Everything

Everything
March 1, 2013 4:30 AM -0600
Manuscript
Outline
Notes
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Jesus must be most important in the believer's life.
  1. Intro
    1. Lent
      1. ILLUSTRATION
        1. Fish fries
        2. Fast food fish specials
      2. Lent is here.
      3. Not lint.
      4. 40 days leading up to Easter, starting Ash Wednesday
      5. Most commonly known as the time of year when Catholics, others give up meat - except for fish - on Fridays
      6. Others give up other stuff (e.g., soda, sweets, video games)
      7. Anyone give up anything for fast this year?
    2. “To the Cross”
      1. The book of Luke can be divided into four major acts
        1. The introduction of Jesus (1-6)
          1. Begins with John the Baptist, who heralded Jesus
          2. Includes the birth, baptism, temptation, early days of ministry
          3. Starts with local audience
          4. Ends with the selection of the 12 apostles, and national audience
        2. The message of Jesus (6-14)
          1. With the apostles in place, Jesus reveals the bulk of His message and methodology.
          2. Includes the Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount
          3. Key teachings
          4. Introduces the cycle of apprenticeship: Commission, debrief, refine, commission, debrief, refine
          5. Includes several confrontations with the Pharisees, Sadducees, but He’s at the pinnacle of popularity.
          6. Ends in chapter 14 with the parable of the large banquet
            1. Man throwing banquet, invites the entire town - the likely, but they all make excuses. So he sends his servants to bring anyone who will come, providing them everything they would need to attend.
            2. Represents how God invited Israel to obey and come into His kingdom, but they declined, so He provided a way for anyone who will come.
        3. Last act: It’s your turn
          1. Begins with the resurrection of Jesus in Luke 24
          2. All the appearances
          3. Ends with the Great commission and Ascension: “You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48)
      2. In this season of Lent, it’s appropriate for us to focus on the third movement: To the Cross
        1. Picks up in Luke 14 right after that parable of the great banquet, where God is gathering everyone in
        2. The very height of popularity
        3. Ends at the cross and the end of Luke 23
        4. Marked by a subtle shift of emphasis: from what the Kingdom means for me to how Kingdom citizens relate to the rest of the world
        5. Takes on a subtly more sinister tone as, still months before Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Good Friday, Jesus shifts His sights to the cross.
        6. Over the next few weeks leading up to Easter, we’re going to explore some of what Jesus says and does on His way to the cross.
        7. Make no mistake, He knew where He was going.
        8. And He was calling His disciples then and now to join Him on the way.
    3. And it all began in Luke 14:25-35
      1. Now great crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
            “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
            “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple.
            “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”
  2. Discipleship costs everything (25-27).
    1. Luke 14:25-27: Now great crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
    2. The second act of Luke ends with Jesus eating at the house of a Pharisee, warning that, because the Pharisees, Sadducees, and co., had declined His invitation to join the eternal banquet at God’s place, the Kingdom was opened to the masses.
    3. And the third act opens with masses of common people following Him wherever He goes.
    4. In other words, Jesus has reached the height of His popularity.
      1. Ancient equivalent of a rockstar
      2. Crowds greeted Him wherever He went
      3. Thousands of people hung on everything He said, did
    5. “So”
      1. Once again, causal relationship.
      2. The crowds were there, hanging on His every word
      3. So Jesus turned and said...
    6. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters... he cannot be My disciple.”
    7. Wait a second, hates?
      1. Scripture is explicit
        1. honor your parents
        2. love your wife and children
        3. doesn’t even condone smacking around your pesky brother or sister
      2. So Jesus doesn’t really mean hate.
      3. Rhetorical device called hyperbole: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally (Google).
      4. It’s when we say “everything” or “everyone” not because it is everything or everyone, but to make a point.
      5. And Jesus is making a point: Jesus is supposed to be more important than any of these.
      6. To be clear, Jesus will never call us to walk out on our moms, dads, spouses, kids, brothers, or sisters. So don’t go home today and say, “Well, honey, Jesus is supposed to be the more important than you, so see ya.” That is not what we’re talking about here. But if they ever threw down the ultimatum that we must choose to sin or they’re gone, we must choose to be with them or follow Jesus, we’re supposed to choose Jesus.
    8. Jesus is supposed to be, hands down, the single most important person - the single most important thing - in our lives.
    9. And so, to be His disciple, we’re supposed to be willing to give up even those people who are the absolute closest to us in the entire world.
    10. And if we’re not, Jesus says, “He cannot be My disciple.”
      1. If this was just a matter of getting the right permissions - but still possible to be a disciple, even though others are more important than Him - He would have said, “May not.”
      2. “Cannot” implies that it is an actual impossibility.
      3. Allowing anyone or anything to be more important to us than Jesus is diametrically opposed to being a disciple of Jesus.
      4. It is not possible be a disciple of Jesus and yet value people - even those closest to us - more than Him.
    11. More, notice what Jesus interjects into that thought: “yes, and even his own life.”
    12. So even our own life is not supposed to be as important to us as Jesus.
    13. And as though that wasn’t enough, He adds in vs 27, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
      1. Cross was extremely familiar, particularly in Galilee, where hundreds of men had been executed by crucifixion.
      2. “the most painful and humiliating form of execution of the Roman era.” (HCSB Study Bible)
      3. The notion of bearing his own cross carried a lot of baggage.
        1. Reserved only for convicted criminals, which was humiliating in and of itself
        2. Generally, the condemned was stripped naked, to shame the victim.
        3. Guards would divide up his earthly possessions amongst themselves
        4. The condemned was typically beaten, scourged with a whip, multiple tails, embedded bits of metal, pottery or bone designed to tear open flesh, until back was essentially hamburger
        5. Then required to pick up and carry the rough-hewn cross on raw back
          1. Less a sanded, stained, polished board
          2. More a tree, split with an axe
          3. Splinters, sharp points, anything but smooth
          4. Lashed to your bruised and lacerated back
        6. You carried it to the place where you would be hung on it.
        7. Ended, invariably, in death
      4. The idea: Be willing to give up anything and everything - our family, friends, lives - to follow Jesus.
      5. But the truth is, most of us don’t have a problem with death in and of itself. It’s the prospect of how we’ll die. We don’t want to die in pain or fear.
