The Strand Study Bible

LUKE 14:21

LUKE 14:27

1666

wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his 1 servant, 2 Go out quickly into the 3 streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the 3 highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24 For I say unto you, That none of 4 those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper . The cost of discipleship 25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 5 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and 6 wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, 7 he cannot be my disciple. 27 8 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and com after me, cannot be my disciple.

1. or, “NT witness- es” 2. Acts 13:4-5,46 & 18:6 & 28:28 3. or, “Gentile nations” 4. or, “the Jews” - Mt 10:6 5. Mt 10:37 6. Ezk 24:15-27 7. Mt 8:19-22 & Lk 9:57-62 8. Mt 16:24-27 & Mk 8:34 & Lk 9:23

14:26 a Jesus was not commanding men here to “ hate ” their own families. That would contradict everything the Bible teaches concerning honoring parents (Exo 20:12). What Jesus stressed here was the need for total commitment. That is, we must love Him so much that our love for our family seems almost like hatred by comparison (Mt 10:37). THE ADAGE IS TRUE: If Christ is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. 14:26 b Nothing less than self-renunciation ( and his own life also ) could ever be a fitting response to CHRIST’S sacrifice. 14:26 c This word ( disciple ) is the Greek word PDθKτK9 ( mathetes ), which is akin to manthano and means “ to learn ” (Mt 11:29). Mathetes comes from the root word “math” and indicates “ thought accompanied by endeavor .” It literally means “ to learn to imitate one’s instructor by taking careful thought. ” This word ( mathetes ) appears 272 times in the New Testament and is translated once “instructed” (Mt 13:52), twice “teach” (Mt 28:19 and Acts 14:21), and 269 times “disciple.” The problem Christians face when desiring to become disciples is that they would rather imitate men and their movements than the Master and His message (Mt 9:14, Jn 9:28 and Acts 20:17,26-30). Although any Christian can become a true disciple, few ever do (Jn 6:60-67). Why? Because there are prerequisites to becoming a disciple, and few ever follow all three. Note the three prerequisites: 1. We are to be devoted to Christ (Lk 14:25-33) Real devotion to Christ comes from an understanding of His love for us ( II Cor 5:14 and Mt 13:44-46 & 20:1-16), not our love for Him (Jn 14:15). Learning to focus on how much Jesus loves us will leads us to: * learn, not just listen (Mt 11:28-30, Mk 9:30-32 and Exo 19:9 ) * practice humility, not pride (Mt 17:14-21 & 18:1-4 & Lk 14:7-14 & I Ki 21:29 ) * pray, not faint ( Lk 11:1,2 & 22:45-46 and LUKE “MINI” SERIES) * serve others, not ourselves (Jn 13:3-15, Mt 14:19 & 15:36 & 21:6 & 28:16 and Lk 8:22 & 9:14-16 & 12:42-48) * focus on the eternal, not the temporal (Lk 12:16-34 & 16:1-13, Mt 13:10-11 & 25:14-30 and II Cor 4:18 ) * become a strong soldier, not a weak one (Mt 9:10-11 & 10:24-28 & 12:1-2 & 27:57, Mk 8:34-38, Jn 19:38, Acts 13:50-52 and II Tim 2:1-4) * follow truth, not traditions (Mt 15:1-2,32-36 & 24:32-44, Lk 5:29-30 & 20:45-47, Jn 1:35-37 & 3:26-30 & 8:31, Ezk 24:18 and I Cor 2:13 ) * be positive, not negative, critical, or jealous (Lk 6:40-42 & 9:51-56 and Jn 13:35) * practice compassion, not indifference (Jn 4:27, Mt 14:13-16 and Lk 10:29-37 & 23:33-34) 2. We are to be devoted to witnessing (Mt 4:19 and Jn 15:8) Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, “ Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men .” It is impossible to be devoted to Jesus and not be a real witness for Him. Real devotion to witnessing means: * Knowing your testimony (I Pet 3:15 and Acts 22:6-16 & 26:12-19) * Knowing the Gospel (I Cor 15:1-4, Eph 1:13 and Rom 1:16 ) * Knowing the reason behind SPIRIT -fullness (Lk 24:46-49, Acts 2:1-4,41 & 4:29-33 and Eph 5:18 c ) Parable #8 - We are to learn to make “witnessing” the primary goal of the church we attend (Mt 13:31-32) Parable #33 - We are to learn to use the “opportunities” God gives us to witness for Him (Lk 19:11-28) Parable #38 - We are to learn to stay awake “spiritually” by reaching the lost (Mk 13:33-37) 3. We are to be devoted to the discipleship of others (Mt 28:18-20) What good is being devoted to Jesus and winning the lost to Him if we fail to complete the cycle and train those we win to do the same? 14:27 Christianity is a “ cross ,” not a carnival. The cross symbolizes the shame, persecution and abuse which the world heaped upon our SAVIOR , and which the world will heap upon those of us who choose to become His disciples. * Knowing the parables of CHRIST that deal with witnessing (Mt 5:14-16) According to the Bible, there are five parables that deal with witnessing: Parable #2 - We are to learn to “light” our world from our own local church (Mt 5:14-16) Parable #6 - We are to learn to “sow” the seed, not inspect it (Mk 4:26-29)