What God Values

 Greetings everyone.

I will continue my exegesis of Luke 16 today, by looking just at verses 14-15.  Jesus has just told the paarable of the corrupt manager and then offered some advice about money to his listeners.  In my previous post I listed three bits of advice that Jesus gave regarding money:

• Be generous with money.
• Be faithful with money.
• Serve God, not money.  

On that last point, Jesus even states that you cannot serve both, God and money.  One has to choose.  We will pick up the story from there.  here is my translation:  

14 There were Pharisees there, and upon hearing all of this, these Pharisees, who loved money, began to show contempt for Jesus. 15 So Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before other people, but God knows what is in your hearts.  Men value things that are detestable to God. 

The Pharisees who heard Jesus make his statement that we cannot serve both God and money, began to show contempt for him. Perhaps they thought that you can serve God and money at the same time. Luke comments that they are Φιλάργυροι (philargyroi) or ‘lovers of silver.’  They didn’t like what Jesus is saying because they are greedy.  So rather than listen to Jesus and apply what he is saying, they resort to ridicule. Darrell Bock says that the Greek word here ἐξεμυκτήριζον (exemyktarizon) literally means “to turn one’s nose up” at someone, indicating strong contempt. (Bock, 1349.)

The Pharisees do not share in Jesus’ view of money, and he makes it very clear that he does not share theirs.  As they are showing their contempt for him, Jesus responds, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before people, but God knows what is in your hearts.  But men value things that are detestable to God.” God has a different value system.  What people tend to exalt, God finds detestable.  So, apparently, God has a different view of money.  Worldly wisdom is to accumulate wealth and material possessions.  God tells us to use our wealth to help people.  

God also doesn’t like their self exultation.  The Pharisees were shameless self-promoters.  Jesus calls them out on it, stating that they justified themselves before people.  They work hard to make themselves look good.  God, however, knew what was in their hearts.  They would not be able to fool Him. Self promotion and the love of money are not valuable to God.  He values humility and generosity. God knows what is in our hearts.  We have to check our own hearts to make sure that those detestable things are not in them.  

We are not to conform to thinking of the world.  Think about Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”   As we change the way that we think to be more in line with Jesus, our hearts become more in line with what God approves of. 

Jesus is teaching a new paradigm that gets rid of things that might seem good, but that God actually finds detestable.  Unfortunately, the critics of Jesus refuse to listen, and turn their noses up at him.  They prefer their worldly wisdom.  Let us make sure that we are ridding our hearts of those detestable things and living simple lives of humility and generosity. 

Tom 

Jesus Gives Financial Advice

Greetings everyone.

Today we will examine of Luke 16:1-13.  In this passage, Jesus tells a somewhat puzzling parable about a man whom Jesus seems to be commending for his dishonesty.  The man is a manager of a wealthy man’s estate.  The wealthy man hears reports of mismanagement, and confronts the manager.  The manager is being fired, and from his response, it seems that the charges are likely true. Here is my translation:

1  Then Jesus spoke to the disciples, “There was a man of great wealth, who employed a manager. Charges were brought against the manager, accusing him of squandering the man’s possessions. 

2 The wealthy man called out to his manager, “What is this I am hearing about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager.” 

3 The manager said to himself, “What do I do, since my master is taking my management job away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I would be too ashamed to beg. 4 I know to do, so that when I am removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.” 5 He called upon each of his master’s debtors personally.  To the first one, he said, “How much do you owe my master?” 

6 He responded, “About eight hundred gallons of olive oil.” 

So the manager said to him, “Quick, take out your bill and make it four hundred.” 

7 Then he said to another, “How much do you owe?” 

He responded, “A thousand bushels of wheat.” 

The manager told him, “Quick, take your bill and make eight hundred.” 

8 The master commended the corrupt manager because he had acted so shrewdly. For the children of this age are far more shrewd in dealing with their own kind, than are the children of light. 9 And so, I’m telling you, use your worldly wealth to make friends, so that when it is all gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 The one who is faithful with little things, is also faithful with bigger things.  The one who is dishonest in little things, will also be dishonest in bigger things. 

11 Therefore, if you have not been faithful with your worldly wealth, who will trust with true riches? 

12 And if you cannot be trusted with that which belongs to other people, who will give you something for yourself? 

13 No one is able to serve two masters, because he will hate one of them and love the other. He will be loyal to one and despise the other.  It is impossible  to serve both God and money. 

