Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (14:25–35)

The gospel calls sinners to self-denial, challenging them to take up their cross daily and follow unreservedly the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23). It is God-centered, not man-centered, calls for self-abasement, not self-love, self-sacrifice, not self-fulfillment, and is spiritually focused, not psychologically motivated. Those who respond to it willingly submit everything to the Lord Jesus Christ.

But as I noted in my book Hard to Believe, the true gospel has increasingly been replaced by a consumer-friendly counterfeit:

In contrast to “Christianity Lite,” the true Christian gospel does not offer heaven on earth, but heaven in heaven. It produces genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not superficial hangers on. This section, as the threefold repetition of the term “disciple” (vv. 26, 27, 33) indicates, is about what it means to be a genuine follower of Christ. It is an evangelistic call by Jesus to come to Him (v. 26), which is to come after Him (v. 27); to be a real disciple, not a would-be, potential, or peripheral one.

The Greek word translated “disciple” (mathētēs) is a broad term that identifies a learner or a student. In ancient Jewish culture, rabbis were itinerant, traveling about accompanied by their disciples. Though He was never recognized as one by the religious establishment, Jesus was often called a rabbi (e.g., Matt. 26:25; Mark 9:5; 11:21; John 1:38, 49; 3:2; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8), in part because like the rabbis, He was a traveling teacher who had disciples. Those early disciples were at varying levels of commitment, ranging from the fully committed, to the nominally committed, to the uncommitted curiosity seekers. Over the course of His ministry, Jesus made the requirements for being a genuine disciple clearer and expressed them in more absolute terms. As a result, the superficial disciples began to abandon Him (John 6:60, 66; cf. Luke 8:13–14), especially as Israel’s attitude toward Him hardened into unbelief and rejection. By the time His ministry drew to a close, Jesus had become even more definitive about discipleship. The term “disciple” underwent a metamorphosis, and took on a purer, more restricted meaning, so that by the book of Acts it became a synonym for “Christian” (11:26; cf. 26:28) and described those who were true redeemed believers in Jesus Christ (6:1–7; 9:1, 10, 19; 9:26,36, 38; 11:29; 13:52; 14:20–22, 28; 15:10; 16:1; 18:23, 27; 19:9, 30; 20:1, 30; 21:4, 16).

The previous chapter of Luke’s gospel closed with the Lord’s pronouncement of judgment on the nation of Israel and its leaders for rejecting Him (see the exposition of 13:34–35 in chapter 20 of this volume). But Jesus still invited individuals to become His disciples, as He did in this passage (cf. 12:8; 18:18–24). This section comes at a strategic point in Luke’s gospel. It is obvious from the preceding passages that the Jewish religious leaders, confident in their law-keeping, traditions, and rituals, did not know how to be saved, and therefore could not lead the people to salvation (cf. 6:39; Matt. 23:15). They trusted in their religious ceremonies and moral achievements, refusing to humble themselves, which resulted in their being shut out of the kingdom (14:24) along with all who followed them. They could lead no one to salvation. They only produced “sons of hell” (Matt. 23:15).

In contrast to the religious leaders’ damning ignorance, Luke records Jesus’ authoritative teaching on the true way of salvation. The Lord used several metaphors to describe salvation, such as entering God’s kingdom (18:24), having eternal life (18:18), and being confessed by Him before God and the holy angels (12:8–9). Here He equated salvation with becoming His disciple.

