{"id":17475,"date":"2022-09-04T08:32:18","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T12:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/?p=17475"},"modified":"2022-09-04T08:35:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T12:35:28","slug":"my-reflection-on-sundays-gospel-luke-1425-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2022\/09\/my-reflection-on-sundays-gospel-luke-1425-3\/","title":{"rendered":"My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Luke 14:25-3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luke 14:25\u201333 ESV – Bible Gateway<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In today\u2019s Gospel, we see the cost of discipleship. In his introduction to today\u2019s reading, John Bergsma brings up Bonhoeffer\u2019s most famous work, a meditation on the Sermon on the Mount entitled (in English) The Cost of Discipleship<\/em>[1]<\/a>. That Bonhoeffer criticized \u201ceasy-believism\u201d as \u201ccheap grace\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession\u2026 . Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.<\/p>

Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: \u201cMy yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Large crowds are accompanying Jesus at this point in his final journey to Jerusalem. These people essentially saw Jesus as a miracle worker and wanted these signs and wonders to fix problems in their own lives. While modern Christians now have a more theologically astute understanding of who Jesus is, we share this essential attitude with these crowds. We also must be reminded of the cost of discipleship and the priority of Christ in our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus explains the radical commitment required of those who follow him. Three times he sets forth a condition without which a person, he says, cannot be my disciple<\/strong> (14:26, 27, 33). First, Jesus demands a commitment greater than one\u2019s attachment to family members: parents, wife<\/strong>, children<\/strong>, and siblings (see 14:20; 18:29\u201330)[3]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There are a couple of aspects to the language Jesus is using here. First, he uses rabbinical hyperbole to make a point, \u201ca dramatic overstatement that attracts attention and provokes thought.\u201d[2]<\/a> The word he uses translated into Greek does translate as hate. Used here primarily, it is used to shock and contrast, but the word for hate in scripture has a semantic range as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An idiomatic term meaning \u201cto love less\u201d (Gen 29:31\u201333; Mal 1:2\u20133). Not even the sacredness of family loyalty should outweigh our commitment to Christ, since we must be willing to abandon even close relationships to follow him (Mt 10:37).[4]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We see this range, such as in Genesis 29, where it says, \u201cLeah was hated,\u201d which means that he loved Rachel more than Leah; he preferred Rachel to Leah. We also see, \u201celsewhere Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for using a loophole in the law to justify not caring for their parents (Mark 7:11), and Paul rebukes Christians who do not care for their own family (1 Tim 5:8).\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also see this point made in Matthew 10:37:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He who loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While his audience would have understood some of these distinctions, what is shocking is that Jesus is revealing to them his divinity. As Brant Pitre references, \u201cJesus is divine. He\u2019s making divine demands. He\u2019s making demands that only God himself could make of an Israelite audience.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus continues to shock them by telling them that discipleship will involve carrying his cross. We have gotten used to this imagery and likely have spiritually reduced the meaning. For his audience, crucifixion was a cursed death where you were stripped of all dignity and put on display. To follow Jesus, we also must be stripped of our pride and attachment to the things of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. John of the Cross in the Ascent of Mount Carmel<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe doctrine that the Son of God came to teach was contempt for all things in order to receive as a reward the Spirit of God in himself. For, as long as the soul does not reject all things, it has no capacity to receive the Spirit of God in pure transformation\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible references that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discipleship is a serious commitment. It is not about testing the waters or holding ourselves back from God (9:62). A complete surrender to Christ is necessary to complete the tasks of Christian living[4]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Before mentioning the third condition (14:33), Jesus supports his teaching with two short parables. Most interpreters apply them to his disciples<\/em>. Because of the commitment involved in following Jesus, potential disciples, according to both parables, should first sit down<\/strong> to deliberate. Following Jesus is not a decision to be made lightly.[6]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for the Gospel of Luke continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first parable, about building a tower<\/strong>, the issue is the cost<\/strong> involved. One must have enough<\/strong> financial resources<\/strong> to bring the project to completion<\/strong>, or else face mockery from onlookers<\/strong>. The message of this parable seems to support most closely the third condition of discipleship mentioned in this passage (v. 33), which similarly involves financial resources: deliberation is required before giving up one\u2019s possessions to follow Jesus.<\/p>

In the second parable, about a king marching into battle<\/strong> against another king<\/strong>, the issue is the number of troops<\/strong> needed to win. The stakes are higher than in the first parable since one\u2019s life is on the line in the decision whether to fight or to seek terms<\/strong> of peace<\/strong> (19:42, same Greek phrase as here). The message of this parable especially recalls the first condition of discipleship (14:26), in which Jesus calls his disciples to love him even more than their own lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In this extract from the Gospel, Jesus continues that discipleship requires total renunciation. We don\u2019t get to decide what we want to renounce for our convenience. We don\u2019t get to set the terms. We must strive to know God\u2019s will and use prudence to live that out in our lives. Jesus doesn\u2019t want just part of us; he wants the fullness of ourselves. St. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux said, \u201cYou cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Kreeft puts this succinctly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we preach Jesus, if we say we are Christians, that\u2019s the deal. Give him everything. Trust him with everything. Your life, your death, your sanity, your happiness, your hope both for this life and for the next, your sex life, your financial life, your home life, your recreational life, your body, your mind, your soul, your feelings, your freedom, your rights, your time, your past, your future, your present. Give it to him now, with no conditions, no strings attached, no footnotes or fine print. Say and mean, \u201cThy will be done,\u201d and then don\u2019t duck. [7]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sources and References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n