It is not merely that the Christian may, after a struggle, prefer to remain true to God and Christ, rather than gratify the selfish cravings of his own natural life; he may positively hate these selfish cravings when they are tempting him to forsake his duty. The word may be paradoxical; but is it too strong? Have we never felt disgusted at our own selfishness? Have we never experienced a strong revulsion of feeling when we have been tempted by our own life--by our natural liking for what is agreeable to that life--to shirk our duty, and to do something mean and base? In the old Greek drama, Admetos is disgusted with the life which, in selfish cowardice, he has purchased by the sacrifice of his wife Alkestis. And we can well conceive that many a Christian martyr may have felt disgusted with his own life, when he was tempted to preserve it at the cost of denying his Lord. It is thus, then, that a man may hate himself. Not in the bald, literal sense; for he still cares for his own true best life, and wishes that to be developed and strengthened. But he does: in a sense, hate himself when the self in him rises in rebellion against God and Christ and duty. Now, in this sense also, a man may hate his relatives and friends. He may hate that in them which is mean and base. He may hate that in them which seeks to drag him away from Christ. (T. C.Finlayson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Luk_14:25. There went with Him.—I.e., journeyed with Him; many,…
CRITICAL NOTES
Luk_14:25. There went with Him.—I.e., journeyed with Him; many, if not most, of them being on their way to one of the feasts in Jerusalem. The multitudes were attracted by Christ’s teaching and works, and He wished to teach His followers the wide difference between an outward and a real adhesion to Him. He spoke these stern words to sift the multitude. The purpose of self-sacrifice by which He was inspired lent force to His utterances. “The nearer the approach of His own self-sacrifice, the more distinct and the more ideal are the claims which He makes” (Meyer).
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Luk_14:26. Cometh unto Me.—This is descriptive of outward adhesion. Hate not.—The word cannot be understood of active hatred, since Christ commands us to love even our enemies, but denotes a deep and heartfelt alienation from all ties, and affections, and feelings, that would interfere with devotion to Christ. The clue to whatever difficulty the words might, at first sight, suggest is to be found in the phrase “and his own life also.” Life here means animal life; not life in the highest sense. In the same manner in which a man is called to control and repress and subordinate his lower life to higher claims, at any cost of feeling, is he to deal with the other relationships in which he finds himself. “Let the hate begin here, and little explanation will be further wanted. It need hardly be observed that this hate is not only consistent with, but absolutely necessary for, the very highest kind of love. It is that element in love which makes a man a wise and Christian friend, not for time only, but for eternity” (Alford).
Luk_14:27. Bear his cross.—I.e., submit to any sufferings, however severe, to which his devotion to Christ might expose him.
Luk_14:28. Sitteth not down.—Deliberate and careful consideration (so in Luk_14:31) of ability to complete the undertaking.
Luk_14:31. Or what king …?—The former illustration lays stress upon the folly, this upon the danger, of following Christ without having duly considered what is involved in discipleship—what self-renunciation must be exemplified. The purpose of the illustrations seems to be to enforce the necessity of earnestness and deliberation in entering upon and discharging the obligations of the spiritual life.
Luk_14:33. That forsaketh not, etc.—In other words, “counting the cost” (Luk_14:28), which may be that of forsaking the interests, and affections, and possessions, of this present life.
Luk_14:34. If the salt have lost, etc.—The life of the merely nominal Christian is compared to salt that has lost its characteristic properties and is useless for any purpose. The office of the follower of Jesus is to be a salutary influence in the world, by which it is to be preserved from corruption. The figure was evidently one frequently used by Christ (cf. Mat_5:13; Mar_9:50). The loss of savour is an illustration drawn from actual fact. “It is a well-known fact that the salt of this country (gathered from the marshes in dry weather), when in contact with the ground, or exposed to air or sun, does become insipid and useless” (Thomson: “The Land and the Book”).
