Counting the cost
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Portugal_DSC02381_%2815668556473%29.jpg/290px-Portugal_DSC02381_%2815668556473%29.jpg)
Counting the Cost
Narrative
The two parables are as follows:
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."
Interpretation
Joel B. Green suggests that it is unclear what kind of tower is being referred to in the first parable,[2] but notes that the message is that a "thoroughgoing fidelity to God's salvific aim"[2] is required, "manifest in one's identity as a disciple of Jesus."[2] This involves putting family and possessions second,[3] as in Matthew 8:18–22[4] and Luke 9:57–62.[5]
This verse is of great importance to
Eric Franklin argues that the requirement to "hate" in Luke (verse 26) is "Semitic exaggeration",[7] and Joseph Benson envisages that hatred "signifies only an inferior degree of love".[8]
See also
- Life of Jesus in the New Testament
- Luke 14
- Ministry of Jesus
Notes
- NKJVit is known as Leaving All to Follow Christ.
References
- ^ Luke 14:25–33
- ^ ISBN 0-8028-2315-7, pp. 566-567.
- ISBN 1-55145-563-3, pp. 94-95.
- ^ Matthew 8:18–22
- ^ Luke 9:57–62
- ^ "Learning from the Bruderhof: An Intentional Christian Community". ChristLife. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- ^ Franklin, E., Luke in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 946
- ^ Benson, J., Benson Commentary on Luke 14, accessed 2 August 2020
- ^ Lapide, Cornelius (1889). The great commentary of Cornelius à Lapide. Translated by Thomas Wimberly Mossman. London: John Hodges.