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§38 The Cost of Discipleship (Luke 14:25–35)

This section consists of two parts: (1) a brief discourse on the cost of following Jesus (vv. 25–33) and (2) the saying on worthless salt (vv. 34–35). Part of the section on counting the cost has to do with the king who plans for war (vv. 31–32), which may provide a link with the preceding Parable of the Great Banquet (vv. 15–24), since Deuteronomy 20 apparently has conceptual and verbal parallels to these Lucan passages (so Evans, pp. 47–48; see commentary on 14:15–24 above). The main point of the section is that the would-be follower of Jesus had better count the cost carefully and, according to v. 33, be willing to give up everything.

As with most of Luke 14 already considered, this section is for the most part unique to Luke. Only a few verses are found in Matthew and so presumably were derived from the sayings source (Luke 14:26a=Matt. 10:37; Luke 14:27=Matt. 10:38; Luke 14:34–35=Matt. 5:13b; see also Mark 9:50).

14:25–33 / The audience has shifted from the Pharisees and dinner guests of 14:1–24 to large crowds of people who were traveling with Jesus. Apparently Jesus has resumed his journey toward Jerusalem (9:51) and now will address the crowds. Jesus made it plain in vv. 1–24 that many more were eligible for entry into the kingdom than the legalistic Pharisees (or even stricter people of Qumran) were willing to allow. Now Jesus addresses those people who may enter the kingdom. Entry is not easy, however; it has a price. Jesus cites two stipulations (vv. 26–27) and two examples (vv. 28–32) of the costs involved in following him.

First, whoever would be a disciple of Jesus must love Jesus more than his or her own family; indeed, more than his own father and mother, the very persons one is commanded to honor (Exod. 20:12). This is a radical requirement and only underscores the place of preeminence that Jesus must occupy in the life of anyone who would be his follower. Second, Jesus requires that one who would follow him must carry his cross (see comment on 9:23 above). Anyone who would follow Jesus must be prepared to endure the same fate that Jesus himself endured. Although Jesus means for his words to be taken quite seriously, there must be recognized a certain amount of hyperbole (exaggeration intended to emphasize a point). According to v. 26: Whoever … does not hate his own father and mother.… Jesus does not demand actual hatred of one’s own parents (which would directly contradict and violate the commandment of Exod. 20:12), but his forceful exaggeration makes it clear that one’s love for Jesus must outweigh all other loyalties. Similarly, not all who follow Jesus will be put to death, but one’s commitment to Jesus should be such that if faced with the threat of death one would not abandon Jesus.

To illustrate the need for assessing the cost of discipleship carefully, Jesus tells two brief parables. The man who wishes to build a tower (or anything, for that matter) must first calculate the cost of the total project. Failure to do so could result in the embarrassing (and financially ruinous) situation in which the project is left unfinished. Equally foolish would be the person who declares his intention to follow Jesus, but who then gives it up when he discovers that the cost of following Jesus exceeds his commitment. In the second parable Jesus likens the need to assess carefully to a king who is about to go to war against another king and then finds out that his army is only half the size of his opponent’s. He must sit down and carefully calculate to see if he can still win the battle. If he cannot, he should ask for terms. Otherwise, the king may foolishly go out against a much stronger opponent and suffer a terrible defeat. In this example Jesus does not intend to offer advice for military strategy, nor should the particular details of the parable be allegorized. The point that Jesus is making is that whenever one sets out to undertake a difficult (or dangerous) task one should carefully assess one’s resources. In these parables one’s money (first parable) or one’s soldiers (second parable) should be understood as one’s level of commitment to Jesus. If one lacks adequate commitment then one should not follow. Rather, if one is to follow Jesus, then a total commitment is expected, a commitment arising out of careful, thoughtful consideration.

14:34–35 / The saying on salt is only loosely connected to the discourse on counting the cost of discipleship, but there is a definite connection, nevertheless. The follower of Jesus is likened to salt, which is good as long as it retains its flavor. However, if it loses its saltiness, it is of no value and must be thrown out. This is like the person who fails to count the cost. He begins, but then quits. In the Matthean context (5:13b) the saying is applied to the influence that Jesus’ followers have upon a corrupt world. As long as his followers are “salty” (righteous) they have a beneficial influence, but if they have lost their “saltiness” then they no longer have a beneficial influence in the world and so are no longer of any use to God (see further Gundry, pp. 75–76). In contrast, however, Luke has applied the saying to the idea of the need for an enduring commitment. Although the Matthean and Lucan applications are not identical, they are not contradictory either. The disciple who retains his “saltiness” (i.e., righteousness) is the disciple who endures.