The manager devises a scheme in hopes that in the end, he has a place to go.  He reasons that he is unsuitable for manual labor, and does not want to end up begging. The manager’s plan involves removing some of the debt of those that owe the wealthy man money, so that when he is unemployed, these other men will look upon him favorably and give him somewhere to go. The manager recognizes that his future lies outside of his current job, and acts accordingly.  

The manager goes to his boss’s debtors and has them reduce their bill.  He is obviously trying to earn their favor.  Is he also trying to cheat his current boss?  It is difficult to say.  Later the owner praises him for his shrewdness.  

There is speculation that the corrupt manager was taking his commission off of the amount owed. Also, there is speculation that the manager was taking off interest charges that would bring the business owner more in line with Mosaic law. Both of these things are good. However, Jesus doesn't specify either of those things. 

The first man owes 100 baths of olive oil.  In our standard measurement system, that comes out to about roughly 800 gallons of oil.  The manager has the man cut the debt in half.  The second man owes 100 cors of wheat, which comes out to roughly 1000 bushels.  He is told to make it 800.  

In his commentary on Luke, Darrell Bock says that the first debtor's debt was equal to about three years worth of wages.  The second owed somewhere in the vicinity of 8-10 years wages.  (Bock, 1332.) Within the context, it seems that the idea that the manager is getting rid of his commission makes the most sense.  In the story the owner commends the man for his shrewd behavior, and Jesus seems to be commending the man as well. 

If the man is indeed giving up his commission, that throws an interesting twist on the story.  If a man loses his job, he would likely want to hold on to every bit of money that he can.  However, he would be very forward-thinking here, as he is giving up his own income now, in exchange for favorable treatment in the future.   

The man had been tabbed as corrupt at the beginning of the story.  So when Jesus called him corrupt in verse 8, it is possible that Jesus was referring to his prior actions in verse 1, rather than his reduction of the debts.  It seems very unlikely that Jesus would praise the man for continuing to be corrupt.  Giving up his commission seems to make the most sense here. 

Any way, Jesus uses this story as a springboard to make some practical implications for the use of money, which he does in verses 9-13. Here is Jesus' advice. 

• Be generous with your money. Jesus tells his disciples that they should use their worldly wealth to make friends.  Not that Jesus is recommending buying friendship, but using money generously to influence people.  
• Be faithful with money. We will be faithful or unfaithful, while handling big and small things the same way. How we handle money is an example of our faithfulness (or unfaithfulness.) God will reward those who prove themselves faithful with money, entrusting them with more important things. 
• Serve God, not money.  Money cannot be the ultimate priority. We cannot chase after both successfully.  At some point, we will be forced to choose between God or money. We choose God over money when we give our money to serve and meet the needs of others.  We all serve something or someone.  The wise choice is to serve God.

Seeker of Lost Things, Part 4

Greetings everyone.

Today, I will finish up my examination of Luke 15 and the story of the prodigal son.  The parable of the prodigal son is the third of three parables told by Jesus, in response to the complaints of the Pharisees and scribes that Jesus associates and eats with the wrong kinds of people, the tax collectors and the 'sinners.' 

We see the pattern of these three parables.  Something has been lost.  When they are found, there is celebration.  Jesus tells these parables to defend his association with these ‘sinners.”  These “sinners” are people who have gotten lost and Jesus is trying to help them find their way back to God.  Rather than stand in condemnation of them, like the Pharisees, Jesus is trying to help them. 

In our third, we have already discussed the younger son and how he hit rock bottom and returned to his father and a celebration. Now the older brother enters the picture.  He, too, is separated from his father, but in a less obvious way.  While all of this is happening with the younger brother, the older brother is in the field working.  When he returns home. He hears the sound of the celebration.  He inquires as to what is going on, and he learns that his younger brother has returned. This son refuses to go in to the celebration. His father may have forgiven his brother, but he cannot.  

When the father comes out to appeal to his older son to enter the party, the son reveals his true heart.  He says, “Look, I have been enslaving myself for you for so many years, and I have never disobeyed a command from you, and you have never even given me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. Yet, when this son of yours, who took what you worked for your whole life, and squandered it with prostitutes, comes home, you slaughter a fattened calf for him.” (Luke 15:29-30)

The  response of the older son is telling. We can see what he really thinks. First, he views his service to his father as slavery.   Even though everything the father has worked for belongs to the son, the son does not enjoy it and sees himself as being put upon, while his wasteful brother is celebrated.  

