Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple ... In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." Luke 14:25-27, 33
Three times in the above passages Jesus uses the phrase, "cannot be my disciple." I've always read that as Jesus saying, "I won't allow you, you will not be chosen, you will be excluded from, I will reject you, or I won't accept you, as my disciple."
But when I looked at the Greek word used, I was surprised to find that it is dunamai (δύναμαι). Dunamai means "to be able, to have power," to be "enabled by God."i
Isn't that amazing? It's not that Jesus will reject you, it's simply that you won't be able to, you won't have the power in yourself, to truly follow him as his disciple.
So, what is Jesus saying to us here? He is not saying, "I'm not going to allow you to be my disciple if you don't carry your cross and give up everything," but rather he is saying, "if you don't do these things, you won't have the power, the ability to follow me." You must be enabled by God, for it is only in his power that you are able. Jesus gives these illustrations in two parables:
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace." Luke 14:28-33
Jesus seems to be saying in these parables that we must count the cost of following him – which is everything – and make peace with, surrender to God. Because we don't have what it takes in ourselves to finish well, and we certainly don't have what it takes to fight God, or even our own sinful selves. But what does it say?
I can do [be strong, have power, prevail in] all things through him who strengthens [empowers, makes strong, imparts ability to] me. Philippians 4:13
Growing up singing in the choir as a kid in the Methodist church, I always loved this old hymn and sang it with gusto:
Are Ye Able
1. "Are ye able," said the Master,
"to be crucified with me?"
"Yea," the sturdy dreamers answered,
"to the death we follow thee."
Refrain:
Lord, we are able. Our spirits are thine.
Remold them, make us, like thee, divine.
Thy guiding radiance above us shall be
a beacon to God, to love, and loyalty.ii
Are ye able, asks Jesus. Oh yes, absolutely! answer the disciples. And, singing the chorus, I answered with them, yes, Lord, I am able! And caught up in the emotion I really did think I was able. I certainly wanted to be able. I wanted to do wonderful things for God. I wanted to be a martyr, a nun! (remember I was a Methodist). I wanted to be accepted, acceptable.
But since then, I have found that there is very little that I am able to do in my own strength – in fact, nothing. I have left a long string of mournful, but perhaps merciful, failures in my wake. I, and the disciples in the song, should have answered the Lord's question, are ye able? with, only in your strength, Lord. I have come to see that a better hymn for me to sing is I Need You, Oh I need you. Every hour I need you. iii
... apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Photo and blog copyright by Sheila Bair
i Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
ii The United Methodist Hymnal Number 530. Text: Earl Marlatt, 1892- Music: Harry S. Mason, 1881-1964. Tune: BEACON HILL, Meter: Irr.
iii Lord, I Need You by Christy Nickels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, and Matt Maher
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