25 Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and
said unto them, 26 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. 27
Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot
be my disciple. 28 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? 29 Lest haply, when he hath laid a
foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to
mock him, 30 saying, This man began to build, and was not able to
finish. 31 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? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he
sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace. 33 So
therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he
hath, he cannot be my disciple. 34 Salt therefore is good: but if
even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: _men_ cast
it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
As Jesus was journeying on toward Jerusalem the attending crowds were
increasing in size and in excitement. The people imagined that he was
about to establish a kingdom in pomp and splendor and power, and in these
glories they expected to share. To remove the misunderstanding, Jesus
turned to declare the true conditions of discipleship. His followers must
expect sacrifice and suffering and be willing to part with all they
possessed, even with life itself. When he declared that they must hate
their kindred and their own lives, he of course meant that they must love
them less than they loved him, regarding them with aversion only in so far
as they were opposed to him or stood in the way of his service. To be his
disciple one must be willing to “bear his own cross,” which was a symbol
of suffering and of death; one must continually yield his will to the will
of Christ, no matter what hardship or loss might be involved.
Jesus did not wish to discourage men from following him, but warned them
first to count the cost. This he illustrated by referring to the folly of
laying the foundation for a building without first estimating the entire
expense and one’s ability to meet it; he also stated, as a further
illustration, the rashness of entering a war without first calculating
what sacrifices must be made to win. Jesus did not mean that it is better
not to begin the Christian life than to begin and fail, but that it is not
wise even to begin unless one first realizes that it involves a readiness
to renounce everything which the service of Christ may demand. “So
therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he
cannot be my disciple.”
Nothing could be more useless than a worldly and selfish and willful
follower of Christ; he is like salt that has lost its savor; he lacks the
very essence of discipleship; he can be of no possible service to his
Lord.