Understanding Luke 14:25-27 - “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Being the disciple of a Jewish rabbi in Israel is an exclusively Jewish affair. Jesus was addressing Jews who wanted to be His disciples in Luke 14:25-33, even though His sermon is still crucial for all believers (both Jew and Gentile) today in terms of separating Law and Grace. See Luke 14:25-33-

25 “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

The lives of religious Jews at the time revolved around their synagogues, keeping Jewish laws, Temple worship, etc. To be put out of the synagogue was tantamount to losing your identity as a Jew - worse than being cut off like a leper. Jewish youths (disciples) would have a teacher (rabbi) that they followed. Remember that being the disciple of a Jewish rabbi in Israel is an exclusively Jewish affair. Christ was no different in this regard. His disciples and those who aspired to join Him were all Jewish. But Jesus was a Rabbi with a difference. In John 9, He made mud and opened the eyes of a blind man on the Sabbath.

A Rabbi working on the Sabbath? What a great sinner! Sacrilege!

Here's what happened after Jesus healed the blind man - emphasis on the guarded response of the parents of newly-sighted man to the Jewish leaders' question:

14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

These smart parents didn't want to become outcasts. They quickly distanced themselves from Jesus to avoid losing the life that defined who they were as Jews. That was what happened to anyone who followed Jesus - they got put out of the synagogue for following this “ungodly" Man who routinely “flouted” the Jewish leaders' precious law of the Sabbath by healing the sick on this sacred day. Anyone who wanted to follow Jesus had to be prepared to lose his life as he knew it hence Christ's words in Luke 14:25-33.

But there's more to Luke 14:25-33. Remember its crucial for Christians today as well.

Luke's account of the gospel is one of divine order. The account is not chronological; many events were divinely placed side by side for comparative purposes. Take Luke 18-19 as an example - right after the rich young ruler went away sorrowful (obedience to the Law cannot save,) we see our Lord Jesus predicting His own death and resurrection (Christ died for us, fulfilling every demand of the Law.) Right after this, we see the blind man at the gate of Jericho, a place cursed by Joshua, receiving his sight through faith (with Christ's death and ressurrection, our eyes our opened to His salvation and we are redeemed from the curse of the Law.)

The very next event is that of Christ's meeting with Zacchaeus where we see Salvation by Grace (Christ Himself) in action. Grace caused Zacchaeus to repent and transformed Him into a cheerful giver, something that the Law could not do for the rich young ruler who could not part with his great possessions.

Three back-to-back events recorded in Luke 14-15 show us how three groups of people - “the Pharisees," “the Multitude" and “the Tax Collectors and Sinners" - saw our Lord Jesus Christ. These three groups can be compared to different kinds of Christians today. Jesus loves and came to save all.

GROUP 1 - The Pharisees who saw Jesus as competition for their high positions.

In Chapter 14, the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with them on the Sabbath day. They watched Him closely as He went in, trying to find fault with Him (Grace-personified) as usual. As Jesus went in, He saw a man afflicted with dropsy. Jesus knew that the Pharisees were going to accuse Him of healing on a Sabbath day when working is prohibited. So He asked them: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" But they kept silent. Jesus healed the man (freely, didn't ask him to go and keep the Law, fast or sow seed first!) and He let him go - he didn't try to control his life afterwards either. The Pharisees' thoughts were that Jesus had broken the Law by healing on the Sabbath. Jesus answered them saying:

“Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

And they could not answer Him regarding these things. Why? They realised that the reason why they were not committing particular sins is because God did not allow them to be tempted beyond what they could bear! They would break the Law of the Sabbath in a heartbeat if they were the ones sick with dropsy - the same way that churchgoers today who tout themselves as being "good" because they do not steal/fornicate/lie will sin copiously if a big enough temptation came their way, just like Peter who boasted that he would never deny Christ.

