Background
Found in Luke's Gospel, chapter fourteen verses twenty-five through thirty-five, we find one of the harder New Testament texts to digest, because this pericope seemingly gives the command to hate. This does not seem to be in line with the broader teachings of Jesus found elsewhere in the New Testament, so it is important to look at the historical background of the text, its writer and the context in which Jesus speaks these striking words before sifting through the text itself.
The book of Luke, or more accurately the book Luke-Acts, like most Biblical writings is disputed when it comes to the dating of the autographs. Culpepper would date Lucan writing to the mid-eighties, while Lea and Black point out that Luke does not reference the Neronian persecution, which would have been prevalent if this late date were true, as evidence of a date in the early sixties. Either date puts Luke within a generation of the life of Christ and well within a time frame to have access to eyewitness accounts to the resurrection and ascension as well as Pauline letters and Apostolic testimonies.
Luke who was a companion of Paul and according to Colossians was a, "beloved physician" is responsible for the "largest quantitative contribution to the New Testament." It is theorized that he was a gentile because he is left off of several lists of Jews when Paul speaks of those who are with him on his journeys. It is also very clear that he is well educated because of his mastery of the Greek language and his attention to detail, especially in historical details, when he writes. He is, despite the possibility of being a Gentile, a master in his knowledge of the Old Testament as well.
Luke frames his book in a way different than the other three Gospels. He states in the beginning, his purpose for writing the accounts of Jesus' life. Kee frames Luke's introduction this way:
Luke himself at the beginning of his treatise prefixed an account of the cause for which he had made his compilation, explaining that while many others had somewhat rashly attempted to make a narrative of the things which he had himself full knowledge, he felt obligated to release us from the doubtful propositions the others and related in his own gospel the accurate account of the things of which he had himself firmly learnt the truth from his profitable intercourse and life with Paul and his conversation with the other apostles.
This is important for us to know, because Luke has done the work necessary to give an accurate account of what Jesus said and did, and it can be trusted that the words we read are reliable ones.
Lastly it is important to know the context in which verses twenty-five through thirty-five of the fourteenth chapter of Luke are spoken from the mouth of Christ. Just before this pericope is found the Parable of the Great Supper in which Christ challenges the Pharisees in their religiosity and condemns their priorities when it comes to their relationship with God. This theme is then paralleled in the discipleship pericope in verses twenty-five through thirty-five. While the former pericope is speaking to the small group gathered in the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees, the setting shifts to the large group that is following Jesus. This is also unlike previous times He has taught on discipleship, because there are others present as opposed to just His disciples. Christ continues into chapter fifteen criticizing the Pharisees for their rejection of sinners in the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Prodigal Son parables, continuing to point out the stark contrasts between the religious ideas they were peddling and the true meaning of the Kingdom of God and how to obtain it.
Exegesis
Verse 25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,
The large crowds represent a change from Jesus' previous audience, both in talking about the priorities which have enveloped His teachings in the previous verses of chapter fourteen and in his openness when talking about discipleship which has been previously reserved for His disciples. He now directs the message of what it is going to take to be a true disciple to a large crowd, therefore expanding His message. The crowd is a phrase used in Luke when Jesus is going to be teaching and is often a transition between two narratives in a different location. As Bock says the openness of this instruction on discipleship also gives opportunity for all who hear to make the choice as to what they will do with their own life. It will also be clear from this point forward what it is going to take for a person to be a disciple.
Verse 26 "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.
Jesus begins His teaching in verse twenty-six by making it clear that there is no one who can be an exception to the statues He is about to lay forth. Everyone who wants to follow Him will have to hate all of these people. Nolland points out that this type of language is actually found elsewhere in the Bible and is always serious, not to simply be taken as "love less than". However other writers like Bock would say it does mean to "love less," citing the Great Commandment as a clear indication that no one is to be hated. This is a better reading and can much more easily be reconciled with the whole of Scripture. It is most likely that as opposed to outright hatred toward those people who were around a perspective disciple, they were going to have to be willing to abandon them "in favor of a greater love." For them to leave their faith as Jews in favor of following Christ was going to disenfranchise them from the ones they loved and would often cause them to be hated. It is imperative for all those who want to be disciples to be willing to put Christ as their first priority, even to the detriment of other relationships. Verse twenty-six also includes even his own life. This would be important as foreshadow for what would become of many of the earliest Christians. Luke would be seeing the persecutions that were being carried out on Christians by both the Romans and the Jewish leadership. This very likely may have led to his inclusion of this pericope in his Gospel.
