Luke 14:25-35
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.
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
There will always be those people who apply a literal understanding to Holy Scripture where Christ is utilizing a figurative language. And then, not surprisingly, those same people will apply a figurative understanding when Christ meant it literally. Let’s be clear with this text! Christ is not commanding a literal hatred toward father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even to your own self. He is making the point that all of those (or anything, for that matter) must not come before Him.
In faith we know that nothing should be allowed to keep us from following Him. You can’t count on anyone else! Nor can you count on yourself! The world, your flesh and the devil will all dupe you into thinking that you can take care of you. Or, that you are all taken care of simply because you have a loving family and lots of friends. To be sure, they have their place, God works through them, and much love will come from them to you. But when it comes to spiritual matters (namely, salvation), they, and you, cannot get you saved. Nothing should get in the way of Christ being the most important in your life. Once He gets replaced by some false god (idol) and your trust gets placed in it for your comfort and happiness, rather than in Christ, you have lost Christ, which means you’ve lost salvation.
Thankfully Christ’s fully atoning merits for the forgiveness of sins are the foundation upon which saving faith gets created and sustained through God’s Word and Sacrament ministry! Christ is your foundation! Christ has already won the war! Thanks be to God, Christ is your salt!
Let us pray: O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