Luk_14:35. Neither fit, etc.—Of no use as manure, or to be mixed with manure. Men cast it out.—A fit emblem of the contempt which even the worldly-minded have for any who fall away from Christian practice—who have the name of disciples, but have lost all that differentiates them from the children of this world. He that hath ears, etc.—Words that no doubt closed the discourse (cf. chap. Luk_8:8).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Luk_14:25-35
Thorough-going Disciples.—Complete surrender of earthly things as the indispensable condition of discipleship is the teaching of this passage. Crowds followed Christ, but He will have no recruits enlisted on false pretences, and rather discourages than stimulates inconsiderate adhesion. The clear presentation of difficulties stifles no genuine earnestness, but rather fans the flame. Christ would have the light-minded crowds, following Him with curiosity, understand that it is no holiday stroll nor triumphal march in which they are joining, but a procession to a cross. So, if they are not ready for that, they had better not come after Him, and, at any rate, must come with their eyes open, if at all.
I. Our Lord lays down the law of discipleship.—There is a twofold requirement, the solemnity of the statement of which is increased by that repeated “He cannot be My disciple.”
1. The first requirement refers to the heart. Jesus claims the subordination, and, if necessary, the sacrifice of all other love to the supreme love to Himself, as the prime, indispensable condition of all discipleship. We need not wonder at that strong word “hate.” The “hate” which embraces all whom nature and God bid us love, and our own lives also, cannot be the earthly passionate loathing, attended by desire to harm, which goes by that name, but detachment of heart consequent upon supreme attachment of heart to Jesus—the purifying of earthly love by loving only in Him, rigid subordination of the closest ties, and the readiness to sacrifice the tenderest of these when they come in the way of our higher love to Christ. Mark the tremendous claim which Christ here makes, in assuming His right to the throne in all our hearts. What gives Him the right, and how can He satisfy the love which He demands? Surely He who thus speaks must be conscious of Divinity, or His claim is blasphemous. Surely He not only is, but does, what deserves and draws, and will bless with full fruition the fullest love of every heart.
2. The second requirement applies to conduct. The first calls for the surrender of the dearest; the second, for the acceptance of the most painful. There is here a veiled allusion to Christ’s own cross, as if He had said, “I, on this journey in which you are following Me so blindly and eagerly, am going to My cross. If you could see, it is already lying on My shoulder. If you follow Me, you, too, will have to carry a cross.” Note the two halves of conduct which together make up real discipleship—taking up each the cross which is his own, and imitating Christ. Every true Christian has his own special burden of humiliation, difficulty, self-denial, to carry. The cross is heavy, and hard to carry; but unless we do carry it, we are not His. And all the procession of cross-bearers go after the Lord. If we follow after Him, our crosses grow light, remembering His, and with Him for leader and companion.
II. Two illustrative similes enforce the law.—
1. The rash builder. This sets forth discipleship in its aspect of building up the noble and conspicuous structure of a Christ-like character. That is the life-long work of a true disciple. Life is not for enjoyment, nor for worldly ends, but for building up a holy character, and all outward things are but scaffolding to further the building. Expenditure is needed to secure this end. Building costs money. The building of ourselves takes and tasks all the resources of a life-time. In other words, we are not disciples unless we surrender self and all we have. It plainly follows that there must be deliberate, open-eyed recognition of what being a Christian involves, at the beginning, if there is not to be failure long before the end. But if we find that we have not the power to build, are we to give up the attempt? No. For they who know that they can do nothing of themselves are they who will most humbly look for, and most certainly receive, the grace that will keep them steadfast and growing; and they who fail are precisely those who begin with swaggering self-sufficiency. The bystanders mock, as they have a right to do. Thorough-going Christians may be disliked, but they are respected. Earnestness awes and sometimes excites hostility, but inconsistency only amuses.