There are also parallels in verse twenty-six to other discipleship narratives in Luke. Earlier in chapter fourteen one of the guests to the banquet in Christ's parable declines the host's invitation because he has just taken a wife. Jesus proceeds to tell the crowd that they must hate their wives to be a disciple. Even earlier in chapter nine verse fifty-nine a man asks if he can first bury his father and then follow Christ, trying to make an excuse why he cannot follow immediately. This is again contrasted when Jesus tells the crowd they must hate their fathers.
Verse 27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
If verse twenty-six informs the prospective disciple on what it takes to begin the journey, then Christ is telling the crowd in verse twenty-seven what it takes to continue on the journey as a disciple. It seems to be a second statement in a row by Christ that is in no way positive, a contrast to the methodology that is used today by those looking for followers. Alexander McClaren describes the demands of a disciple as such:
Christ sought for no recruits under false pretences, but rather discouraged than stimulate light-hearted adhesion. His constant effort was to sift the crowds that gathered round Him. So here great multitudes are following Him, and how does He welcome them? Does He lay Himself out to attract them? Luke tells us that He turned and faced the following multitude; and then, with a steady hand, drenched with cold water the too easily kindled flame. Was that because He did not wish them to follow Him? He desired every soul in that crowd for His own, and He knew that the best way to attract is sometimes to repel; and that a plain statement of the painful consequences of a course will quench no genuine enthusiasm, but may turn a mere flash in the pan into a purpose that will flame through a life.
Becoming a disciple would be very costly, but remaining one would cost even more and Jesus wanted the crowd to understand that. Even his own life from verse twenty-six can be linked with carry his cross in this verse because the same principle applies to both. There is going to be a cost for discipleship. Verse twenty-six enumerates the loss of relationships with others, but harder for many to swallow is the loss of relationship with one's self. Taking us the cross is the "willingness to go through the process of suffering," and for many they are simply not ready to go through that process. The Rich Young Ruler is faced with this very dilemma. He will have to suffer if he follows the instructions that Christ has given him. The comfort of his wealth will be gone and he is unwilling to commit himself to the will of the Lord. This is important for a prospective disciple to understand before beginning the process. There will be hardship as the journey begins, and it will continue, if not worsen throughout the journey.
There is also the obvious allusion to Christ's death. The crowd he was talking to would have no doubt witnessed the executions of criminals on the cross and would have been able to connect the image of a man bearing the cross he would crucified on, to Christ's command to bear that cross. "Those who loved their own lives…would not consider Jesus, since trusting him might eventually mean martyrdom."
Verse 28
"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?
Jesus, as he often does, uses parables or illustrations to get His point across about the cost of the type of discipleship He is going to demanding. The first which encompasses verses twenty-eight through thirty describes a person who is going to build a tower. This illustration is slightly different from most of those told by Christ because He asks them, which one of you, automatically engaging them, and preventing anyone in the crowd of thinking that He is speaking to someone else other than them.
It seems only logical that when anyone is undergoing any building project that they would take the time to figure out what it was going to cost. Many different factors go into construction. Materials are expensive and labor must be figured into the total cost of the project. None of these things can be done without and all must be paid for. It's also true that, "a prudent man would not begin a project until being sure it can be finished." Jesus clearly tells them here that to start the process of discipleship is to make commitment to finish that same process. The cost needs to be counted on the front end so that when the hardships that are going to come to the true disciples arrive, the disciple is prepared.
Verse 29 & 30 "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'
Jesus tells them next what happens when both the builder fails to count the cost of his project and the disciple the costs of his devotion to Christ.
First, both are able to lay the foundation for the task they have before them. The builder has enough money to lay the foundation, as it is first on his list and he can build nothing else first. The disciple can begin following, as a matter of fact, here Jesus is talking to a large crowd who are indeed following Him, but it is much harder to continue following for a life time.
As Jesus says, the builder who fails to count the cost ends up unable to finish. It is also unlikely that a disciple who fails to understand what He is vowing in His relationship with Christ will be able to finish because he is simply unprepared to pay the cost.
Jesus also points out that not only will the builder be without the tower which he has worked so hard for and spent all the money he had available on, but he will pay a price in the public eye. "In a society where honor and shame were pivotal values…an uncompleted tower would serve as a monument of shame." This would also ring true for the disciple who stops short of counting the cost of his commitment and fails to abide in Christ. They have brought shame upon themselves. They also, as is so evident in contemporary Christianity, bring shame upon the name of Christ, causing those who are outside the faith to question the reasoning behind being within it.
Verse 31 "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?
Christ's second parable deals with a king who is going into battle. He is going to face an army that has superior numbers to his own and must figure, with the men he has, whether he has the strength to defeat the army that is before him. "How foolish, too, is the army commander who does not reckon up on the strength of his army before engaging a stronger foe in battle." Here again Christ talks about the necessity of being prepared before taking on such a monumental task. The king is putting the very lives of his men on the line and he must be sure that all of those lives, which will undoubtedly be lost, will not be lost in vain as a result of defeat.
