Luke 14:25-35
25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
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.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth 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 desireth conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
The Grace New Testament Commentary - Luke 14:25-35
14:25 Jesus continued to travel (toward Jerusalem; see Luke 9:51; 13:33), and great multitudes went with Him. The fact that Jesus turned to speak to them contributes to the picture of them following Him and thus of discipleship. The large numbers show that not all rejected Jesus.
14:26 Jesus then communicated the requirements for discipleship to the following multitudes (in words often twisted by cults and sectarian groups). The phrase "cannot be My disciple" serves as the operative phrase (see Luke 14:26-27, 33). To "hate" one's kin and "his own life" refers to a conscious choice to place all in second place to Jesus, but not to seek malice, encourage neglect, or inflict harm on oneself or others.
14:27 Jesus makes this affirmation in the broader context of His journey to Jerusalem where He will die. To "bear one's cross" in the discipleship relationship means to cast one's lot with Jesus and so share His fate even if it includes shame in the eyes of the world and perhaps death. It signifies following Jesus regardless of the consequences.
14:28 Jesus offers two vignettes that deal with the sober reflection and assessment that a potential disciple must undertake before initiating the serious discipleship process with Jesus. The first story deals with the potential public humiliation one can face if he begins the discipleship process and does not complete it. The discipleship endeavor calls for proper assessment of resources, for perseverance, and for recognizing one's potential for public humiliation in the face of failure. Thus, to sit and "count the cost" represent the preliminary steps for one wishing to pursue the disciple relationship. Jesus then communicates the public consequences for not doing so.
14:29 Not counting the cost would lead to public humiliation. Outsiders will mock anyone who "has laid the foundation" - by initiating into the process of discipleship - and does not have the strength or resources to finish. Discipleship entails both a private reflection and a public process open to evaluation by others.
14:30 Jesus records the evaluation of the mockers. This cannot refer to losing one's salvation or to halting a process that would somehow have earned it because no one can ever do enough or behave sufficiently well to earn eternal life.
14:31 Jesus' second example couches discipleship in the context of warfare and the strength needed to defeat an opposing king. The key phrase "sit down first and consider" underscores the deliberateness of discipleship (cf. v 28).
14:32 If the king with the smaller army surmised that he could not face the one with the greater army he would send "a delegation" and request "conditions of peace." The distance of the strong army serves to buy time for the less powerful king for reflection on the challenge ahead.
14:33 Jesus called disciples to forsake any possession that interfered with devotion to Him.
14:34 "Salt" served to preserve and season food as well as to fertilize land. If it lost its potency, however, how would it "be seasoned?" Those who did not meet Jesus' requirements for discipleship would fail to impact the world.
14:35 The saying does not teach that God will cast a believer into hell or that a failing disciple loses his salvation. Rather, the outside world itself (men) recognizes the inefficacy of their witness and discards them. The Lord Jesus concludes with the exhortation, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" The stories and the illustration call the listener to self-evaluation and obedience to the Lord's teaching.
Charles Bing - Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship - Following Jesus, Matthew 10:38; 16:24 (cf. Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27)
(Salvation) Interpretation: To "come after" or "follow" Jesus refers to becoming a Christian.
(Discipleship) Interpretation: To "come after" or "follow" Jesus refers to becoming a disciple.
Since these statements from Jesus about becoming a disciple are similar, we will look at them together. We notice that while Jesus was addressing the crowds, the disciples were always present (the disciples exclusively in Matt. 10:1-11:1). Since the disciples were believers at this point (John 2:11), and probably many others in the crowd as well, we should suspect that these conditions address the commitments of a disciple, not the condition for salvation.
Jesus' invitation is to "come after Me," not "come to Me" as in Matthew 11:28 (see the previous discussion). To come after or follow Jesus is the language of discipleship. It speaks of a life committed to Him. It is different from coming to Him for salvation. That these conditions are in the category of (Discipleship) becomes more apparent when we understand the implications of each of them.
The condition mentioned first in Matthew 16:24 (as also in Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23) is that a person must "deny himself." As always, the context gives us insight into what this means. In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus has just predicted that He is going to suffer and even die. No one wants to die, not even Jesus (Luke 22:42), but He obediently goes to His death because it is God's will for Him. To deny oneself is to say "no" to our desires (good and bad) in order to say "yes" to God's will for us. It is a decision we make as we come to understand what God's will is, something an unsaved person really doesn't know. Clearly, it is (Discipleship) related to the Christian life.
A second condition mentioned in these two passages, but also in Mark 10:38 and in Luke 14:27, is that one must "take up his cross." Again, the contexts in which Jesus gives this condition have, as a background, His own suffering and death. The meaning is certainly not lost on the disciples and the crowds. Jesus is speaking of a willingness to suffer and die and He is inviting others to do the same in order to be His disciples. The emotional impact of His statement is diluted to our modern sensibilities. When the crowds heard the word "cross," they surely shuddered at the thought of being crucified by their Roman occupiers on wooden crossbars exposed to the elements in public, or lining the streets with other offenders and dying a slow humiliating death. In that day, crucifixion was the cruelest kind of death and included social and religious stigmas (such as God's curse, Deut. 21:23).
Though carrying one's cross is strong enough as a condition for discipleship, Luke 9:23 adds that this must be done "daily," suggesting Jesus is speaking not just of someone's physical death, but also a daily willingness to suffer for identifying with Jesus Christ. Now we clearly see why this cannot be (Salvation). How can someone be saved if it requires a daily commitment to suffer and die for Jesus Christ? And how does an unsaved person comprehend what suffering for Christ entails? Besides, salvation is possible because Jesus died for us, not because we die for Him.
The third condition in these passages is simply "follow Me." Again, as with His call to Peter, Andrew, James, and John at the Sea of Galilee while they were fishing, Jesus is inviting people to follow Him as disciples or learners. Normally, a first-century Jewish disciple would literally follow his master, live with him, eat with him, study with him. It meant giving up one's own agenda and goals for that of the master's or teacher's. Since this is obviously a process, not a single event, it cannot be (Salvation).
You can see how confused people can become if we tell them that they can only be saved if they deny all their own desires and adopt God's, are willing to suffer or die every day for being a Christian, and follow God's agenda for their lives. For that matter, we who are Christians rarely keep these commitments fully. For us, they are goals that guide our hearts as we seek to fulfill them perfectly. But to make such criteria conditions for unsaved people to obtain salvation will only result in doubt and insecurity about measuring up on the one hand, or pride because they think they have on the other. Salvation is not about our commitments and suffering for Jesus Christ; it's about His suffering and commitment to us.
You might wonder why those who are called disciples are given conditions for discipleship. The answer to this is that discipleship is a process, not an accomplishment; it is a journey, not a destination. The end goal is Christlikeness (Matt. 10:25), something that cannot be fully achieved in this life. There is a sense in which every disciple is challenged to be more of a disciple. Peter was challenged to follow Christ several times after his initial decision at the Sea of Galilee, with each challenge demanding more of a commitment. For example, one of the last challenges, which Jesus gave after His resurrection, was for Peter to follow Christ after he was told the manner in which he would die (John 21:19). For Peter, that certainly contained a specific commitment he had not yet encountered. For each of us as Christians, Jesus Christ challenges us to move to the next level of commitment, something that is relative to where each of us is at the present. We can always become more of a disciple.