He also claims to have never disobeyed his father. This seems to be referring to the Pharisees, who claim strict obedience to the Law. They view themselves as the obedient ones, and don’t understand why Jesus wastes time eating and drinking with these sinners.  He has nothing but disdain for his brother.  He doesn’t even refer to him as “my brother,” but as “this son of yours.” 

The father is full of love.  He does not rebuke his older son for his bad attitude.  He merely explains the situation through the lenses of his fatherly love.  The father does refer to the younger son as ‘your brother.’  His point is that the son was dead to him , but is now alive again, and this is reason for celebration. 

Jesus leaves the story open-ended.  Does the older brother repent and join the celebration?  Does he remain obstinate and continue to refuse to go in?  Jesus doesn’t say.  By Luke 15, the story of the Pharisees is not yet written. They are given many opportunities to repent. Some Pharisees, like Nicodemas, Joseph of Arimathea and Saul of Tarsus become disciples of Jesus, while most of them remain like this picture of the older brother and are estranged from God. 

Whatever the feeling of the Pharisees, Jesus presents his Father as a great father, abounding in love for both the obvious sinner, and the sinner whose sin might not be so obvious.  We all fit into one of those two categories, and either way, we can be assured that we have a Father who loves us in spite of ourselves and who celebrates our repentance. 

Seeker of Lost Things, Part 3

Hey everybody.

I continue my look at the parables of Luke 15, today, by looking at the one we often call the Prodigal Son.  I am sure that you are familiar with the story.  Like the two previous parables, this one begins with someone who loses something.  This time it is a man with two sons.  In a way, he loses both of them, but we mostly consider how he loses then regains his younger son.

The younger son makes a request of his father.  He asks the father for his share of the inheritance.  It is a bold request, as it be could be taken that he is saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.” (Bailey, 165.) Even if the son’s meaning is not quite that extreme, it is a terrible insult to the father and it is clear that the son is choosing to sever the relationship with his father. (Bock, 1310.) 

The request in itself, is shocking, but what is even more shocking is that the father granted it.  Luke records in verse 12 that the father divided τὸν βίον (ton bion) between his two sons.  Βίον is a form of the Greek word βίο, which means ‘life.’  So the father divided his ‘life’ or his ‘livelihood’ between his two sons. Most fathers would just say ‘No’ to this request.  I know I would. That the father would say ‘yes,’ to this is pretty amazing.  Kenneth Bailey says this, “It is difficult to imagine a more dramatic illustration of the quality of love, which grants freedom, even to reject the lover.” (Bailey, Poet, 165.) This is true.  God, as our eternal Father, loves us in ways that we cannot comprehend.  He allows us the freedom to completely reject Him, and continues to love us, unconditionally. 

The son converts all of his new assets into cash and leaves, undoubtedly ready to experience his newfound freedom, away from his father. He goes into a distant land and wastes all of his money. Two words in the Greek text tell us what we need to know about the young man’s plan.  Διεσκόρπισεν (dieskorpisen) which means to ‘waste or squander', and ἀσώτως (asōtōs) which means “wild living.”  I translated this “we wasted his money in wild and reckless living.” So the young man took his portion of the father’s estate and wasted it.  Darrell Bock describes him as a “young man on a spending spree for things of no value.” (Bock, 1311.) 

The young man eventually finds himself in a hopeless situation that is not entirely his own fault.  Sure, he wastes all of his money, but the far away land that he ends up in is also hit with a severe famine. The same can be said for us.  Many of our problems are of our own making, but the challenges of life that are beyond our control happen to us all. For the young man, these life challenges coupled with his own mistakes, led him to a very hopeless situation. 

When the famine hit the land, the younger son, now broke, does the only thing he can do - he gets a job. Sadly, the job he gets is tending pigs.  This would be a very dishonorable job for a Jew, due to the unclean nature of pigs.  I would assume that he only took this job because it was the only one he could get.  Bailey suggests that it was likely that the job was offered to the young man, assuming that he would refuse it, but that the pride of the prodigal was not completely broken yet. (Bailey, Poet, 170.) This job is not able to meet his needs.  He is still hungry.  So hungry, in fact, that wants to eat the food that he is feeding to pigs.  It is difficult to imagine that his situation could get much worse. 