There has been an attempt by some, who would read more allegory into this verse, to show that the kings are somehow representative of the struggle between good and evil. Matthew Henry writes, "The state of a Christian in this world is a military state. Is not the Christian life a warfare? We have many passes in our way, that must be disputed with dint of sword; nay, we must fight every step we go, so restless are our spiritual enemies in their opposition. We ought to consider whether we can endure the hardness which a good soldier of Jesus Christ must expect and count upon, before we enlist ourselves under Christ's banner; whether we are able to encounter the forces of hell and earth." In contrast to this thought is J.C. Ryle in his work in Luke where he writes, "Some regard this 'king' as an emblem of a believer, and the king coming with 'twenty' thousand,' as Satan. I am quite unable to see this. Both here and in the preceding three verses, I believe the Lord is only borrowing an illustration from familiar subjects, and that we are not meant to look further." There is no doubt that there is a struggle when it comes to the Christian in life fighting against the forces of evil that are at work in this world. This, however, does not come from this particular text, especially in light of verse thirty-two which would seem to suggest that the Christian should, when he is unable to overcome the forces of evil, make concessions to end the fighting. This, again, runs contrary to the larger teaching of Scripture where evil is to be overcome and the believers prevail in the end.
Verse 32 "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
The king cannot overcome the greater number unless he is prepared. Should he be forced to go and discuss peace treaty, he cannot negotiate with any leverage as he is greatly outnumbered. This would almost certainly mean that he would have to make concessions to the king with the larger army. Again, as Barnes says, "these expressions are not to be improperly pressed in order to obtain from them a spiritual signification." Verses thirty-one and thirty-two are simply a continuation of the teaching on the cost of true discipleship.
It is also important to understand the Christ is not telling His disciples to surrender. They were going to have a vigorous fight on their hands. This fact, again coupled with the larger teaching of Scripture, does not lend itself to the allegorization of this passage in the Lucan writings. Christ is again, as He was in the parable of verses twenty-eight through thirty telling the crowd that there is a cost to follow Him (i.e., the cost of the building materials and the cost of the soldiers in battle) but also that the same holds true for those who do not count that cost, and in turn face their own losses (i.e., the loss of capital investment and the public humiliation by the builder and the peace concessions of the king who cannot field a large enough army)
Verse 33 "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
"The Greek word [for 'give up'] so rendered is more commonly translated, 'bid farewell,' or 'take leave.' The meaning evidently is that a man cannot be Christ's disciple unless he is deliberately prepared to give up everything for His sake, if need be, and to encounter any enemy, and make any sacrifice". This is Christ's summation of the previous eight verses, and in reality the bulk of chapter fourteen. Just as He will later in Luke's Gospel in the narrative of the Rich, Young Ruler, Christ says that all a person has must be willing to give up all He has. "The giving up of 'everything' means recognizing that God has claim on all areas of our lives. Part of discipleship is learning from God what he desires in these areas. No one can know at the start of the walk everything involved, but one can enter the journey with an understanding that God has access to all that we are." Nothing can take priority over our relationship to Christ as a disciple and we be truly living as Christ is commanding the crowd here.
The stringency of the life of a disciple may seemingly turn some of those away for fear they never could live up to this standard. This is not the intention of the message. There is no one who has ever claimed the name of Christ and carried his own cross that has not done so through the power of their relationship with Christ. "The parables [in verses twenty-eight through thirty-two] were not intended to teach that no one should commit to follow Christ if there is the slightest possibility of failing somewhere along the way. This interpretation would undercut the whole meaning of faith. Faith without risk is not faith. Part of total commitment to Christ is trust that Christ will be sufficient for whatever the future holds."
Verse 34 "Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
Verses thirty-four and thirty-five compose a third illustration on the cost of discipleship. Salt and its uses are illustrations used by Christ elsewhere in the Synoptic Gospels to describe the interaction of the Christian and the world.
It is important to first understand the uses of salt in the time of Christ. Salt as, "long as it was salty…was good for the purposes…as a condiment and a preservative." Also it was used as a, "fertilizer, as weed killer and as a catalyst in certain kinds of ovens." Long before the time of refrigerators and freezers, salt was the best way to keep food fresh while it was being stored. Salt, too, was used, as it is today, to add seasoning to food that was bland. This of course makes salt an important part of the everyday lives of the people who would have been following Jesus and they would have been able to easily relate to what He was saying.