The Pharisees here represent Christians (mostly leaders) that tell you, like their counterparts of old, that there are terms and conditions that need to be met by you before you can receive from our Lord God - they are preachers of that horrid, false doctrine that that Paul called "doctrines of demons." Such teach that you have to keep the Law or fulfil certain terms and conditions before Jesus can save/heal/deliver/provide for you. They try to drive the wedge of your ability to keep the Law between you and Christ's salvation. If you lose your job, they tell you that you have to 'sow a mighty seed' before our heavenly Father blesses you with another. When you are sick, they tell you that unless you confess some sin that you or your ancestors committed, God will not heal you, or worse, that God is punishing you for your sins or those of your forefathers.

But how can the righteous God punish you for the same sins that He already punished in the body of His Son? In Christ, our heavenly Father who loves us disciplines and corrects us, but never with things like poverty, sickness, depression or any of the other symptoms of death and death itself that Christ died to save us from. According to Hebrews 12, His correction is for our profit, that we might live, that we might be partakers of His holiness and that we might yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Hebrews 10:12 says Christ "offered for all time one sacrifice for sins." With Christ as our righteousness, God doesn't remember our sins anymore (Heb 8:7-12)!

But just as the Pharisees did with the law of the Sabbath, today, pastors and churchgoers in Group 1 above put up the Law as a barrier to receiving from God when our Heavenly Father gives us all things FREELY with Christ. Romans 8:32 - "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Most times, this group of churchgoers, like the priests of the Old Testament, are the ones dispensing the actions that you must take in order to "overcome" your problems that Christ gave His life to freely save you from; they make it seem like you need a particular set of skills to be able to commune with your own Father in heaven! But with their methods you never fully overcome; you keep going back in fear because their to-do lists for you never ends. They never point you to our Saviour Jesus Christ for salvation. They point you to what YOU have to do when our Saviour said we can do nothing without Him. Of course you have to go back to them next week for more some "deliverance" because only two out of the twenty-five padlocks of bondage were broken in this curse deliverance session! Like the Pharisees, they see God's Grace - Christ himself - as competition for the tithes and offerings and cannot see that under Grace is where the flock get to freely give because we freely receive.

Such reject Galatians 3:13 - "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law..." and insist that believers are still under the same generational and other curses which Christ hung on the cross to redeem us from. They always point you to things to do to "maintain your salvation" when all you need to do is believe. Christ does it all. Believers, your pastor is not your high priest. Jesus Christ is our High Priest!

But we see our Saviour's heart towards us in His healing of the sick man. He can't stand to see us sick or in pain. He loves us more than we could ever love our kids - just think what you would do if your beloved but nasty child was sick or had a bad habit that was destroying him! The man with dropsy got a "no questions asked" healing, free of terms and conditions; no questions about what he did or didn't do, as will you in Christ! Believe Right and you will Live Right.

GROUP 2 - The Multitude who saw Jesus only as an example to follow.

The multitude that Jesus addressed in Luke 14:25 - 33 represent the second group of Christians who see Jesus as a Teacher that only tells them what to do or as an example to follow (by their own strength), and not as their Saviour. What Jesus told this multitude in 28-30 shows us that they thought they could begin and finish the good work of their salvation on their own:

"And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’"

From Christ's words to the multitude above, we see that the multitude expected that the cost of construction of their building and its completion was theirs to bear, not Christ's. This is not Christianity. In Philippians 1:6 is the way of we who believe in Jesus:

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"

The multitude thought they could begin and finish the good work on their own so Jesus told them they should be prepared to carry their own cross! Their foundation is not Christ. It is their human effort. But the arm of flesh will fail.

Like the multitude, this second group of Christians are many today. They think their salvation or receiving from God rests on their ability to do the work of keeping the Ten Commandments and emulating the life of Christ which no man can do; a “part-Judaism (law-keeping) and part-Christian” doctrine that is neither Law nor Grace. This is the “neither cold nor hot" that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3. Such do not see Jesus as the Author and Finisher of faith even though they profess to “have faith" and to follow Him. They still depend on the keeping the Law for some righteousness. Remember, the Law is not of Faith.