When he finally hits rock bottom, the young man comes to his senses.  He has lost everything and is desperate for even the most basic necessities of life.  Unfortunately that is what it took for him to realize his mistake.  He realizes that even the men that his father hires as day laborers (μίσθιοι - misthioi) have it better than he does.  Μίσθιοι is not a slave or a servant, but a hired worker that would be hired on a day-to-day basis for a minimal salary.  Bock says, “Whatever the merits of his current employment, his father is a better master.” (Bock, 1312.)  Bock’s comment makes sense.  Whatever issues he had with his father, working for him had to be better than this.  

The young man decides that he will return home and ask his father to be one of his hired workers.  His request would be that he no longer have the privileges of a son, but that he simply be allowed to work for his father for minimum wage.  He had left home arrogant and entitled.  He will be returning home humbled and willing to do whatever his father asks.  He accepts the consequences of his actions, and recognizes that he is now dependent on his father’s mercy.  

The son makes a plan.  He formulates a speech that he will give his father, asking to be one of his hired laborers.  It goes something like this. “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants.” He recognizes his unworthiness.  He also recognizes that he is better off with his father than he is in the world, no matter what humble position he is in. Working as a day laborer is better than longing to steal the food of pigs. 

We will see that the son never really gets to give his rehearsed speech.  He starts, but the father cuts him off with his incredible loving embrace. The father has waited for the son to return.  The son, of course, has no idea that the father has waited for him like this.  He has to be wondering if he would be rejected, the same way that he had rejected the father earlier.  

The story of the younger son begins with total rejection and ends with total acceptance.  The father has longed to embrace the son, no matter what he has done, no matter how wasteful he has been with his inheritance.  

The son receives a response from the father than he could not have possibly anticipated.  He was hoping the father would simply allow him to work for him, but the father restored him to sonship.  The father did not want to be his employer, he wanted to be his father.  The son arrives destitute, but the father soon has him dressed in the best clothing.  He was likely barefoot, and the father had sandals put on him.   

Like the two parables that precede this one, there is a celebration.  The father rejoices over the return of his lost son.  The father has the fattened calf slaughtered for the celebration of his son.  Such an animal is fed a special diet to fatten it up and make it more flavorful.  To slaughter and prepare such an animal indicates a very special celebration. 

Three things that are lost, all end up being found, which leads to celebration.  I will finish this up in my next post, Part 4, soon. 

     Kenneth Bailey, Poet and Peasant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1976. 

      Darrell Bock, Luke Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

Seeker of Lost Things, Part 2

Hello everyone.

Today, I will continue to examine Luke 15.  The chapter begins with Jesus surrounded by tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus' detractors, the scribes and the Pharisees complain that Jesus, a supposed rightous man, would associate with such people.  Jesus responds by telling three stories about something that was lost, and then was found.  He has already told the story of the shephard seeking and finding the one lost sheep.  He follows that, in verses 8-10, with a story of something else that gets lost, is sought and then found.  Here is my translation: 

8 Or what woman having ten silver coins, but loses one, would not light a lamp, sweep her house and search diligently, until she finds it? 9 Then, having found it, she invites her friends and neighbors over, saying, “Rejoice with me, since I have found the silver coin that had been lost.” 10 Likewise, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God, when a sinner repents. 

Jesus tells his second story. This time it is of a woman who loses a silver coin, and who searches diligently for it.  Upon finding it, she invites her friends over and they celebrate. The silver coin is valuable and clearly it held great value to the woman.  It’s not like she lost a quarter.  The Greek word here is ‘drachma,’ which was worth about a day’s wage. Plus, it is one tenth of what she has. That’s a lot of money to misplace. 

So the woman searches for the coin.  Sweeping out her house, she searches diligently until she finds it.  Then she calls her friends to join her in her celebration. “Rejoice with me, since I have found the silver coin that had been lost.” 

The ‘sinners’ that Jesus is ministering to in Luke 15 have great value as well. They have gotten lost, but  Jesus has searched for them, and later he is even willing to die for them.  In these two stories we see something lost, then found, followed by rejoicing.  Jesus is making the point that when these ‘lost sinners’ repent, it is God who rejoices. 

