| Home | Close but no Cigar: Books Almost in the NT Part 2 >> |
|---|
| December, 2005 |
| Are you king enough? |
| Terms of surrender in Luke 14:26-33 |
| Posted by Brian Beers at 12/12/2005 5:07:00 PM (2 comments left) |
| The crowds around Jesus are swelling and it is time to thin the ranks of the insincere. So Jesus delivers a hard saying, “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.†That’s right, “If you can’t hate your family don’t even bother trying to be a disciple.†While this invitation to discipleship is inviting, I still think I can better stomach drinking blood. My purpose today is to reveal the opposing challenge that begins in verse 25. The difficulty of Jesus first statement has overwhelmed the opposing challenge which is, “If you think being a disciple is too hard, you ought to consider the alternative—which is impossible.†The traditional view of Luke 14:25-32 interprets verses 28-33 as two illustrations of how hard it is to hate your family and how you should think really hard about it before committing to being a disciple. I suggest that they illustrate the foolishness of rejecting this invitation to discipleship. |
|
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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26-33 (ESV)
Weakness of the traditional interpretation Expositors Bible Commentary, New Testament presents the traditional interpretation of verses 28-32. I include the complete entry for this passage. Jesus uses two different circumstances to illustrate his basic point: discipleship requires a conscious advance commitment, made with a realistic estimate of the ultimate personal cost. The practical nature of the circumstances Jesus so vividly pictures underlines the fact that Christian discipleship is not some theoretical abstract ideal but hard reality. While Jesus presents becoming a disciple as a very hard choice, the second illustration that Jesus offers presents an impossible situation. The king going out to battle faces impossible odds. His only option is to give up—to surrender to his enemy. The first difficulty comes in that the enemy of the disciple is external. The decision to hate your own family is an internal conflict, wrestling with your own loyalties. Another difficulty comes in that the enemy of the disciple is indeterminate while the king in this illustration has a definite opponent. The greater difficulty, though, is that the disciple cannot expect to succeed in going out to battle and can only surrender. This doesn’t fit the tenor of Jesus message. If we follow the traditional interpretation the application is that no one can succeed at being a disciple. A coherent interpretation In this passage we find 2 parallel protagonists in this passage “one of you†and “what king†with parallel activities of building a tower and going out to battle, and two outcomes: failure and surrender. This plural “you†are not those who have chosen to give up everything and follow Christ. The language in verse 27 implies that Jesus’ direct audience is unconverted or at the very least they are not yet converted. The “you†in verse 28 should reference this same group. Therefore we have Jesus speaking to a bunch of people who want to walk away from him and finding themselves an easy-listening prophet. So it is reasonable to consider that the building of the tower is not an illustration of becoming a disciple. It is an illustration of the choice that they are about to make to walk away from God. The king is a contrast to the man in verse 29 who failed miserably. “This man†(who is “one of youâ€) attempted more than he could do, but the wise king will not embark on a task doomed to failure. At the opening of this illustration, the king represents someone who has not yet surrendered to Christ. “Going out to war†represents the conflict between such a man and God. The overwhelming odds between the kings communicates the expected outcome. God will destroy any and all who oppose him. In verse 32 Jesus’ offers thinly veiled advice on the wise course of action. This king, if he is wise, will find out the terms of peace that this mighty king demands. These “terms of peace†are immediately followed by the application that you must renounce all that you have in order to follow Christ. Verse 33 both completes the illustration and ties back to Jesus’ demands in verses 26-27. The conflict between two kings is a direct warning to those who think that there will be no consequences for walking away from Jesus. They may struggle with the demand to hate one’s family, but the option is doomed to failure. The message of this passage is that following Christ is very difficult, but you don’t have another viable option. You can try to make an enduring name for yourself, but you will fail. If this king had gone out to battle, he would have been decimated. In the same way if any of you do not submit to the terms of surrender that Jesus presents here, you are eternally doomed! |