2. The rash soldier. This presents Christian life as a warfare. There is not only need for continuous effort, as in building, but for continual struggle with an enemy stronger than ourselves. Our Lord here warns men not to begin the conflict unless they are prepared to fight it out to the death. Does He, then, advise a man who feels himself too weak to conquer evil to give up the struggle and to become its tributary slave? That would be a counsel of despair. If we find that we have not enough force to meet the enemy, the recognition of our weakness, and the abandonment of all trust in self, will bring an ally into the field whose reinforcements will make us more than conquerors.
III. The final warning.—Entire self-surrender is necessary in order to our realising the ideal of the Christian life in our own characters. It is also necessary in order to the discharge of the Christian’s office to society. The true disciple, who has forsaken all, and taken up his cross and gone after Christ, is the salt. The action of such souls on the community is to arrest corruption, and by diffusing a penetrating and sometimes biting, but always purifying, influence to sweeten and hallow what is on the road to putridity. There is need, however, for watchful renewal, day by day, of the self-surrender; for the saltest salt may lose its savour. It is a slow and often unconscious process. The salt keeps shape, colour, bulk—only the invisible savour is gone; but everything worth keeping goes with it. How can the loss be repaired? There is nothing in the world that can re-salt it. Of course, our Lord does not here close the door to the possibility of going again to Him, and getting from Him a fresh gift, even of the grace which we have so carelessly spilt; but what He means is, that since disciples are to give, and not get, savour, there are none to give it them if they lose it. He is always there to give, but that is not the point in hand. Christians who are not acting as salt are doing no good at all. Saltless salt is utterly useless, and by no means ornamental. The only thing to do with it is to cart it away. It may do to lay on a path, but that is all it is good for. Stern words from gentle lips! But they are true, and need to be laid to heart by the professing Christians of this as of every time.—Maclaren.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk_14:25-35
Luk_14:25. “Great multitudes.”—Christ reads their hearts and foresees the future; He knows that multitudes will fall away from Him, and multitudes cry “Crucify Him” (chap. Luk_23:21). And so He winnows them by prophecies of tribulation and trial; as Gideon winnowed his thirty-two thousand until he had brought them down to three hundred (Jdg_7:1-8).
The Fickle Crowd.—Christ placed no confidence in the multitude loosely attached to Him; He knew that a day of temptation would scatter them. “They that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful” (Rev_17:14), and such, and such only, will abide with Him to the end.
Luk_14:26-27. “If any man come … and hate not.”—Discipleship may involve
(1) the sacrifice of affections—the breaking of earthly ties, and
(2) the endurance of persecution.
Luk_14:26. “Come to Me.”—I.e., outward attachment to Jesus. “Be My Disciple.” I.e., genuine attachment to His person and spirit.
Recruits Warned of Hardship.—Recruiting-sergeants commonly keep out of view what is hard, painful, and dangerous in the service for which they would enlist men; but Christ desired that none should join themselves to Him without a clear knowledge beforehand of all to which they were engaging themselves. So to St. Paul, at his conversion, is shown what great things he must suffer for Christ’s name’s sake (Act_9:16). Ezekiel, at his first commission, is told that the men to whom he is sent are like thorns, briars, and scorpions (Eze_2:6).
“Doth not hate.”—We must hate all things—our friends, our relatives, our own lives—if they draw us from Christ. We are to love our enemies; and that man is best loved who, if he tempts us from God by words of carnal wisdom, is not heard.—Wordsworth.
The Principle already Sanctioned by Scripture.—According to Deu_21:18-21, when a man showed himself utterly vicious and impious, his father and mother should be the first to take up stones to stone him. Jesus here simply spiritualises this command.—Godet.
Divinity Implied by the Claims Christ Makes.—What man, that was not man’s Maker as well as his fellow, could have required that father and mother, wife and children, should all be postponed to Himself; that, where any competition between His claims and theirs arose, He should be everything, and they nothing; that not merely these, which, though very close to a man, are yet external to him, but that his very self, his own life, should be hated, when on no other conditions Christ would be loved? God might demand this of His creatures, but how could Christ, except as He also stood in the place of God, and was God?—Trench.
