Luke 14:28
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Jesus' Teachings
The Cost of Discipleship
Why Jesus told an eager crowd to sit down and count the cost before following him
Introduction
Why would Jesus discourage people who wanted to follow him? Large crowds are travelling with Jesus in Luke 14, and rather than welcoming the momentum, he turns and tells them, essentially, to stop and think first.
He reaches for two pictures — a builder who runs out of money halfway through a tower, and a king who goes to war without counting whether his army can actually win. Both end in public failure, precisely because they started without counting the cost.
Jesus isn't trying to shrink his following. He's refusing to let anyone sign up under false pretenses. Following him was never going to be free, and he thought that was worth saying out loud before anyone committed.
Scripture
Luke 14:33
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Matthew 16:24
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Translation note: Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV). The King James Version is in the public domain.
Key insights
- Jesus discouraged the crowd, not welcomed the momentum
- An unfinished tower, an unwinnable war — both end badly
- A cross meant a death sentence, not mild inconvenience
- Peter's failure and restoration prove it's survivable
Related resources
Continue in the Grounded app
Continue the full study — teaching, context, reflection, and prayer — in the Grounded app.
Free on iPhone · Includes a free trial