|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Luke 14:25-35
This
teaching section is broken up into the following pattern:
26,
27 Discipleship
28
- 32 Parable 33 Discipleship
34
35 Parable
v,26
Amp. N.T. "If anyone (whoever decides) to come to Me, and does not hate his
own father and mother - that is, in the sense of indifference to, or relative
disregard for them IN COMPARISON with his attitude toward God - and likewise his
wife and children and brothers and sisters (yes) and even his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple.
Whoever
does not PERSEVERE and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be
my disciple."
"He
that does not take his cross = Greek : stauros (ALL CRIMINALS BORE THEIR OWN
CROSS) - see John 19:17, and the CROSS is put, by the figure Metonymy, for the
suffering associated with the burden. See also 2 Cor. 4:10, 11, 1 Cor. 15:31,
Rom.8:36.
What
Jesus is saying is if anyone decides to follow Him, they must accept that the
decision will place them in 'the firing line' of life. The Christian life is
WAR. There is no way of avoiding the logical consequences of following Jesus. He
was 'shot' at throughout his ministry, so all true Christians will be too.
When
we identify with Jesus, we are treated in much the same way as he was, by the
world - Rom. 11:26, 13:13.
This
is why Christian fellowship is so refreshing. When Christians (who have been
persecuted, libelled, slandered, hounded daily by hateful religious-minded
people, mocked, tested and so on) meet, their gathering is more like a respite
for soldiers in the midst of battle. A time of healing, of refurbishing weapons,
of encouragment.
On
the other hand, there are people who call themselves Christians, who find
what they imagine to be 'the Christian life' fairly hassle-free. Of course they
do. They get on well with the world, they do whatever they want, they watch
every kind of video and TV program, they never make much of a stand against sin,
they accept all kinds of sinful behaviour around them without a murmur. . . they
are so uncommitted to the cause as to be totally indistinguishable as
Christians. No wonder they have few problems.
v.26
life = Greek : psuche = soul. This word is used to mean the life of Man, which
can be lost, destroyed, saved, laid down, etc. Whatever we consider to be a
priority in our lives, if we follow Jesus, must be delegated to second place. We
must be at least willing to follow Him, even to death, if need be. Heb. 12:4
"For you have NOT YET resisted as far as BLOOD, striving against sin."
'Not yet' may have some reference to the fact that the persecutions which
occurred under Nero had not yet happened, which could date the book of Hebrews
as prior to AD 65 - 68. Up to 65 AD Christians had endured some bad treatment,
such as being put out of synagogues, mockery, ostracism from jobs,
discrimination, hate from the Jewish leaders ... but nothing like the
spoliation, physical torture and martyrdom which was shortly to come.
v.27
cannot = is not able to (as in v. 20) v.28 of = out of. The Greek is 'ek' v. 28
intending = desiring v. 28 counts = reckons or calculates
Truth
is many-sided. In the Pharisee's house the Lord had been speaking about the
feast to which all were bidden to come to enjoy the free bounty of God - 16 -
23. The subject now changes from the gifts and Grace of God to discipleship, and
immediately we see a cost, or price involved. Grace is free, Discipleship is
expensive.
In
this teaching, Jesus is not only speaking about giving up things that would
prevent the acceptance of the gospel invitation, but the on-going giving up of
whatever might hinder a Christian's daily walk. There is an initial sacrifice,
and then a regular daily sacrifice.
v.28
- 32 Builders and Warriors. Jesus warns his would-be followers that they
are going to have to do both building and fighting, and that this service
requires complete dedication. In practical terms, this means Christians have to
avoid worldliness. What soldier goes into battle with his arms full of clothes,
sweets, beer and women? What builder carries a TV set and motorbike on to the
site?
Another
part of discipleship is having to do things which sometimes offend those close
and dear to us, our friends and family - v.27. By this teaching Jesus destroys
the myth (lie) that to follow him is to have an easy, happy life. It is in fact
a hard, uphill struggle against a hostile world, and often a hostile church,
with our energy pitted against unseen but powerful spiritual forces.
v.34
- 35 Salt. To be effective, salt must be pure. Christianity without
purity is useless. Unholy, worldly Christians are a disgrace to Jesus and
utterly useless as witnesses to the world. Worldly Christians gain no respect
either from other Christians, or from the world. Compromising Christians blend
in just enough to be disliked by both sides.
What
the unsaved actually want to see (!) is a Christian who makes a firm stand and
holds to it. The world is always looking for people like this. Even if the
unsaved hate the Christians for their uncompromising lifestyle, they actually
respect and sometimes even admire their stand.
The
great myth about Christianity is that by being more accommodating, it
will win more converts. This is nonsense. The reverse is actually the case. The
LESS compromising Christians are, the more likely they are to win
converts.
But this is not to say that Mr and Mrs Dogmatic are going to win converts. They must also show Christian love and do good works to back up their words. There is a lot more to Christianity than just saying you “believe in Jesus”!