Luke 14:25

And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Luke 14:25-27. And there went great multitudes with him — It seems they accompanied him from place to place, with eager desire, doubtless, to have the Messiah’s kingdom erected; proposing to themselves all manner of wealth and temporal advantage therein. One day, therefore, as they were on the road with him, he thought fit to show them plainly their mistake: he turned and said, If any man come to me, and hate not, &c. — As all the hopes of temporal felicity under his reign, which his disciples entertained, were to be blasted; as he himself was to suffer an ignominious death; and as they were to be exposed unto all manner of persecutions, he declared publicly to the multitude, that, if they proposed to be his disciples, it was absolutely necessary that they should prefer his service to every thing in the world, and by their conduct show that they hated father, and mother, and wife, and children, that is to say, loved the dearest objects of their affections less than him. As in this, so in several other passages of Scripture, the word hatred signifies only an inferior degree of love. Father and mother, and other relations, are particularly mentioned by our Lord, because, as matters then stood, the profession of the gospel was apt to set a man at variance with his nearest relations. Whosoever doth not bear his cross, &c. — See on Matthew 10:37-38.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:25-35 Though the disciples of Christ are not all crucified, yet they all bear their cross, and must bear it in the way of duty. Jesus bids them count upon it, and then consider of it. Our Saviour explains this by two similitudes; the former showing that we must consider the expenses of our religion; the latter, that we must consider the perils of it. Sit down and count the cost; consider it will cost the mortifying of sin, even the most beloved lusts. The proudest and most daring sinner cannot stand against God, for who knows the power of his anger? It is our interest to seek peace with him, and we need not send to ask conditions of peace, they are offered to us, and are highly to our advantage. In some way a disciple of Christ will be put to the trial. May we seek to be disciples indeed, and be careful not to grow slack in our profession, or afraid of the cross; that we may be the good salt of the earth, to season those around us with the savour of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See notes on Matthew 10:37-38.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Lu 14:25-35. Address to Great Multitudes Travelling with Him.

25. great multitudes with him—on His final journey to Jerusalem. The "great multitudes" were doubtless people going to the passover, who moved along in clusters (Lu 2:44), and who on this occasion falling in with our Lord had formed themselves into one mass about Him.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 25-27. We met with much the same Matthew 10:37,38. The sum of the words is, That no man can be a true disciple of Christ, that giveth any friend, or any thing, a preference to Christ in the affections of his heart. Christ must be loved above all. It appeareth that the words must not be interpreted rigidly, for then they would oblige us to a thing,

1. Impossible in nature: for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, Ephesians 5:29. Yet life is one of the things mentioned which we ought to hate.

2. It is morally impossible: for the law of God commands us to honour our father and mother.

For the nonobservance of, or teaching contrary to, which law, teaching the people to say, Corban, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, Christ so severely reflected on the Pharisees. Himself therefore doth not here teach others to hate their fathers or mothers, taking hatred in a strict and absolute sense:

If any man hate not signifieth here no more than, If any man doth love his father, wife, children, brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life, more than me,

he cannot be my disciple. Nor is this any sense put upon the term hate, different from what must be the sense of it in other scriptures: Genesis 29:31,

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, that is, less loved, as is expressed, Luke 14:30; so it must be interpreted in Luke 14:33. It also signified less loved, Deu 21:15,17 Mt 6:24 John 12:25. We met with the substance of what is here, Luke 14:27, in Matthew 10:38, and Mark 8:34. See Poole on "Matthew 10:38". See Poole on "Mark 8:34".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And there went great multitudes with him,.... From Galilee, as he journeyed from thence to Jerusalem; some for one thing, and some another, and all perhaps were in expectation of his setting up a temporal kingdom when he came there; and hoped they should share, more or less, the worldly advantages of it; for the whole nation was big with such carnal notions of the Messiah. Jesus therefore, to draw off their minds from such views, and that they might not be disappointed, acquaints them, that if they would be his disciples, they must part with all that was near and dear to them; and prepare to suffer great hardships and difficulties for his name's sake: for it follows,

and he turned; himself to the company that was behind: and said unto them; with a grave and stern countenance, looking wistly at them, and in the most solemn manner delivered what is hereafter related.

Geneva Study Bible

{5} And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

(5) Even those affections which are in themselves worthy of praise and commendation must be controlled and kept in order, so that godliness may have the upper hand and have preeminence.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 14:25-26. After the meal was over, Jesus goes forward on His journey towards Jerusalem, and draws with Him much people, as they thronged everywhere in Galilee upon the marvellous teacher (Luke 12:1, Luke 9:11, and elsewhere). But the nearer He is to His own painful self-surrender, the more decidedly and ideally His claims emerge. To the dependent and undecided people going with Him He addresses Himself with the claim of the perfect, most self-denying surrender required of His disciples. Comp. Matthew 10:37, where the same claim, although less ideal in form, is made, and is addressed exclusively to the apostles. With the Christian communions (Weizsäcker) these instructions have even in Luke nothing to do.

εἴ τις ἔρχεται πρός με] namely, with a view to hearken to me as a confessor and follower.

μισεῖ] not minus amat, or the like (Kuinoel, de Wette, and many others); see, on the other hand, on Matthew 6:24. Father, mother, etc., as even also the special desire for the preservation of one’s own life (comp. Matthew 10:39), are assumed as being in opposition to fellowship with Christ (comp. Luke 12:53), so that, according to Matthew 6:24, comp. Luke 16:3, in respect of the love of the one Lord the hatred of others must find place.[176]

ἔτι δὲ καί] besides, also, moreover; the extreme case of all is yet added. “Saepe qui inferiorem sancti odii gradum visus erat assequi, in altiore deficit,” Bengel.

μαθητὴς εἶναι] Luke 14:27, ΕἾΝΑΙ ΜΑΘΗΤΉς. The emphasis in both cases rests on ΜΑΘΗΤΉς, but in Luke 14:27 more strongly.

[176] Comp. Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 327 f.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 14:25-35. Concio ad populum. Jesus now appears on the way, and followed by “many multitudes” (ὄχλοι πολλοί, Luke 14:25) to whom He speaks. Thus sayings which in Mt. and Mk. form part of disciple-instruction (διδαχή) assume the character of popular preaching, as in the case of the Sermon on the Mount (in Lk.), though the subject is the conditions of discipleship.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25-35. Lessons of Whole-heartedness, and of Counting the Cost; the Tower-builder; the warring King; the SAVOURLESS SALT.

25. And there went great multitudes with him] This is evidently a scene of the journey, when multitudes of the Galilaean pilgrims were accompanying Him on their way to one of the great Jewish feasts. The warning might have prevented them from following Him now, and shouting ‘Crucify Him’ afterwards.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 25-35. - The qualifications of his real disciples. Two short parables illustrative of the high pries such a real disciple must pay if he would indeed be his. The halfhearted disciple is compared to flavourless salt. Verse 25. - And there went great multitudes with him. These great multitudes were made up now of enemies as well as friends. Curiosity doubtless attracted many; the fame of the Teacher had gone through the length and breadth of the land. The end, the Master well knew, was very near, and, in the full view of his own self-sacrifice, the higher and the more ideal were the claims he made upon those who professed to be his followers. He was anxious now, at the end, clearly to make it known to all these multitudes what serving him really signified - entire self-renunciation; a real, not a poetic or sentimental, taking up the cross (ver. 27). Even his own chosen disciples were yet a long way from apprehending the terrible meaning of this cross he spoke of, and which to him now bore so ghastly a significance. Luke 14:25