Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 14 : 25-34 "GREAT MULTITUDES WENT WITH HIM..." Luke 14:25"
Day 186 – Luke 14
Text: Luke 14 : 25-34
“GREAT MULTITUDES WENT WITH HIM…” Luke 14:25
Great multitudes had always followed Jesus. Luke noted this phenomenon most carefully, right from the beginning. Let’s take a look at his notations.
1. “So it was, as the multitudes pressed about Him…” Luke 5:1
2. “Great multitudes came together to hear…” Luke 5:15
3. “A great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases…” Luke 6:17
4. “And when a great multitude has gathered, and they had come to him from every city…” Luke 8:4
5. “Now it happened, on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him…” Luke 9:37
6. “In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another…” Luke 12:1
7. “Now great multitudes went with Him…” Luke 14:25
“IF ANYONE COMES TO ME…” Luke 14:26
Having a great multitude following after Him was NOT the aim of the Lord Jesus Christ! What Jesus was looking for is well-stated in the following words,
“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.”
Luke 14:26
What was Jesus looking for? In a word – DISCIPLESHIP! He was certainly NOT looking for a large membership. He was also not looking at mere NUMBERS!
This was not the only time Jesus asked the multitude to consider Discipleship. Jesus spelt out what He was looking for in Disciples on previous occasions.
“If anyone desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Luke 9:23
“No one, having put his hand on the plow,
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62
Again and again, Jesus beckons the multitude to dare to make that important decision – to truly follow Him. He did not mean just following Him as part of the multitude. He meant Discipleship!
AN EXPANSION OF THE IDEA OF CROSS-BEARING
The words of Jesus about “hating” one’s family members must be thought through carefully. At first reading, these words can be quite startling!
These words must be read in the proper context. Jesus was not advocating hatred, or abandoning of one’s family. He was really trying to explain what He had spoken of on an earlier occasion.
He had spoken about the need to bear one’s cross. He makes the same statement once again, on this occasion,
“And whoever does not bear his cross
and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:27
Jesus had already experienced the sorrow of having his siblings think that He was “out of His mind” (Mark 3:21). He anticipated that there would be even more sorrows and hardship to be borne in the days ahead.
Following Jesus wasn’t going to be easy. If the multitudes thought that following Him was just a matter of tagging along, they were wrong! They had to be corrected! Merely dogging the footsteps of Jesus did not constitute true discipleship!
To be fair, Jesus had to tell the multitude that following Jesus as His Disciple would probably entail problems! Family members may not understand. Family members may become aggressive in their hostility! This was the cross that they must be prepared to bear! If they were afraid to bear this cross, they would not be able to prove themselves worthy disciples!
“COUNT THE COST…” Luke 14:28
Is it really impossible to be a Disciple of Jesus then? His terms of Discipleship seem so forbidding at first glance! The words of Jesus must be read as practical advice. To think that discipleship is merely listening to the teachings of Jesus, having a happy time thinking through His messages. would be na�?�¯ve and shallow thinking.
How can a person succeed as a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? To answer this question, Jesus gave two powerful illustrations. He spoke about a person who wants to build a tower. Surely, if he really was serious about it, he would have done his calculations carefully. He would succeed if he had counted the cost. If he failed, it would be because he had not counted the cost properly (Luke 14:28-30).
The second illustration had a similar thrust. A king who goes to war against an enemy must have counted the cost. If he failed to count the cost, quite obviously, he faced the possibility of being ignominiously defeated (Luke 14:31-32).
The secret of succeeding as His Disciple may be found in these words,
“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake
all that he has cannot be (that is, “succeed”)
My disciple.”
Luke 14:33
Have we counted the cost of being a Disciple? Are we afraid of paying the price?