The Pharisees who are questioning Jesus and asking, “Why does Jesus eat with the sinners?, They have it backwards.  Jesus could be indirectly asking them “Why aren’t you diligently seeking the lost?”  or “Why don’t you eat with the sinners? 

Jesus continues to break cultural mores here, eating with sinners, and telling stories about two groups, shepherds and women, that the Pharisees would just naturally look down on. Jesus, like the shephard and the women seek that which is lost diligently, and then rejoices when he finds it. 

Seeker of Lost Things

Greetings everyone.

Today I will begin my exegesis of Luke 15.  In this chapter, Jesus tells three stories of something lost and how it gets found.  The three lost items are a sheep, a coin and a son.  Today we will focus on the first of these stories. Here is my translation of Luke 15:1-7".

1 All of the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus, to listen to him. 2 Meanwhile, the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying “This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them.” 

3 So Jesus told them this parable, 4“Which man among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go find the one that is lost? 5 Upon finding it, he will place it on his shoulders with rejoicing. 6 He will return home and call together all of his friends and neighbors, and say to them, “Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep.” 7 I tell you, there will, likewise, be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents, than the ninety-nine righteous, who do not need to repent. 

Jesus has developed quite a reputation as a friend of the tax collectors and sinners.  They were coming in large numbers to listen him.  Meanwhile, the religious elites, the Pharisees and the scribes, had noticed this and were complaining about it.  What is implied here is that they wonder how the man who claims to be from God, could keep company with such obvious sinners. 

This topic has come up before. In Luke 5 Jesus has called Levi, the tax collector, and Jesus goes to a banquet that Levi throws, inviting all of his friends and associates.  The Pharisees complain about this to his disciples. In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus responds to their complaint,“The healthy don’t need a doctor.  Sick people do.  I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but the sinners.” 

About Jesus and his willingness to eat with 'sinners', Darrell Bock states “table fellowship with such people suggests a level of acceptance that is distasteful to the leaders.” (Bock, 1298.) 

Kenneth Bailey adds, “a nobleman may feed any number of lesser needy persons as a sign of his generosity, but he does not eat with them….The meal is a special sign of acceptance.” (Bailey, 143.)  

According to Luke, the Pharisees use the Greek word Προσδέχεται (prosdechetai) to describe how Jesus recieves these 'sinners.' The word means to ‘receive in a friendly manner.’ I assume that these Pharisees and scribes thought Jesus ought to rebuke these people for their waywardness, but instead he was sitting down at the table with them and eating. Jesus does not have their mentality to keep separate from the ‘sinners.’  INstead, Jesus’ plan is to draw them toward God. (Bock, 1299) Sadly, the Pharisees and their self-righteous behavior, will push people away from God. 

In response to the complaints of the Pharisees, Jesus tells three parables.  All three of these parables connect to sinners repenting. In this first parable, Jesus tells of a shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep in the pasture, to go off and look for the one that has wandered off. Shepherds were a familiar sight.  This is a parable that everyone would be able to understand.  The shepherd knew his flock well enough to know that one was missing.  

Jesus tells this parable in a way to suggest that any shepherd would do this, leave the ninety-nine and go find the one that is lost. Is Jesus making a point that the Pharisees and scribes were bad shepherds?  Maybe.  They certainly were bad shepherds.  But the point that Jesus is driving home here is that the lost sheep receives special attention.  It wasn’t just avoided and forgotten.  

So then, what does the good shepherd do?  He searches for the lost animal.  Then, when he finds it, he carries it home.  This shepherd presents a tenderness that the Pharisees clearly lacked.  

Afterwards, the shepherd rejoiced.  The lost animal could have been stolen, eaten or just never found.  With the sheep returned safely to the flock, the shepherd has reason to rejoice. This is what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees.  God loves all of his ‘sheep,’ and He rejoices when one of them is returned to him safely. 

Now, upon finding the sheep, the shepherd is tasked with a burden.  He must now carry the found sheep, yet he still sees this as a cause for celebration.  The burden of carrying the sheep does not seem to dampen his enthusiasm for the sheep. 

Then the shepherd rejoices a second time.  Once when he finds the sheep and then again when he returns home with it. The shepherd does not just rejoice privately.  He has a big party and invites his community. It is a celebration of something that had been lost, but now was found.  Bailey makes the point that the flock was likely owned by the community, but tended to by the shepherd.  The loss of one sheep is a loss to the whole community, and having it found is a cause for celebration for the whole community. (Bailey, Poet, 150.) 