Some, however, in serious error, misconstrue the Lord’s teaching here and deny that it is an invitation to salvation. They suggest that Jesus is addressing here those who were already saved but not disciples following Him; those who had acknowledged Him as Savior, but not as Lord. Jesus was, they maintain, calling such people to move up from salvation to a higher level of commitment and become disciples; confusing Paul’s terminology, we could say that He was urging them to stop being carnal Christians and become spiritual Christians (1 Cor. 3:1 KJV). But that turns our Lord from an evangelist into a deeper or higher life teacher—even though He explicitly said that He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), and that He did “not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). As noted above, in the book of Acts “disciple” is used synonymously with “Christian.” Therefore to become a disciple of Christ is not to move to a higher plane in the Christian life, it is to be saved; to pass from death to life (John 5:24); from darkness to light (Acts 26:18); from Satan’s kingdom to Christ’s (Col. 1:13). (For a discussion of the so-called lordship debate, see my books The Gospel According to Jesus [Revised and expanded anniversary edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988, 1993, 2008], and The Gospel According to the Apostles [Nashville: Word, 1993, 2000].)

What Jesus asked for in this passage is amazingly extreme. He did not call for a makeover, but demanded a takeover. He challenged sinners to acknowledge Him as sovereign Lord, divine dictator, ruler, controller, king, and master. Jesus never called for anyone to pray a short, easy prayer to receive eternal life. Nor did He manipulate anyone to make an emotional decision, or give a false assurance of salvation to shallow interest. He never taught that the way to heaven is broad and easy, but warned that “the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:14), and said that people would have to force their way into it (Luke 16:16). “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,” He cautioned, “but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matt. 7:21). Only those who continue in His word (John 8:31) and whose lives manifest the fruit of salvation (John 15:8; cf. Matt. 3:8) are truly His disciples, and only disciples are saved from hell’s judgment.

The Lord’s evangelistic methodology is in striking contrast to that of today’s pop church approach. Pastors and evangelists, pursuing mass responses, seek to eliminate barriers and make it as easy as possible for people to respond to the message. Jesus, however, did the opposite. He made extreme, exclusive, and absolute statements to discourage superficial responders. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth” He declared, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). In two brief parables, Jesus likened salvation in God’s kingdom to a hidden treasure and a valuable pearl, which people sold all that they possessed to obtain (Matt. 13:44–46). It may be necessary to give up families and possessions for His sake and the gospel’s (Mark 10:29–30), and face the world’s hatred (John 15:18–19; 16:1–3). The Lord solemnly warned would-be followers, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23; cf. Matt. 10:38; 16:24–25), because “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal” (John 12:25).

This passage does not reveal every aspect of salvation truth. It does not mention God’s holiness, human sin, divine judgment, Christ’s saving work on the cross, or salvation by grace through faith. Its focus is not on the objective facts of the gospel, but rather the subjective attitude of the radical, extreme faith commitment that must exist in the hearts of those who trust Christ savingly. Those who fall short of such commitment to Him will perish eternally (Matt. 7:21–23; 8:19–22; Luke 13:24–28). Heaven awaits those who give up everything; who repent, raise the empty hands of faith, and confess Jesus as Lord and themselves as His slaves as they receive the free gift of salvation.

This text reveals three things that mark true disciples of Jesus Christ: abandonment of past priorities, appraisal of present powers, and allegiance to future privileges.

ABANDONMENT OF PAST PRIORITIES

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple…. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. (14:25–27, 33)

Jesus summarized the priorities of the unregenerate under three general headings: self, relationships, and possessions. Even at this late stage, with rejection set and the cross only months away, Jesus still attracted large crowds, who were going along with Him as He made His final journey to Jerusalem. The exact location of this incident is not known (though some suggest that it was east of the Jordan in Perea). This was not the first teaching Jesus had done on this journey. Many who heard His teaching on this occasion also heard His extended discourse that Luke records in 12:1–13:9. That instruction includes several more components of His evangelistic preaching, such as His calling on His hearers to avoid the influence of false religion (12:1), understand that they are under God’s scrutiny (12:2–3), fear God as the judge of sin (12:4–5), confess Jesus as Lord and Savior (12:8–9), listen to the Holy Spirit (12:10–12), abandon materialism (12:13–21), seek God’s kingdom (12:22–34), be ready for the second coming (12:35–48), settle their accounts with God before it is too late (12:54–59), and realize that they are living on borrowed time (13:1–9). In this section on radically changed priorities the Lord calls for extreme devotion.

