Luke 14:25

Luke 14:25, in plain English

Big crowds are now following Jesus, and He turns around to talk to them. What He's about to say is going to thin the crowd.

Why it's here

This is a turning point — Jesus shifts from parables about invitation to hard truths about what following Him actually costs.

Who's speaking

Luke sets the scene for Jesus's most challenging words about discipleship.

Where it sits in the story

Everyone wants to follow the miracle worker. But Jesus is about to lay out the real price of admission, and it's more than most expect.

The scholarly reading

Luke transitions from the banquet setting to the travel narrative, noting 'large crowds' (ochloi polloi) accompanying Jesus. His act of turning (strapheis) signals an important, deliberate teaching moment.

Language and setting

This verse bridges the dinner parables and the subsequent teachings on the cost of discipleship, escalating from invitation theology to commitment demands.

Voice

Luke narrates the scene transition, indicating Jesus's intentional pivot from attracting crowds to challenging them.

Significance

Jesus is now on the road with large crowds following Him, and He turns around to deliver one of His most demanding teachings — as if to separate curious followers from true disciples.

23So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

24For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”

25Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them,

26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

27And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

Read all of Luke 14 — The invited guests make excuses, so the host sends servants into the streets and alleys. God's table will be full — just not with who you'd expect.