The Law rejects this group too as seen in the Jewish leaders’ decision to put anyone that followed Christ out of the synagogue in John 9.

Such do not believe that it is God who begins and finishes the good work as it is written in Philippians 1:6 above. See the New Living Translation:

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

The multitude believe that they can live the life of Christ by their own effort. Because of the Pharisees doctrine that they receive from churchgoers and leaders in Group 1 above, they labour under the burden of their own cross! Jesus said of these false doctrine teachers that lead many astray in Luke 11:46 -

"And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers."

Many of these teachers tell you to sow your whole salary as a seed and such in order to get God - whom Romans 8:32 says gives us all things freely with Christ - to bless you and you feel guilty when you can't; but they cannot do what they tell you to do! Believers, its not by our power that we have salvation from earthly ills and death in hell. Only by God's Grace do we overcome and do God's will! With Christ, we don't GIVE TO GET, we GET TO GIVE. Abide in Him and you will bear "much fruit." John 15:5.

GROUP 3 - The Tax Collectors and Sinners who saw Jesus as their Saviour

The Pharisees show us what people thought of this group in Luke 15:1-2 -

"Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that He was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!"

These religious folk who thought they were godly were aghast that Jesus was eating with the scum of the earth tax collectors and sinners! Believer, the same yesterday, today and forever - our Lord Jesus Christ - is still eating with sinners today. He is our Righteousness. The tax collectors and sinners typify believers who see no good in themselves of themselves. They saw Jesus not as competition or as an example to follow (by their own strength) but as Saviour! They see (by God's grace alone) that their good works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) in the eyes of our Lord God. God in His wisdom has opened their eyes to see that their good works or lack of it is not what puts them in right-standing with Him but the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, as it is written in Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Jesus is still associating with this group today, changing us from inside out; transforming us to the image of His glory from glory to glory by His Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) and causing us to bear "much fruit" (John 15:5)

Believers, if our good works (law-keeping) could save us, Jesus would not have needed to come and save us. Why would you need someone to get you out of prison if you could do it yourself? Matthew 1:21 says of Christ-

"And she will have a Son and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Also Titus 2:14 - "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Why would a Saviour who came to save you from your sins use the same sins He came to deliver you from as an excuse for not saving, delivering or blessing you? This is akin to an oncologist dad refusing to treat his own beloved child who has cancer and even punishing his child for exhibiting symptoms of the disease.

This is the Good News: Whatever category you find yourself in, it's not too late to come dine freely at the Lord's table. He compels the undeserving to eat and drink and rest. God loves you so, so much! Jesus died for us all. He wants you to enjoy His benefits in Christ, FREELY! Even those saying that we must obey rules and regulations cannot keep them all. Plus the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:12-13.) The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how, like Peter who denied Christ profusely, favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them and that they can obey the law in order to be godly.

We can't say of the Law: "I'll do my best, Jesus will understand and do the rest." This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ spoke of in Revelation 3. With Jesus, it's either He is your Saviour to the uttermost or not your Saviour at all.

According to Galatians 5:4, if you are trying to get right with God by keeping just one law, you have been cut off from Christ-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

If you believe that your law-keeping and fasting is what gives you right-standing with God; if you believe that you deserve heaven because of your hard work, then Christ is become of no effect unto you! As a new creation in Christ, we don't do good things to get saved or maintain our salvation, we do God's will BECAUSE He saved us! We GET TO bear "much fruit." It's so automatic that we don't even realise that we do His will!

Thank God for He is merciful and His desire is for none to perish but that we all have everlasting life and reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ!

Believer, come to Christ as you are with your baggage of filth, sins and addiction. This is why He came - to save us from our sins.The moment you believe Him, He calls you righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins." And in Him, we never remain the same. Only by receiving God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death:Romans 5:16-17:

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Right believing always produces right living.