Christ Demanding Hatred.—This demand must have staggered many who were now following Jesus. It was meant to sift the heterogeneous crowd. This crowding after Him was not discipleship; they could only become disciples—they could only obtain those blessings which he had to bestow—at a certain “cost.” This cost they ought to “count.” And these are His terms: “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father,” etc. Those who heard Him must have understood Him to mean that His claims were paramount, and, in case of conflict, were to override the claims of the nearest and dearest relatives. His words were well adapted to sift the crowd: the unspiritual would probably be driven away by them in disgust, while those who were attached to Jesus, in virtue of their spiritual susceptibility, would probably still cling to Him and wait for His own explanations. Of this paradox about “hating” father and mother we say
(1) that the whole spirit of Christ’s life and teaching was enough to prevent His disciples from understanding the word in its bare, bald, and literal meaning. Christ did not “trample under foot everything that is human—blood, and love, and country.” So far from commanding His disciples to hate their friends, He exhorted them to love even their enemies. He Himself respected the ties of natural relationship. He wept over Jerusalem. When on the cross He thoughtfully cared for His mother. He taught that the spirit of hatred and contempt was the very spirit of murder, and He took little children into His arms and blessed them. None could learn from Him that He demanded from His followers that they should love Him alone.
2. The word “hate” cannot here mean that we ought to love our relatives and friends with a diminished affection. This interpretation would be opposed to the teaching of Christ and the genius of Christianity. “Love one another,” says Christ, “as I have loved you.” “Husbands, love your wives,” says Paul, “even as Christ loved the Church.” What limits shall we set to affection which is thus inculcated? Pure and unselfish love cannot be excessive. We may, indeed, love the Divine Lord too little; but we cannot love any human being too much. And we shall never love the Divine Lord more by merely loving our human friends less.
3. The words “hate his own life also” are the key to the whole aphorism. A disciple is to hate his relatives and friends in the same sense in which he is to hate himself. A man can hate what is mean and base in himself; he can hate his own selfish life. Not in the bald, literal sense, for he still cares for his own true, best life, and wishes that to be developed and strengthened. But he does, in a sense, hate himself when the self in him rises in rebellion against God, and Christ, and duty. Now, in this sense also a man may hate his relatives and friends. He may hate that in them which is mean and base. He may hate that in them which seeks to drag him away from Christ. He may hate the selfishness lying in their love for him, which leads them to tempt him into sin. He may hate the selfishness lying in his own love for them, which tempts him to disobey God in order to please them, or in order to retain their friendship. Just as he hates all selfish life, so he may hate all selfish love; and this hatred he may manifest in deliberately choosing to renounce the favour and affection of his friends, rather than recant his allegiance to Christ. It is here that we are to look for the explanation of Christ’s demand for hatred; in the positive revulsion of feeling with which the faithful soul turns away from the temptations of affection, and in the positive sacrifice of friendship which may be involved in allegiance to duty. The strongest and truest love is that which is capable of the courage and self-sacrifice involved in the infliction of necessary pain. And, therefore, just as he who “hateth his life in this world” really “keeps it unto life eternal,” so he who, according to Christ’s paradox, “hates” his friends, really loves them with a deeper, more abiding, and more unselfish affection.—Finlayson.
Luk_14:27. His Cross.—I.e., his sufferings, whatever he may be called upon to suffer in My name, even as I actually bear the cross and suffer upon it. Christ here speaks prophetically of His own crucifixion—an event not likely to be foreseen by merely human wisdom, as the cross was not a Jewish form of punishment.
Luk_14:28-32. Building and Fighting.—The Christian has two kinds of work to do—building and fighting (cf. Neh_4:17).
I. The positive aspect of the Christian life; the erection of a structure which arrests the attention of men, and for the building of which all the resources available will be required.
II. The negative aspect of the Christian life; a perilous war with a powerful king, which involves the possibility of being called upon to lay down one’s life for the cause.
A Bad Beginning; a Disastrous Close.