There are also two different possibilities when it comes to what Jesus was referring to when He states, but if even salt becomes tasteless. If He is speaking of pure salt (the chemical compound NaCl, which we know as table salt) it is impossible for it to lose it saltiness without undergoing a chemical reaction. In saying this it comes across as almost well if salt could lose its saltiness. However many commentators point out that the salt used in this area was not pure NaCl and was, as it still is today in parts of Israel, mixed with different elements. "The salt taken from the Dead Sea was adulterated, mixed with gypsum and other substances. This impure salt was subject to losing its salty taste." This would make since as the people following Christ would be very used to the salt they had obtained from the Dead Sea area.
The struggle in this passage often comes with the phrase, with what will it be seasoned? There could be a tendency to lean toward an abandonment of a pro-preservation of the saints theological view point. This would be, however, a lack of understanding when looked at in the context of all teaching about salt in the Gospels. The parallel passages to verses thirty-four and thirty five tell the prospective disciple that as a follower of Christ they will be the salt of the earth. They will in fact be the ones who will bring the seasoning that the earth is lacking. They are made into salt through their relationship with Christ, but if they lose their saltiness, how can they recapture it? If it was Christ who made them into the salt of the earth, who is it then can restore their flavor if they did not submit to Christ. Is there anyone greater than he? Since not, there is nothing there available to re-salt them who have abandoned Christ.
Verse 35 "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."
So what use is the disciple who has lost his seasoning? Christ points out here in verse thirty-five that salt which ceases to be salt is useless. This holds true for the disciple who fails to fully commit himself; the disciple who fails to count the cost and therefore loses that effectiveness that he is given with his commitment to Christ. As previously stated in reference to verse thirty-four, salt could be used as a fertilizer. Strauss points out that salt was heaped on manure piles to help control weeds, when it was spread, and to prevent the manure from fermenting. However, salt which has lost its seasoning will not even serve its purpose on a pile of dung. These are obviously harsh words from Christ, but make it again clear that true discipleship is no easy task. Simply trying to be salt without being salty is in fact worthless discipleship and brings no honor to the King and His kingdom.
The only use for this salt without flavor is for it to be cast out. It is of no use or benefit. The same holds true for, "a disciple who gives up in midstream because the going is too tough….He is like salt which has lost its taste and is unfit…even for the ground; it cannot be made useful again." A disciple must have a desire to please his Master. He must seek to follow after those things which the Master desires for him. Failure to do so causes the Master to use other disciples to accomplish those desires.
This pericope ends with a familiar phrase in the teachings of Christ, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Christ uses this phrase no less than fifteen times in the Synoptics and Revelation. It also had Old Testament usage in Ezekiel and may very well stem from Ezekiel 12:2 in which, "Ezekiel speaks of Israel as a rebellious people who have 'eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear'" Each time Christ utters these words it also denotes something of extreme importance that His listeners should not fail to hear much like the "verily, verily" or "truly, truly" statements found in John's Gospel.
Conclusion
The road to true discipleship is a costly one. A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ must be willing to sever any tie, walk any road, and carry any cross demanded by his Master. The fluff religion peddled by the church today fails to even resemble the rigorous demands placed on the Christian life in Luke 14:25-35. We fail to instruct prospective believers on the high cost that must be paid if they truly wish to accept the love and forgiveness of Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to this diminishment of the faith as cheap grace. With the Nazi regime on the rise, a regime that would eventually order his death, he wrote, "Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord's Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the live, incarnate Jesus Christ." This cheap grace is what Jesus taught us to avoid. It is small-minded and superficial. Cheap grace and cheap and easy discipleship will never live up to the expectations that the Father places on His children. Christ's call was to change the world and that cannot be accomplished by cheap grace.
Bonhoeffer knew what Biblical discipleship looked like. He called it costly grace: "Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have. It is the costly pearl, for whose price the merchant sells all that he has, it is Christ's sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out an eye if it causes you to stumble. It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to leave his nets and follow him." That is the kind of followers Christ said He desired. That is the kind of disciple God intends to transform out of a sinner. That is the kind of disciple each person who starts out on the journey of faith should desire as their end. The one who seeks to follow the plan for discipleship that Christ Himself lays forth in Luke 14:25-35, has counted the cost and found that it does not outweigh the blessing that comes from a life that is truly devoted to the commands of the Father. The path is difficult for all those who travel it, but a fully devoted disciple is the one that Christ can use for His kingdom.
Bibliography
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Bock, Darrell L. Luke 9:51-24:53, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996.
________. Luke in the NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Discipleship. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. vol. 4. Geffery B. Kelly and John D. Godsey, eds. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.
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Nollad, John. Luke, The Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 35B. Dallas: Word, 1990-93.
Ryle, J. C. Luke, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2007.
Stratus, Mark, The Zondervan Illustrated Bible backgrounds Commentary. vol. 1. Clinton E. Arnold, ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
Tolbert, Malcom O. Luke, in vol. 9 of The Broadman Bible Commentary. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970.
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