Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word

A Master Too Harsh?

Year C – Ordinary Time – 23rd Sunday
Luke 14:25–33: “… He cannot be my disciple!”

We are journeying with Jesus towards Jerusalem. It is a long journey, not so much because of the distance, but because of its duration. Along the way, St Luke includes many episodes, encounters, and teachings of Jesus. This is a literary device used by the evangelist to draw us into the mystery of following the Lord.

Luke opens the account by saying: “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51). The journey will end at the gates of the holy city, with Jesus weeping: “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace!’” (Lk 19:41). And the Lord still weeps for his city today. Perhaps he also weeps for us, who have ignored so many of his visits!

Jesus – a moody prophet?

After the meal at the house of one of the Pharisees (last Sunday’s passage), today we find Jesus once again on the road. We are now at the very heart of his journey (Lk 9:51–19:44). Today’s Gospel begins by saying that “large crowds were travelling with Jesus”: an enthusiastic, perhaps euphoric, crowd. Yet Jesus seems almost bothered by all these people. He is not looking for followers, but for disciples. He may well have thought: “These people haven’t understood a thing!” Jesus feels misunderstood. How many times must he have experienced moments of disappointment, tasting the bitter feeling of failure?

He had already told the apostles twice (cf. Lk 9:22 and 9:43–45) that things in Jerusalem would not end well. His journey was by no means a triumphant march. After the second prediction of the Passion, the evangelist comments: “But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it” (Lk 9:45). The apostles didn’t understand. But it seems they perhaps didn’t want to understand. Just like us, who so often turn a deaf ear to the Word!

In fact, Jesus had not been gentle with the crowds since he set out for Jerusalem. If we look through the previous chapters, we find some very harsh words directed at the people: “This is a wicked generation” (Lk 11:29); “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” (Lk 12:56). Jesus clashes with just about everyone. Only with the apostles does he show tenderness, in spite of everything (cf. Lk 10:21–24; 12:4–7; 12:32).

And yet, the crowds were drawn to this unique rabbi and continued to hope that he might be the long-awaited Messiah. Perhaps they were the same crowds that, until a few decades ago, also filled our churches!…

Jesus is not afraid to challenge this crowd of sympathisers, just as he had done one day in the synagogue at Capernaum. At that time, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him”, murmuring: “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (Jn 6:60–66).

Jesus – an unskilled vocational promoter?

“He turned and said to them:

  • ‘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’” (v. 26);
  • “Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (v. 27);
  • “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (v. 33).

Jesus had always been frank and clear about the demands of discipleship – with both those who offered to follow him and those whom he personally called (cf. Lk 9:57–62) – but never as much as now. These are hard, shocking, provocative words, meant to awaken the conscience of the crowds then and of us who hear them today.

Jesus makes paradoxical proposals. To anyone who wishes to follow him, he presents three non-negotiable demands: 1) to place him above family and self; 2) to carry one’s own cross; 3) to renounce all possessions. These are three conditions that touch every aspect of a person: relationships with others, with oneself, and with the world. It is a threefold self-offering: of affections, of life, and of possessions.

Why does Jesus ask this of his disciples? To set them free! Every attachment can become a form of slavery. If you think about it, Jesus is simply inviting us to voluntarily anticipate what life will inevitably do to us sooner or later: strip us of our family, our strength, our projects and dreams, and our belongings. In the end, it is about living what St Paul said to the community of Corinth: those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who use the things of the world, as if they did not (cf. 1 Cor 7:29–31).

To reinforce this teaching, Jesus tells two brief parables: one about a man who wants to build a tower, and one about a king preparing for war. Both must first sit down to reflect and calculate whether they have the resources to complete the task. In the same way, the Christian who wants to build his life (cf. 1 Cor 3:12–15) or engage in the spiritual battle (cf. 2 Tim 4:7) must not be careless or superficial, risking a total failure of life’s purpose.

How will we respond to Jesus’ words?

Perhaps we’ve heard them so often that we’ve become desensitised to their weight. Or perhaps we think these words are meant only for a select few, called to a life of special consecration. But that’s not the case! There are no first- and second-class Christians. These demands concern anyone who wishes to be a disciple of Jesus.

Poor us, priests and preachers, tasked with commenting on this Gospel! The temptation is strong: to lower the bar so as not to disturb our congregations. And deep down, what example do we ourselves give in living this Word?

May the words of Origen encourage us – a Church writer of the 2nd–3rd century and one of the great minds in the history of Christianity:
“I do not want to add to the sin of not living it, the sin of not proclaiming it.”

Fr Manuel João Pereira Correia, mccj