Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:25-33 (NABRE)
These are stark words from Jesus.
At first glance, it seems as though the two mini parables of the construction manager and the king are out of place and do not quite fit the overall message that connects Jesus’ saying on carrying our crosses with the closing statement about renouncing possessions for His sake. But as is usually the case with Holy Scripture, we need to pay more attention to what is being said in these more obscure sayings. We must remember that the Holy Spirit is the divine author of all of Scripture. Each part was deliberately placed there for a grand, amazing purpose.
Jesus tells us that total attachment to Him is the upmost important thing we can do. We cannot let the hatred of others or worldly ambition to lead us away from friendship with Jesus. The construction manager and the king going to war both had to come to terms with the fact that they would be better off not following through on their initial plans. A choice that seemed to not be advantageous at first ended up being the best option. In a similar way, we may not like the idea of being dependent on Jesus. Why do this when it is so unpopular? Why do this when it does not feel as though Jesus is present with us? And yet, even Jesus experienced what it is like to feel as though God is so far away when he cried “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” from the Cross (Matthew 27:46). The point is that we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). To be in love with God and His Church is to be a fool in the eyes of the world. So what? Be God’s fool then. It might be troubling to go against what is popular in the world, but it is what is for the better.
Give everything to Jesus.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 