I. Christ warns His hearers, and all in later times, of the shameful close which may attend a service begun in a spirit of vain self-confidence.
II. He points out to all the only wise course for avoiding such perils as would thus be before them.
Want of Due Deliberation.
I. The folly of an inconsiderate profession of religion.
II. Its danger.
Luk_14:28. “A tower.”—Something more than an ordinary house—a considerable edifice, specially fortified, which cannot fail to arrest the attention. In like manner a Christian life professes to be something more and better than an ordinary life—to have stronger and more enduring elements in it; and the world can judge whether the profession is actually realised or not.
“Sitteth not down first.”—The sitting down first, and considering well from the very beginning all that is involved in the continuing and finishing, is to commence with deep thoughtfulness, not rashly and superficially, in contrast with that thoughtless running after Him which was witnessed at this time and which the Lord intends to humble and repel.—Stier.
“Counteth the cost.”—In the spiritual building, the only true counting of the cost is that a man should see his own absolute incompetence and emptiness. The counting of the cost must always issue in the discovery of the utter inadequacy of his own resources, and the going out of himself for strength and means to build.
Luk_14:30. “Was not able to finish.”—In the “building” which is implied in discipleship, the completion may be righteously demanded and expected of all who have begun; in this case the not continuing brings its own fitting disgrace in the sight of God and man. The world is compelled to respect the sincere and thorough-going Christian; it has nothing but contempt for the half-hearted, who give up the object which they profess to aim at—the salt that has lost its savour is trodden under their feet.
Luk_14:31-32. “Cometh … with twenty thousand.”—The king coming with twenty thousand soldiers is God, whose sanctifying power and discipline must ever be in conflict with our independent life and will until they are completely subject to His power. So far from the prince of this world being this king, man is naturally at peace with him, and Christ would not advise surrender to him.
Luk_14:31. Self-assertion a Mode of Fighting with God.—He fights with God, as truly, though in another way, as the openly ungodly, who would fain be anything in His sight, who, face to face with God, would assert himself at all; who does not renounce all that he hath, and, as that which is the dearest to him, and cleaves closest to the natural man, himself and his own righteousness the first of all. The Pharisee in the parable (Luk_18:9-12) reckoned up all that he had wherewith to meet Him who resisteth the proud and giveth grace only to the humble; the publican, on the contrary, avowed his own inability even to look his adversary in the face—and therefore, exclaiming, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” he threw down his arms, and sought, while there was yet time, “conditions of peace.”—Trench.
Luk_14:32. “Desireth conditions of peace.”—Nothing is said here of scorn or shame, since to pray for peace in the presence of the more mighty one involves no disgrace, but is rather an act of praiseworthy prudence.
Luk_14:33. The Claims of Christ’s Love.—Christ did not make things too easy for His disciples. Three times in this discourse is the tremendous sentence repeated, “He cannot be My disciple,” each time with a condition of discipleship harder and sterner than before. Hating our life, carrying our cross, forsaking all we have—why, claims like these we should have thought, would have earned either a bitter resentment or a silent disdain from most men, but for two circumstances—separately attractive, together invincible—His sincerity and His worthiness. He meant what He said, and He merited what He claimed. Those claims of His can only be met by us, and satisfied for Him, through the wondrous method of sacrifice. He claims acceptance, docility, imitation, service, trust, love.—Thorold.
“Forsaketh not.”—Nevertheless, it is not enough to forsake all that we have, unless also we forsake ourselves.—St. Gregory.
Luk_14:34. “Salt is good.”—If a man, who ought to teach others, and to preserve them from corruption, lose his savour, and become reprobate, how shall he be seasoned?—Bede.
