Counting the cost
Of bearing the Cross, and counting the cost.
(The Gospel History, Section 109)
Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace. So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Commentary by J. R. Dummelow
Lk 14:25–35. That we must give up all to follow Christ, and count the cost before we do so. The two parables of the Rash Builder (vv. 28–30) and the Rash King (vv. 31–33) are peculiar to Lk. The multitude who follow Jesus (v. 25) are inclined to believe that He is the Messiah, and expect great temporal benefits from their discipleship. Jesus warns them that, instead of this, they must expect persecution and even death (v. 27), and that those who cannot make a complete sacrifice of earthly affections (v. 26), and ambition (v. 33), had better turn back while there is yet time.
Lk 14:26. Hate] ‘This does not imply the feeling of hatred, but a readiness to act as if one hated. The nearest and dearest must be forsaken, and opposed, and offended, if need be, to follow Christ.’ Mt 10:37. Observe here, again, the tremendous stress upon personal loyalty to Christ.
Lk 14:27 > Mt 10:38. Whosoever doth not bear his own cross] i.e. he that is not willing to follow Me to martyrdom is not worthy of Me. The ‘cross’ stands here, not for trouble in general (though this is included), but for actual crucifixion, the most painful and degrading form of martyrdom. The condemned criminal was forced to ‘take’ or carry his cross to the place of execution. Christ here indicates that He knew beforehand not only the fact of His death, but its manner.
Lk 14:28–33. None of the details of these two parables or similes are significant. The parables simply enforce the one idea that it is folly to undertake a serious business (here, becoming a disciple of Christ), without counting the cost.
Lk 14:33. Forsaketh not all] Only the Apostles (and the Seventy) were required to do this in act, but every disciple is required to do it in will, i.e. to subordinate all earthly interests and claims to Christ’s, when the two are incompatible.
Lk 14:34, 35. Salt] i.e. ‘discipleship.’ In Mt 5:13 (q.v.) it means the pure and unselfish lives of Christians. ‘The salt which has lost its savour’ is here the discipleship which refuses to make the sacrifices which Christ demands (vv. 26, 27, 33).
Lk 14:35. The land … the dunghill] These have no special meaning. The sense is that the discipleship which makes no sacrifices is valueless for any purpose.
Counting the cost
(The Saviour of the World, Vol VI Book IV Poem LXIX)
Great multitudes of eager folk
Now follow Him, whose words evoke
Sweet heavenward shootings of the heart,
The wish to choose the better part:—
“Master, ’tis good to be with Thee!
In Thy still presence, clear, we see
How vain the turmoil of our life,
Its greed and envy, care and strife!”
“My friends, ye think, an easy thing
It is, belike, to serve the King;
But, hark, whilst I to you declare
How much for Me ye shall forswear.
“What better can a man than serve
His family, who well deserve—
His father, mother, wife and child—
To find him helpful, loving, mild?
“I say to you, these shall he hate,
Should an occasion raise debate,—
Whose claim to service he shall choose,—
Mine must he yield, and them, refuse!”
“But, Lord, we must needs serve our own!
Thou wouldst not have us live alone,
Aliens to those we hold most dear?
This word of Thine engendereth fear!”
“My children, ye must bear your cross;
Who followeth Me shall suffer loss;
Nor, My disciple can he be,
Who gives not all he hath for Me.
“Grave, the alternative before
Every disciple; loves he more
The things he hath than Me? The cost,
I bid him count, lest both be lost.
“If one of you would build a tower,
Goes he to work that very hour,
Or sits he down the cost to count
And reckon if he hath the amount?
“Else, lays he the foundations, straight;
Anon, the diligent builders wait,
And neighbours laugh and wag the head
O’er tower begun,—nor finishéd.
“Doth any king go forth to war,
Nor reckon what munitions are
Sufficient to encounter him,
Discerns he on th’ horizon’s rim?
“If he hath but ten thousand men,
The other, ten and ten again,
He sends an ambassage of peace
To make conditions of release!
“So, ye, my friends, think not to take
My service, unprepared to make
Free sacrifice of lesser gain,
Pain to endure and loss sustain:
“Ye think it well that many should
Be My disciples? Salt is good,
But if the salt no savour hath,
Men cast it on the trodden path:
“Consider, then, what is that salt
The disciple shall keep pure, nor halt
At those renunciations, rise,
Ere salted, he, for sacrifice!”
St. Luke xiv. 25–35.
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