First, anyone who comes to Jesus for salvation must prefer God over his family. Coming to Christ is terminology for the initial expression of saving faith. A person who does so, Jesus declared, must hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters. The phrase his own stresses the natural priority of and normal affection for one’s family. Salvation brings turmoil into the home as the new believer attempts to co-exist with non-believers. Family members who reject the gospel may even ostracize those who believe it. In Matthew 10:34–36 Jesus warned that families would be divided over Him:

The Lord’s teaching that it is necessary to hate one’s family is not inconsistent with the Bible’s commands that children are to honor their parents (Ex. 20:12), husbands love their wives (Eph. 5:25), wives love their husbands (Titus 2:4), and parents love their children (Titus 2:4; cf. Eph. 6:4). Hate in this context is a Semitic way of expressing preference. For example, God said in Malachi 1:2–3, “I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau” (cf. Rom. 9:13). The point is not that God had animosity toward Esau, but rather that He preferred Jacob by giving His promise through him. Similarly, when Genesis 29:31 records that Leah was unloved (the Hebrew word literally means “hated”) by Jacob, it does not mean that he despised and detested her, but that he loved Rachel more (cf. Deut. 21:15–17). To hate one’s family is to prefer God over them by disregarding what they desire if that conflicts with what God requires; it is to love God more and them less. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me,” Jesus said, “and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37). All other loves must be subordinate to loving God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27).

Jesus’ words would have been clearly understood in the context of the first century. When Jewish people made a commitment to Jesus Christ, they would often alienate their families, as Darrell L. Bock notes:

Second, a person who would come to Jesus must hate even his own life (cf. John 12:25), or he cannot be His disciple. The call to salvation is a call to self-denial (cf. Luke 17:33); it marks the end of sinners being the reigning authorities in their lives and calls for them instead to submit as slaves to Jesus’ authority as Lord, King, and Master. That selflessness extends to the point of death, as Jesus’ next statement, Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (cf. 9:23–25; Matt. 16:24) makes clear. The heavenly treasure is so valuable (Matt. 13:44), the pearl of salvation so precious (v. 46), that true disciples are willing to give up their lives, if God so wills, to gain eternal life. Jesus calls for complete self-abandonment.

It must be noted that this is not a meritorious pre-salvation work that somehow earns justification. Salvation, Paul insisted, is “by grace … through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Jesus declared that “no one can come to [Him] unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65). But salvation is not apart from the sinner’s will. Jesus called people to “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15), and warned unbelievers, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). Peter challenged his hearers to “Repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away” (Acts 3:19), and Paul preached that “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent” (Acts 17:30; cf. 26:20). Those commands presuppose the sinner’s responsibility to obey them, for which he is enabled by the Spirit of God.

Finally, a person who would be Christ’s disciple must give up all his own possessions. The phrase none of you includes everyone and the word all encompasses not just money, but material goods as well. There are no exceptions or exemptions to these absolute, unqualified requirements. Apotassō (give up) literally means, “to take leave of” (Acts 18:18, 21; 2 Cor. 2:13), or “to say good-bye to” (Mark 6:46; Luke 9:61). It was his unwillingness to surrender his possessions that caused the rich young ruler to turn away from Christ (Luke 18:18–23) and be eternally lost. Jesus is not advocating socialism, or getting rid of everything and living a life of poverty. His point is that those who would be His disciples must recognize that they are stewards of everything and owners of nothing. And if the Lord asked them to give up all they would be willing, because loving obedience is their highest duty and joy. Leon Morris notes the implications of the Lord’s teaching:

APPRAISAL OF PRESENT POWERS

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (14:28–32)

These two illustrations demonstrate the importance of understanding the sacrifice required when making a commitment to Christ. As was true of all of Jesus’ illustrations and parables, both describe situations familiar to His listeners. The point is that people count the cost before undertaking any important task in life. How much more important is it to count the cost before committing oneself to Him?

