THE PARABLES OF THE TOWER BUILDER AND THE KING GOING TO WAR

(Luke 14:25-33)

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 If anyone comes to me and does not [1] hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.
27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 

28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
30 saying, This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.

31 Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king.  Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 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.
33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

CHRIST AND THE CROWD

Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem and the cross.  A popular figure, he often drew large enthusiastic crowds (see John 12: verses 9, 12, and 19) who followed him out of curiosity, excitement, or the desire to see miracles.  It would have been easy for him to whip up political support for himself.  Yet Jesus not only refused to do so but he carefully discouraged false expectations by challenging people with the cost of true discipleship.  He understood how changeable and shallow a crowd could be. 

He therefore decided to separate the crowd first, by using extreme language that gained their attention (e.g. “hate his father and mother, his wife and children”), and secondly, by explaining the radical demands of authentic discipleship in uncompromising terms.  Three times he defined those who could not be his followers in verses 26, 27, and 33.  He wanted soldiers not spectators.  He still wants whole-hearted followers, not half-hearted professing ones.

It is fashionable today for religious celebrities and television superstars to build mega-churches.  The bigger the crowd the more likely they are to be regarded as successful.  This is called the numbers game and professing followers of Christ sometimes play it.  Yet Jesus himself refused to indulge in it; he did not pride himself on the number of his converts.  It seems that, to Jesus, the quantity of disciples was less important that their quality.

WHAT IS A DISCIPLE?

The word “disciple” means “learner, scholar, pupil, and apprentice”.  The teacher-student relationship was common in the ancient world where a group of learners gathered around Greek philosophers and Jewish rabbis.  The word “disciples” meant a group of pupils or apprentices who accepted the teachings of a master.  The band of followers was entrusted with a message and was expected to not only preserve it, but to make it effective in the future. 

“Disciple” was a common name for those in the gospels and in the Book of Acts who obeyed Jesus’ call to follow him.  Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.” (John 12:26).  The word has the ideas of imitation, trust, obedience, service and a Christian experience.  Jesus’ final words commissioned his disciples to go to all nations and make disciples, baptize and teach (Matthew 28:19–20).

In these parables Luke emphasizes that true faith is characterized by “counting the cost” of what the life of discipleship means.  To count the cost means giving total allegiance to Jesus as Master.  Nothing else should replace the disciple’s allegiance to Jesus:

THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE: TOTAL SELF-RENUNCIATION

Following Jesus has its privileges, but it also has its costs.  Jesus gave three parables to illustrate the nature of discipleship: the man building a tower (or farm building), a king at war, and salt that loses its flavour.  These parables have one main point to make: true discipleship is voluntary and costly, and we should think carefully of the consequences before following Christ. 

Anyone who begins a project should realistically consider the task, be sure of finishing it, and fulfilling what is expected.  The man who built the tower and the king preparing for war both considered the end of their plans before they began.  Salt is both a preservative and a purifying agent.  The Christian life is like a building project that demands perseverance; it is like a battle against the powers of evil that never ends; it is like salt that preserves the good in a society and gives flavour to life.

Three times Jesus stated with authority, “cannot be my disciple” (Verses 26, 27, 33).  Genuine discipleship, as defined by Jesus, means that he requires unreserved commitment and absolute priority.  Real discipleship is costly.  Love for Christ should override any other priority of time, plans, commitment, ambitions, and all other obligations.

It is a warning to us all against half-heartedness, badly considered decisions, pretensions, reservations, laziness and thoughtlessness.  This type of follower cannot be relied upon to build the Church, fight the enemy, or change society.  Being a committed disciple of Jesus involves:

Priority Over Our Relationships (Verse 26)

“Hating” our loved ones is a colourful and dramatic figure of speech that indicates a steadfast loyalty to Jesus.  He uses poetic language that does not mean we are literally to “hate” our families.  If Jesus told his followers to love their enemies he would not ask them to hate their own families.

This deliberate exaggeration lays down absolute priorities.  It means that our love for Jesus when compared to our love for our relatives must be as love would be to hate.  Jesus deliberately uses language that is meant to shock for he expected his followers to love their parents as well: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

Priority Over our Ambitions (Verse 27)

Wearing a cross today is a fashion accessory for some and an expression of faith to others.  However, a person who carried a cross in Jesus’ time was a condemned criminal on his way to a brutal death without any possessions or rights.  To carry one’s cross today symbolically means a readiness to die to our own plans, dreams and ambitions because Jesus has first place.  It means putting to death our self-life with its interests and affections.  Discipleship involves the sacrifice of the person to whom one is naturally the most committed, oneself.  The decision to either deny ourselves or live for ourselves must be made daily.  Jesus says that following him means renouncing all other claims on us.  A believer loses all rights except those given him by Christ.  Self-renunciation is what it means to acknowledge him as Lord.

Priority Over Our Possessions (Verse 33)

The idea of stewardship, or holding things in trust, agrees with the willingness to give up our possessions that ultimately belong to God.  This is also consistent with Jesus’ charge to use our possessions wisely in Luke chapter 16.  A disciple must be ready to renounce his possessions.  “Give up” or “renounce” in this key verse has the sense of no longer being dependent on it.  It has the idea of putting something to one side so that it is not a hindrance.  Jesus requires us to put his demands before our possessions as well as our job, money, family, and personal fulfillment.

WHILE GOD’S LOVE IS FREE, DISCIPLESHIP IS COSTLY

The heart of this passage and its application comes in verse 33: “So then, whoever of you does not forsake – renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say goodbye to – all that he has cannot be My disciple.” (Amplified Bible)  While God’s love and grace are free, loyalty to Christ takes precedence over all other claims upon one’s life.  It has been said of Christianity, “The entrance fee is nothing but the annual subscription is everything you have.”  Devotion to Christ should be whole-hearted.

The grace of God is a total and unqualified gift to us that makes a total and unqualified claim on us.  The God who in Christ gives us all of himself, requires all of us in return.  The believer whose life is like an unfinished building, or who has made a compromise in his spiritual warfare with Satan lacks the determination to run the race to the end. 

CONCLUSION

This teaching of Christ about complete self-renunciation is completely contrary to the message of the consumer society that tells us that we are entitled to all the material prosperity, convenience and ease that money can buy with a trouble-free life.  Regrettably, this secular attitude has influenced much of our evangelism.  Rather than warn people of the cost of discipleship we are inclined to make it easy for people to “decide for Christ” so that we can play the numbers game and claim large numbers of converts.

We have all experienced the difficulty of daily living out this ideal of discipleship.  Yet Jesus promised: “No one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18: 29-30).  There is also the joy of discipleship as well as its costs.  Jesus never asks us to do something that he has not done himself.  It is the perspective of eternity that allows us to evaluate the true worth of everything. 

William Barclay comments:

“It is so with the Christian way.  But if a man is daunted by the high demands of Christ let him remember that he is not left to fulfil them alone.  He who called him to the steep road will walk with him every step of the way and be there at the end to meet him.” [2]

FOR REFLECTION