      6. By introducing the idea of taking up our own cross - a concept which was totally foreign to His listeners and us - no one willingly picked up a cross, but that’s what He’s talking about here - Jesus was saying that anything and everything included our own comfort and security, pride and ease.
      7. If we’re willing to pick up a cross and bear the associated pain and shame, what will we not give up? What will we not endure?
    14. Discipleship costs everything.
    15. It shouldn’t be surprising
      1. Matt 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has” - his house, his car, his wardrobe, his autographed commemorative Captain Picard action figure - “and buys that field.”
      2. Matt 13:45-46: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had” - his computer, his big-screen TV, his Blu-ray player and classic 8-track collection - ”and bought it.”
    16. If we’re going to be Jesus’ disciples, we need to be willing to give up anything and everything - anyone and everyone - to follow Him.
    17. Discipleship costs everything.
  3. We must be okay with that (28-33).
    1. Luke 14:28-33: “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple.
    2. But wait a second, preacher. Everything?
    3. Surely, you’re using - what was it, again? - hyperbole, right?
    4. What’s the problem with me having a couple of things that are important to me. I’m not saying that they’re more important than Jesus, but I certainly don’t want to just give them up. And this whole “bearing my own cross” thing? Doesn’t the Bible also say that God’s going to take care of us. What’s wrong with driving a nice car or living in a nice house and all that other stuff? What’s wrong with not wanting to die a gruesome, painful death for Jesus?
    5. I wish I was. Using hyperbole, that is.
    6. To answer the specific questions:
      1. It’s not wrong to not want to die. In fact, if you came to me today and said you were going to die for Jesus, I would probably refer you for psychiatric evaluation.
      2. There’s nothing inherently wrong with driving a nice car or living in a nice house.
      3. The Bible does say that God will take care of His followers: He’ll meet their needs.
    7. The problem comes when these things - nice car, nice house, nice stuff - even food, water, shelter, security, comfort, and life itself - are more important to us than Jesus Himself.
    8. Jesus wants to be our hands-down favorite. So that, if we ever had to decide between Him and any of these things, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind how we would decide: Him, every day of the week.
    9. That’s what He’s looking for. That’s what He expects of us who would be His disciples.
    10. And the thing is, moving now into vss 28-33, We must be okay with that.
    11. Jesus makes this clear through two illustrations:
      1. The man who wants to build a tower
        1. “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”
        2. ILLUSTRATION: Newton hotel
        3. You don’t just start building.
        4. You sit down and figure out how much it’s going to cost you.
        5. So you can make sure that you’ll have enough to finish the job.
        6. So you can make sure you really want to spend that much to have a tower.
        7. Jesus wants us to know the cost of discipleship up front, so we can make sure we’re able - and willing - to invest everything to follow Him.
      2. The king facing war
        1. “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”
        2. You don’t just decide, “Hey, we’re going to war today.”
        3. You sit down and figure out if you have a reasonable shot of success.
        4. You make sure you can succeed with an acceptable rate of loss.
          1. In traditional military circles, acceptable rate of loss is typically 30% equipment and men.
          2. Generally speaking, if you can’t accomplish your objective while losing less than a third of your force, you re-think either your strategy or objective.
        5. But every now and then, an objective comes around that is so important that, to obtain it, you need to be willing to lose more than 30%.
        6. Jesus’ illustration sounds like exactly that.
          1. You’re outnumbered 2:1
          2. The bad guy is attacking you.
          3. It doesn’t sound good!
        7. He wants us to know that discipleship isn’t going to be easy, and it will cost us way more than 30%: it’ll cost us everything.
        8. Because the enemy is coming. And his force is overwhelming and brutal.
        9. And we’ve got to decide if we’re okay with losing everything to follow Jesus, or if we want to go and make peace with the devil.
    12. Discipleship costs everything, and we’ve got to be okay with that.
  4. Anything less is worthless (34-35).
    1. Luke 14:34-35: “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”
    2. Because to be anything less than okay giving anything less than everything is fundamentally incompatible with being a real disciple of Jesus Christ.
    3. I know, that doesn’t sound very tolerant or accommodating.
    4. But listen to what Jesus says, now in vss 34-35: “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”
    5. Whether we realize it or not, salt plays an important role in the world.
      1. Use it on the soil to adjust the Ph balance, make it fertile or unfertile.
      2. Use it on manure as a catalyst so that it can burn
      3. Flavors food
      4. Preserves food
      5. While we hear more about needing to cut out salt, it remains an essential part of our diet: our bodies need the stuff.
      6. In some areas, where salt is scarce, it is a commodity
      7. Used historically as currency (e.g., Roman soldiers paid in salt). That’s the origin of the saying, “Worth its weight in salt.”
    6. In Jesus’ Palestine
      1. Most salt came from the Dead Sea
      2. High concentrations of impurities
      3. Easy for this impure salt to lose its saltiness
      4. So this was a common problem: “if salt should lose its taste”
      5. When this happened, the affected stuff became absolutely useless, and the only thing you could do with it was throw it away.
      6. Because, in fact, it was no longer salt at all.
    7. Now, follow the logic of this teaching.
      1. To be a disciple of Jesus, we must bear our cross and follow Him.
      2. We need to be aware of that cost and okay with it.
      3. Because that cost is integral to being a disciple of Christ.
      4. And if we’re not aware of it or okay with it, we’re not really a disciple of Jesus at all.
    8. And if we’re not really a disciple of Jesus at all, what use are we to Him?
    9. If a disciple is someone who is willing to give up anything and everything to follow Jesus, then anything less [than everything] is useless.
    10. If we’re not willing to bear our cross and follow Him, we’re not really a disciple.
    11. If we’re not willing to give up our family, friends, stuff, comfort, and all the rest, we’re not really a disciple.
    12. It we’re not willing to lay it all down, leave it all behind for Jesus, we’re not really a disciple.
    13. And you know, again, that makes sense.
      1. Jesus “emptied Himself” of everything for us (Philippians 2).
        1. The rights of God
        2. The powers of God
        3. Life itself when He picked up His own cross.
      2. How can we call ourselves Christians - Christ-followers - people who are striving to be like Christ - if we won’t give everything for Him?
    14. Jesus’ point was that we can’t.
    15. Anything less is useless.
  5. Conclusion
    1. And my friends, that begs the question: Who or what do you have in your life that’s more important to you than Jesus?
    2. Is there anything that you would not be willing to give up so that you could follow Him?