The rescue of the lost sheep is a cause of great joy.  The sheep was in danger, but is now safe.  Jesus likens this to the celebration that occurs in Heaven when a sinner repents. God, who wants everyone to be saved, rejoices over anyone who chooses to repent and come to Him.  

This is why Jesus would spend time with the ‘sinners.’ He treated everyone with dignity and respect, even the ‘sinners,’ in an effort to call them to repentance, and give Heaven cause to celebrate. The Pharisees should have been doing what Jesus was doing.  Instead, they were doing everything they could do to push such people away. 

     Darrell Bock, Luke - Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.

      Kenneth Bailey, Poet and Peasant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1976.

If Anyone Would Follow Me, Part 2

 Greetings everyone.

Today, I am going to continue my exegesis of Luke 14.  We will finish looking at Jesus' call to discipleship, by examining verses 28-35.  Here is my translation:

28 Whoever among you who wants to build a tower, would you not first, sit down and calculate the cost, to see if you have enough to complete it? 29 Because, if you lay the foundation, but then are not able to finish, all who see it will begin making fun of you, 30 saying, “This person began building, but did not have the ability to finish the job.” 31 Or what king goes off to war against another king without first sitting down and considering whether he is able to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is unable, he would send representatives, while still far away, to ask for peace. 33 So, any among you who do not give up everything they have, are not able to be my disciple. 

34 Salt is good. But if salt becomes tasteless, how does it get its flavor back? 35 It is neither fit for soil or even the manure pile.  It is just thrown out. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” 

Jesus is making very clear.  He wants his followers to take his call to follow him seriously.  It is not a decision to be made lightly.  He has just spelled out some pretty serious challenges for the would-be disciple.  The disciple has been challenged to place Jesus first in their priorities.  Now, he tells them that they will need to count the cost. Jesus is essentially saying, ‘Don’t follow me if you are unwilling to pay the price that I laid out for you.” 

Jesus paints two pictures about counting the cost. He uses the example of man building a tower. This tower is likely a watchtower built as extra security for the man’s property, like his vineyard and home.  The first thing he would do is figure out the cost, to see if he is able to pay it.  If he is not able to pay, he will not waste the time or the money of even breaking the ground for it.  He will move on to something else. (Counting the cost of something is a wise thing to do, no matter what we might be contemplating.) If we choose to follow Jesus, it is a lifetime decision.  We remain devoted to him for life.  If we quit, we become an object of ridicule. 

His second example is of a king that is preparing to go to battle against a more powerful king.  Can he, with a much smaller army, defeat the one coming against him?  The king with the smaller army will surely be defeated.  Here, Jesus is calling upon them to count the cost of not following him as well. Each of us are the king with the smaller army, while God is the king with the larger army.  We will lose that battle. Since we cannot defeat God, we are wise to submit to Him. Either way, to follow or to not follow, we must count the cost. 

In Jesus' two analogies, we see two ways of looking at the same thing.  One is a call to count the cost of following Jesus, and the other we are called to count the cost of not following Jesus.  In one, we are told that we are foolish to start following him, then stop.  In the other, we see that we are foolish if we refuse to submit to him.  King Jesus is going to be king, no matter what.  We have no shot at defeating him. 

There really is only one path that makes sense to follow.  It is full submission to King Jesus. 

In verse 33, Jesus gives us a third cost to count.  There is another cost beyond Family “hating” and cross bearing.  We must be willing to give up everything. Darrell Bock says, “The will to renounce all possessions and to ally oneself totally to Jesus is the essence of discipleship.  Jesus is first.” (Bock, 1290.) There is no possession greater than following Him. 

Jesus finishes this passage by talking about salt. Salt is useful.  It seasons foods and can act as a preservative.  When it stops doing those things, it really has no value.  Jesus has said that his disciples are salt of the Earth. (Matt. 5:13) We season, and influence, because we are like Jesus and not like the world.  If we become just like the world, we lose our saltiness.  What value do we have? 

So, Jesus has laid out what it means to follow him.  He is our priority.  He is our king.  Jesus understands that he is putting forward a very challenging demand.  He urges his would-be followers to consider it very carefully, but also to understand that it is the best way forward. 

Tom 

     Darrell L. Bock, Luke - Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.