The Need of Entire Self-sacrifice.—How significant is this admonition of the Lord, following instantly on the absolute necessity of entire self-sacrifice! “Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith then shall it be seasoned?” The inference is indisputable. The salt of the Christian life is sacrifice, and if the spirit of sacrifice die out of it, and the essence of that spirit, which is love, become chilled, and its activities and devotions presently diminish, and decay, and disappear, the salt of the life is gone, and its growth paralysed, and its influence killed, and its testimony silenced. The bane of the Church of God, the dishonour of Christ, the laughing-stock of the world, is in that far too numerous body of half-alive Christians who choose their own cross, and shape their own standard, and regulate their own sacrifices, and measure their own devotions; whose sacrifices do not deprive them of a single comfort from one year’s end to another, and whose devotions never make their dull hearts burn with the love of Christ.—Thorold.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain Luk 14:25-27. “The multitudes were traveling along with Him,…
TERMS OF DISCIPLESHIP
Luk 14:25-27. “The multitudes were traveling along with Him, and turning He said to them, If any one comes to Me, and hates not his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even his own soul, he is not able to be My disciple. Whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after Me, is not able to be My disciple.” Jesus carried His cross to be crucified on it. Paul says that bearing the cross is “denying: all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living holy, righteous, and godly in this present world.” Hence you see that bearing the cross is forsaking every sin, in thought, word, and deed, and performing every duty, however arduous, irksome, unpleasant, repellent, unpopular, and embarrassing. In the justified experience, you do all this with an inward conflict. Sanctification is necessary to take out the “old man,” who fights against your efforts to abstain from sin and live a holy life, so that in the sanctified experience you have no cross to bear, as you have already died on it, and the crucified man no longer bears his cross, but the cross bears him. Therefore the true experience of entire sanctification puts you where you “rejoice in tribulation;” i.e., shout under crosses, losses, persecutions, and triumph over the antagonism of men and devils. How can you hate father, mother, wife, brother, sister, and even your own life? Hate in this connection is a comparative with love, and a Hebraistic expression for love in a less degree. You may be so cold that ice laid on your body feels warm, and is warmer than you are. These expressions, “love” and “hate,” are here in juxtaposition and contrast. While you truly and sincerely love the dear inmates of your home and your own life, you must love Jesus so pre- eminently and supremely as to throw into eclipse all other loves, and contrastively give them a negative signification, so that you would unhesitatingly forsake them all, leave home and family, and die for Jesus if such an emergency should supervene. Hence we see that supreme love — i.e., perfect love — is the condition of successful discipleship. You can be a disciple in the justified state by carrying your cross. But you can not enter heaven with the cross on your shoulder, as there are no crosses there. Jesus was crucified before He ascended to heaven. If you would be His disciple, you must walk in His footprints, as none but the crucified ever go to heaven. Therefore, if you would be a successful disciple, and go up to heaven to live with Jesus, “O pilgrim, come to Calvary this moment, and let the Holy Ghost crucify thee on the cross which thou didst take up on leaving all to follow Jesus. It is heavy on thy shoulder, and high time for the exchange. Let the Holy Ghost crucify thee. Then the cross will carry thee, instead of thee carrying the cross.” Hence, you see, you can not be a perfect disciple, such as have admission into heaven, without that supreme love which eclipses and contrastively negatives all other loves, preparing you for martyrdom every moment for Jesus’ sake. Our Savior has left the festival, and is now traveling along the road, with His face toward Jerusalem, still in Perea, east of the Jordan, and about ten days before He laid down His life for a guilty world.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XCI. Cost of…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XCI. Cost of Discipleship].