Ryrie


  • (25-33) “The parable that precedes in verses 16-24 expresses the open, compelling invitation to come to Christ for salvation. The teaching of verses 25-33 cautions His followers to consider carefully the cost of full commitment to Christ in a life of service.”

  • (26) “hate” “This saying does not justify malice or ill will toward one’s family, but it means that devotion to family must take second place to one’s devotion to Christ.”

  • (28-33) “As a builder carefully estimates the costs required to finish and the king his military strength and that of his enemy, so the believer should be willing to sacrifice all.”


PNT


  • (26-27) Believers are called to hate their parents just as they’re called to hate their own life. “That is, these must all be given up, turned away from, if we have to choose between them and Christ.”

  • (28-33) “This calculation of what any enterprise or step will require before entering upon it is the part of wisdom. So, too, a disciple of Christ should count the cost. It is well to understand that every obstacle to the service of Christ must be given up.”

  • (34-35) “The Christian is the salt of the earth; the savour is the spirit of self sacrifice; if it is wanting his life is worthless.”

  • (34-35 via Mt 5:13) “Salt preserves from corruption. The disciples of Christ preserve the world from general corruption. Whatever becomes utterly corrupted is doomed to be destroyed.”

  • (34-35 via Mt 5:13) “Salt is worthless if it has lots its qualities. It preserves no longer. It is fit only to be cast out and trodden under foot. So, too, if those who are the salt of the earth cease to communicate saving power, they are fit only to be cast out, and Christ will cast such out of his mouth.”

