In Luke 14:25-33, the Lord exhorts us to count the cost before deciding to be His disciple. There is a difference between being a believer, which is free, and being a disciple, which is very costly. The Lord gives two examples of how a rational person considers the cost before taking the plunge. Christ compares becoming His disciple to building a tower or going to war. These endeavors involve great cost and commitment.
The Lord is speaking to a large crowd that is following Him. There were believers in that crowd, and He is addressing them. He tells them that if they want to be His disciples, they must hate their relatives (a figure of speech that means their allegiance to Him must take priority over their allegiance to their family) and even their own lives. In what was a shocking statement, He tells them they must take up a cross and follow Him.
If those listening did not understand the cost, He summarized it succinctly. If one wanted to be His disciple, he had to “forsake all” (v 33).
Twice in these verses, Christ tells these believers to “sit down” and count the cost (vv 28, 31). The believer is to sit down at the kitchen table and figure out if the cost is worth it when it comes to being a disciple.
If these Jewish believers did that, they would realize that there were many benefits to not being the Lord’s disciples. They would have their family’s and religious community’s approval. They would not incur the anger of those in authority who wanted to put Jesus to death. They could save their money and spend it the way they wanted. They could keep their current status in Israel. They could attend parties put on by polite society.
But the Lord offered them many benefits if they were His disciples. They are found in the immediate context. They would be first in His kingdom. They would be exalted on that day. He promised to reward them. He spoke of a coming feast where His disciples would be honored by sitting at a table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Luke 13:28, 30; 14:11, 14).
I picture these new believers discussing both options later, as they sat in their kitchens. Was it worth following the Lord as disciples? It was certainly costly. But He promised wonderful riches if they did. They had to weigh the pros and cons of both alternatives.
I guess most of these believers decided it wasn’t worth it. It is easy to be hard on them, but I understand how they could have come to that conclusion. A bird in the hand is better than one in the bush. They understood how great it was to attend feasts in Israel among friends. Would eating at a table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be much better than that?
I can also understand how they could justify not paying the cost of following Christ. The nation needed to hear that Jesus was the Christ. Wouldn’t it be better, and more productive, to work within the system? If these new believers burned all their bridges behind them by publicly identifying with Jesus of Nazareth, their families, friends, and religious partners would not listen to them. I am very confident that many of these believers in Luke 14 felt they could better serve Christ by using their positions of influence to point people to Him. They could have their cake and eat it too. They did not have to pay the cost of following the Lord in discipleship. They could avoid that cost and still be His disciples.
They were deceiving themselves. The Lord said that you can’t take both options. The same is true for believers today.
Some interpret these verses differently. They say that a “true” believer will always pay the cost of following the Lord. All believers are disciples. If a person claims to be a believer but does not pay the cost, he is not a believer.
But these verses tell us that a believer can count the cost and conclude that publicly following Christ is not worth the cost. Such a believer is making a bad investment, but he is still a believer.