XCI. COST OF DISCIPLESHIP MUST BE COUNTED. (Probably Peræa.) cLUKE XIV. 25-35.
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c25 Now there went with him great multitudes [he had hitherto spent but little time in Peræa, and the people were availing themselves of this opportunity to see and hear him]: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ["Hateth," as used here, is an example of phenomenal speech, or speaking from appearances. In the cases supposed, the person would appear to hate those whom he abandoned for Christ. It is like repent, anger, etc., when spoken of God. To construe the passage literally as enjoining hatred would be contrary to the fifth commandment as re-enacted at Eph_6:1-3, Col_3:20; and also contrary to our Lord's own example ( Joh_19:25-27). Seeing the number of those adherents which now surrounded him, Jesus made use of this striking statement that he might startle each hearer, and impress upon him the wide difference between a [497] mere outward appearance upon him and a real, disciple-like adhesion to him. The latter requires that we be ready to sacrifice all, even our animal life, in so far as it tends to separate from Christ-- Rom_12:11, Act_20:24.] 27 And whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. [Christ must be followed and imitated even to the extremity of suffering. The costliness of discipleship is illustrated in the two brief parables which follow.] 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have i wherewith to complete it? 29 Lest haply, when he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, 30 saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. [Discipleship is character-building, and shame awaits him who attempts to be a Christian and fails to live up to his profession. Unless his tower rises to the heavenly heights to which it aspired, it is but a Babel at last. The parable is not intended to discourage anyone from attempting to be a disciple. It is meant to warn us against attempting so great an undertaking with the frivolity of spirit and want of determination which insure failure.] 31 Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel, whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace. [Is the adversary here God or the devil? As warring against God is no part of discipleship, it might seem that the conflict was with Satan. But the case supposed is that of a man who, after counting the cost, is about to decline taking up his cross--about to rebel against the claims of God. But while in this rebellious state he sees a superior force coming against him. This superior force can not be the devil's, for Jesus could not counsel any to make peace with him, as the parable advises. The superior force, then, is God's, and the lesson here is that however [498] fearful the task of being a disciple may be, it is not so dreadful as to fight against God. As soon as the hesitating man takes in his thought, he will immediately take up the cross which he was about to refuse.] 33 So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. [The tower can not be built by him who spends his time or squanders his money on other enterprises, nor can the peace be maintained by one who does not fully renounce his rebellion.] 34 Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: i men cast it out. [Our Lord twice before used such language. See Heb_6:4-12, Heb_10:26-39.] He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. [See p. 330.]
[FFG 497-499]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Obligations of Christ’s Discipleship.
The Obligations of Christ’s Discipleship.
Bearing the cross:
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v. 25. And there went great multitudes with Him; and He turned and said unto them,
v. 26. If any man come to Me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
v. 27. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
When Jesus left the house of the Pharisee to continue His journey, there followed Him, as usual, great multitudes of people, going with Him for the usual reason, mere external inquisitiveness. To these Jesus expounded the requirements of true discipleship. The mere following after Christ for the sake of seeing miracles signified and availed nothing. If any one comes to Him, with a view to close and permanent discipleship, sacrifices are necessary from the standpoint of this world. First of all, the love of Christ must precede all other love, even that of the nearest friends and relatives, Mat 10:37. Absolute devotion to; Him and to His cause requires that natural love to one’s relatives be relegated to the background, that life itself be denied, that the heart be torn away from temporal possessions, that the cross of Christ be willingly shouldered, though it sink in deeply and bruise unmercifully. All rival masters and interests must be put away that the love of the great Master may be supreme. If this devotion and work should demand the final sacrifice of life, according to His example, even that must be willingly given for the sake of the love He bore us.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Jesus begins to teach the crowd that was traveling with him.
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If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father ... he cannot be my disciple
Here, "hate" is an exaggeration for the lesser love people are to show to people other than Jesus. AT: "If anyone comes to me and does not love me more than he loves his father ... he cannot be my disciple" or "Only if a person loves me more than he loves his own father ... can he be my disciple" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization and Double Negatives)
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple
This could be stated with positive verbs. AT: "If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must carry his own cross and follow me" (See: Double Negatives)
carry his own cross
Jesus does not mean every Christian must be crucified. The Romans often made people carry their own crosses before they crucified them as a sign of their submission to Rome. This metaphor means they must submit to God and be willing to suffer in any way to be Jesus' disciples. (See: Metaphor and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
disciple
cross
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 14:25-35 A large crowd was following Jesus: Jesus’ popularity…
14:25-35 A large crowd was following Jesus: Jesus’ popularity was high, but he was about to teach that the cost of following him was also very high.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.