The first illustration pictures a man contemplating building a tower. This could have been a watchtower for protection from his enemies, or a storage tower for his goods. Either one would have been a visible construction project, and everyone in the community would have known about it. Preserving one’s honor and avoiding bringing shame on oneself and one’s family were elevated matters in the ancient Near East. Thus, for this man to have laid a foundation and then not been able to finish would have brought shame. It would have made him the laughingstock of the community, as all who saw the unfinished tower began to ridicule him, saying, “This man (a derogatory, contemptuous expression; cf. 5:21; 7:39) began to build and was not able to finish (ekteleō; to completely or totally finish a task).” To avoid such a devastating blow to his honor and prestige, a man considering building a tower would first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he had enough to complete it.

While the first illustration pictures a voluntary act, the second depicts a man thrust involuntarily into a dilemma beyond his control. Jesus asked His hearers to consider a king preparing to meet another king commanding a stronger force to engage him in battle. Before confronting the attacking king in combat, would he not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Would he not assess what logistics, terrain, weaponry, and what strategic or tactical advantages might outweigh his opponent’s numerical superiority? If not, to proceed with the battle would be suicidal folly, both for the king and his men. If he had no possibility of victory, his only sensible recourse would be, while the other king is still far away, to send a delegation and negotiate for terms of peace.

In both stories Jesus showed the wisdom of carefully assessing the commitment involved in following Him. He did not want emotion-driven, superficial, self-seeking, temporary, transient followers, like those represented by the rocky and thorny soils in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:20–22). Real faith endures to the end (Mark 13:13; cf. 1 John 2:19). John Stott writes concerning the importance of counting the cost of commitment,

Avoiding temporary, false faith demands that sinners honestly assess their motives, examine the genuineness of their repentance, and determine whether they are ready to keep the commitment that Christ demands from His followers. None of those things, as noted above, are human works that can earn salvation, which is by faith alone. Rather, they are distinguishing marks of true faith, apart from which it is a non-saving delusion (James 2:14–26).

ALLEGIANCE TO FUTURE PRIVILEGES

Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (14:34–35)

At first glance, there seems to be a disconnect between these closing statements and the previous verses. But the Lord’s use of therefore to introduce them indicates that He was in fact making a connection. The connection is that being His disciple concerns not only past relationships and present commitment, but also future continued allegiance.

Salt was widely used before the advent of refrigeration as a preservative. It was also associated in the Old Testament with the covenants (Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5) and the sacrifices (Lev. 2:13; Ezra 6:9–10; Ezek. 43:23–24). Salt normally does not degrade, or else it would be of little value as a preservative. Sometimes, however, salt from the vicinity of the Dead Sea was contaminated with gypsum and, if not processed correctly, could lose its effectiveness and become tasteless. As the Lord’s rhetorical question, If even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? indicates, such salt is useless either for the soil (as fertilizer) or for the manure pile (since it would not decompose). It could only be used to keep footpaths free of vegetation, or be thrown out.

This illustration shows that Jesus does not want temporary disciples, but rather those who will commit to lifelong loyalty to Him. Only those disciples can be used by Him for good in this world. It is true that no one perfectly keeps his commitment to the Lord. There are times when it falters due to family pressures, selfishness, the allure of material possessions, or when believers wonder if they have the resolve to love and obey the Lord to the end. Moments of failure, however, do not invalidate the direction of the heart.

On the other hand, temporary disciples are ultimately useless to the Lord. Like contaminated salt, those contaminated by worldliness will be thrown out into eternal judgment (13:28; Matt. 8:12; 13:41–42, 50; 22:12–13; 25:30; John 15:6).

Jesus closed with the colloquial expression, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This familiar saying is a challenge to listen to, understand, and embrace His message (cf. Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:23). It is an urgent call for people to respond before it is too late, and the judgment Jesus warned of in Luke 8:10 falls and “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”