LUKE 14:28-33
Luke 14:25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
Luk 14:27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
Luke 14:29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
Luke 14:30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Luke 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
Luke 14:32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
Luke 14:33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
The twin parables of vs. 28–32 constitute a warning against lightly assuming the responsibilities of discipleship. Those guests who first accepted the invitation to the feast, only to change their minds when other interests arose, had not given the invitation serious thought when they first accepted it. The two following parables were especially applicable to such people.
Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
A “tower” might be either a large and costly structure like the one mentioned in Luke 13:4.
Luke 13:4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
Or a simple one made mentioned in Matthew 21:33.
Mat 21:33 “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.
Perhaps in the town where Jesus was at the moment teaching there had been an instance of such circumstances as those set forth in the parable. And people could you see the incomplete structure standing there.
Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
There is no point in beginning something one cannot complete. Such a project absorbs time and energy without bringing any comparable rewards. The “cost” of discipleship is the complete and permanent renunciation of personal ambitions and of worldly interests. He who is not willing to go all the way may as well not even start.
Luke 14:29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
His lack of foresight incurs not only failure but also personal embarrassment.
Luke 14:30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Sometimes “this” is used to manifest contempt or sarcasm in referring to a person
Luke 15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
The previous illustration is from the business world; this, from the political world, illustrates the same truth.
Twenty thousand. The odds appear against the king with 10,000, but it may be that other factors will tend to cancel out the numerical superiority of the enemy and make the prospect of victory a possibility.
Luke 14:32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
As usual, Jesus clearly states the lesson His parables are designed to teach. Discipleship involves the complete placing on the altar of all that a man has in this life—plans, ambitions, friends, relatives, possessions, riches—anything and everything that might interfere with service for the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 9:57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
Luke 9:58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Luke 9:59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
Luke 9:60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Such was the experience of the apostle Paul.
Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Philippians 3:9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
Philippians 3:11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
NEXT TIME
The parable of the seven unclean spirits