  • (34-35 via Mar 9:50) Salt represents “the spirit of self-sacrifice, and thus you will ‘have peace with one another.’”


Reflecting God


  • (26) “hate his father” is “a vivid hyperbole, meaning that one must love Jesus even more than his immediate family.”

  • (27 via 9:23) “To follow Jesus requires death to self-centeredness, complete dedication and willing obedience.  Luke emphasizes continued action.... Disciples from Galilee knew what the cross meant, for hundreds of men had been executed by this means in their region.”

  • (27 via Mt 10:38) “The cross was an instrument of death and here symbolizes the necessity of total commitment - even unto death - on the part of JEsus’ disciples.”

  • (28) “Jesus did not want a blind, naive commitment that expected only blessings. As a builder estimates costs or a king evaluates military strength, so a person must consider what JEsus expects of his followers.”

  • (33) “The cost, Jesus warned, is entire consecration.”

  • (34 via Mk 9:50) “The distinctive mark of discipleship typified by salt is allegiance to Jesus and the gospel.”


Archaeological


  • (34 via note on Matt 5:13) “Salt was used for flavoring and for preserving. Most of the salt used in Israel came from the Dead Sea and was full of impurities, causing it to lost some of its flavor.”


ESV Study Bible


  • (25) Jesus’ popularity and following, which have been building since Luke 4, now reached their height.

  • (26) “Those who would be Christ’s disciples must (1) love their family less than they love Christ (14:26); (2) bear the cross and follow Christ (v. 27); and (3) relinquish everything (v. 33). These are complementary ways of describing complete commitment”

  • (26) “The first condition for discipleship is to hate one’s father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and life (cf. 18:29; see 6:20–22). “Hating” is a Semitic expression for loving less (cf. Gen. 29:30–31; Deut. 21:15–17; Matt. 10:37).”

  • (27 via Matt 10:38)

  • (27 via Mark 8:34)

  • (28-32) “Two parabolic illustrations involving building (vv. 28–30) and going to war (vv. 31–32) both warn against making a hasty decision to follow Jesus. Potential disciples must first count the cost to see if they will persevere in the faith (cf. 8:15; 21:19).”

  • (33) “The third condition for discipleship (see note on v. 26) involves renouncing all (cf. 5:11, 28; 12:33; 18:22).”

  • (34) “Most salt came from the Dead Sea and contained impurities (carnallite and gypsum). If not processed properly, it would have a poor taste and would be worse than useless, being unusable for food and creating a disposal problem. If the conditions of discipleship (vv. 26–27, 33) are not kept, the disciples likewise will become less than worthless (cf. Rev. 3:15–17).”


HCSB Study Bible


  • (26) “Hate his own here hyperbolically expresses the same principle found in Matthew 10:37, where Jesus says, "The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." Both Luke and Matthew convey the same point. Disciples must love Jesus more than they love their own family members.”

  • (26) “The Greek verb miseo is the basic word meaning to hate, the exact antonym of love (agapao). The essence of love is caring more about others than about self, even to the point of great sacrifice—including death (Jn 15:13). Hate, on the other hand, is the opposite; it cares little or nothing about others and actually wishes them harm or even death (Mt 24:9). With only one exception (Lk 1:71), miseo in the Gospels is always used by Jesus. By far the most difficult occurrence of miseo is Luke 14:26—difficult both to understand and to practice. In this passage Jesus seems to demand hatred, even toward one's parents, wife, children, and siblings—those whom we are specifically told elsewhere in Scripture to honor, protect, and love. Jesus' statement is best understood as the willingness to choose Him above all else. The context is Jesus' challenge to measure the cost of being His disciple (see 14:26-35).”

  • (27 via 9:23) “The cross was the most painful and humiliating form of execution of the Roman era. Thus, to take up one's cross daily is to expect painful situations every day because of allegiance to Christ.”

  • (28-32) “It is necessary to calculate the cost to be a disciple of Christ. Like a person who does not foresee the full cost of building a tower and suffers ridicule for starting something he cannot finish, a disciple must understand what it will take to complete the Christian life before he makes the commitment. Similarly, a king must soberly consider the odds before deciding between war and peace.”

  • (33) “The essence of being a disciple of Christ is unreserved commitment to Him. This involves holding loosely the material things of this world.”

  • (34-35) “Most salt of the ancient world was impure and lost its taste easily, making it unfit to use even as fertilizer or as a catalyst for burning manure. The danger for a person who lets his witness become "unsalty" is that he or she may be discarded from the Lord's service."

  • Ryrie, Charles C. Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.
  • Barker, Kenneth, ed. Reflecting God Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.
  • Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2005.
  • The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.
  • The HCSB Study Bible. http://www.mystudybible.com
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4025 Lower Beaver Rd
Des Moines, IA
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