The call to discipleship, already present in Mark’s Gospel, is highlighted in the teachings of the Lukan Jesus, concentrated especially in the section of Luke’s “orderly account” where Jesus journeys towards Jerusalem (from 9:51 onwards). On this journey, he reveals to his followers precisely what it will cost to follow him. We see this especially at 9:57–62, a passage set in the lectionary some weeks ago, and at 14:25–33, set in the lectionary for this coming Sunday.
On the journey, Jesus teaches that following him will entail a disturbing discipleship. It will mean adopting a radical lifestyle, including the renunciation of one’s family (12:49–53; 14:26; 18:28–30), the disbursement of one’s possessions (9:3; 10:4; 12:22–23; 14:33; 18:22) and the abandonment of familiar securities (9:24; 12:22–23).
Jesus predicts that his followers will know what it means to be “hated, excluded, reviled, defamed” (6:22); they will travel “like lambs into the midst of wolves” (10:3); and they will know the experience of arrest, persecution, trial, betrayal, hatred, and even death (21:12–19).
This scenario of disturbing discipleship continues beyond the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth. As Luke extends his “orderly account” into a second volume, we see that people are persecuted, imprisoned, brought to trial, and even put to death. In these ways, the true cost of faithfulness is made known. The charge given to Paul summarises what all faithful followers of Jesus might expect: “how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16).
What follows is a study on disturbing discipleship, through the lens of Luke 14, which Elizabeth and I wrote some time ago.
Skim read through Luke 14:25–35.
(This is the passage set in the lectionary for this coming Sunday.)
This passage appears in the middle of the section of Luke’s Gospel which recounts the journey which Jesus took to Jerusalem. It contains a collection of sayings of Jesus which focus on the cost involved in following him.
Read Luke 14:26. Then read Matthew 10:37–38.
What did Jesus mean by this saying?
Are we meant to take his words literally, or symbolically?
What was the role of ‘family’ in Jewish society?
What would it have meant to have abandoned your family in the way that Jesus suggests?
Read Exodus 20:12.
What does this commandment contribute to our exploration of the words of
Jesus?
Read Exodus 32:25–29 and Deuteronomy 33:8–9.
How do these passages help us to understand this saying of Jesus?
Read Luke 14:27.
What did it mean to “carry your cross” in the world of Jesus?
Comment: Sometimes the cross was referred to in shorthand as “the slave’s punishment”. Plutarch, a Gentile writer of the 2nd century CE, wrote that “every
criminal condemned to death bears his cross on his back” (Moralia 554AB).
Sallust, a Roman historian of the 1st century BCE, wrote, “The most notorious [pirates] were either hung from the mast or flogged or fastened high up on a gibbet without being tortured first” (Historiae fragment 3.9).
In the light of such sayings, what do you think that it meant for the disciples of Jesus when they heard Jesus command them to “carry your cross”?
What connotations did this language hold?
How do we interpret these words today?
Do we still think of “the cross” as “the slave’s punishment”?
Jesus spoke often of this theme.
Read Luke 9:23 and 12:51; and John 12:24–25.
Now return to Luke 14:27.
What impact do these words have when we hear them in the context of Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem, where he will die on a cross?
Read the parable of the tower builder at Luke 14:28–30.
What do you think is the basic point of this parable?
What does this parable tell us about discipleship?
Read the parable of the king preparing for war at Luke 14:31–32.
What do you think is the basic point of this parable?
What does this parable tell us about discipleship?
Read the saying at Luke 14:33. Now re-read Luke 14:27.
Read Luke 18:28–30.
Was Peter right in expressing his opinions like this?
Comment: In the 1st century, the place occupied by a person in society was determined by their relationships with many other people in society: their family members, their employer and their fellow-workers, and people with whom they conducted business.
In such a context, what would it have meant for a person to have renounced everything? Where would they gain their support and sustenance for living? What does it mean for you to “renounce everything”?
Read the saying at Luke 14:34–35.
Now read Matthew 5:13 and Mark 9:50.
Comment: In a society such as the 1st century, salt was used as a preservative to keep food edible over a long period of time. (Remember there were no refrigerators!)
How does this help us to understand the meaning of this saying?
Note the conclusion of this collection of sayings at Luke 14:35.
Once again, this was something that Jesus often said.
Read Mark 4:23; Matthew 13:9; Luke 8:8; Matthew 11:15; and Matthew 13:43.
Comment: Some medieval monks who were copying the text of the New Testament must have thought that the last phrase of this saying was worth repeating often. It appears also in some manuscripts at Mark 7:16, Matthew 25:29, Luke 12:21, and Luke 21:4. The same phrase provides a refrain in the early section of the book of Revelation (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; and see also 13:9).
What effect does this saying have on you?
What kind of emotions does it generate in you?
An Informed Faith 