Luke 14:33

Certainly when he set forth new commandments to those following him, he said: "Unless someone renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple." As if he were saying openly: You who through your old life covet what belongs to others, through the pursuit of a new way of life give away even your own things. But let us hear what he says in this reading: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself." There it is said that we should deny our possessions; here it is said that we should deny ourselves. And perhaps it is not difficult for a person to leave behind his possessions, but it is very difficult to leave behind himself. For it is a lesser thing to deny what one has, but it is a very great thing to deny what one is. To those coming to him, the Lord commanded that we renounce our possessions, because all of us who come to the contest of faith take up a struggle against evil spirits. But evil spirits possess nothing of their own in this world. Therefore we must wrestle naked against those who are naked. For if someone clothed wrestles with someone naked, he is thrown to the ground more quickly because he has something by which he can be seized. For what are all earthly things except certain garments of the body? Therefore, whoever hastens to the contest against the devil should cast off his garments lest he be overcome. Let him possess nothing in this world by loving it; let him seek no pleasures of passing things, lest where he is covered according to his wish, he be seized for his fall from that very thing.

Many of you, dearest brothers, knew Cassius, bishop of the city of Narni, whose custom it was to offer daily sacrifices to God, so that scarcely any day of his life passed without his immolating a victim of propitiation to almighty God. His life also greatly accorded with his sacrifice. For giving all that he had in alms, when the hour for offering the sacrifice came, as if flowing entirely in tears, he would slay himself with great contrition of heart. I learned of both his life and his death from a certain deacon of venerable life who had been raised by him. For he said that on a certain night the Lord appeared in a vision to his priest, saying: "Go and tell the bishop: Do what you are doing, work what you are working, let not your foot cease, let not your hand cease; on the birthday of the apostles you will come to me, and I will give you your reward." The priest arose, but because the birthday of the apostles was near at hand, he was afraid to announce to the bishop the day of his death being so close. On another night the Lord returned, vehemently rebuked his disobedience, and repeated the same words of his command. Then the priest arose to go, but again weakness of heart became an obstacle to revealing the vision; and he became hardened against going even after the repeated admonition of the command, and neglected to make known what he had seen. But because great kindness, when despised, is usually followed by greater wrath of vengeance, the Lord appearing in a third vision now added blows to words, and he was beaten with such severe stripes that the wounds of his body softened the hardness of his heart. Therefore, instructed by the beating, he arose and went to the bishop, and found him already standing according to custom near the tomb of the blessed martyr Juvenal to offer the sacrifice. […]

So therefore every one of you, etc. After he set forth the parabolic example of the one building and the example of the one waging war, here thirdly he sets down the application of both. And since these examples were introduced to stir us to …

Thus therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple. The Lord very clearly teaches with this conclusion what it means to build a tower or to make peace with a stronger king: namely, to be his …

But there is a difference between renouncing all things and leaving all things. For it is the way of few perfect men to leave all things, that is, to cast behind them the cares of the world, but it is the part of all the faithful to renounce all things, that is, so to hold the things of the world as by them not to be held in the world.

And they must never be reconciled with sin, that is, be enslaved to the passions, but with special force resist them and must conceive an irreconcilable hatred toward them, desiring nothing passionate in the world, but leaving everything. For he cannot be a disciple of …

By withdrawing his affections from all the creatures; By enjoying them only in and for God, only in such a measure and manner as leads to him; By hating them all, in the sense above mentioned, cannot be my disciple - But will surely desist from building that tower, neither can he persevere in fighting the good fight of faith.

1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. 2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

18 ); for he that draws the sword throws away the scabbard; so with good advice enter upon a profession of religion, as those that know that except you forsake all you have you cannot be Christ's disciples; that is, except you count upon forsaking all and consent to it, for all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, and yet continue to live godly.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens

So likewise whosoever he be of you,.... Let him be ever so forward to follow me, to make a profession of me and of my Gospel, and to become a disciple of mine: that forsaketh not all that he hath; when called to it, relations, friends, possessions, estates, and what not, which is an explanation of Luk 14:26 he cannot be my disciple; he is not in fact one, and is not worthy to be called one.

Whosoever he be of you - This seems to be addressed particularly to those who were then, and who were to be, preachers of his Gospel; and who were to travel over all countries, publishing salvation to a lost world.

We learn, firstly, from this passage — that true Christians must be ready, if need be, to give up everything for Christ's sake. This is a lesson which is taught in very remarkable language. Our Lord says, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be My disciple!" This expression must doubtless be interpreted with some qualification . We must never explain any text of Scripture in such a manner as to make it contradict another.

(2) Though the contest for salvation be on our part an awfully unequal one, the human will, in the exercise of that "faith which overcometh the world" (1Jo 5:4), and nerved by power from above, which "out of weakness makes it strong" (Heb 11:34;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

We learn, firstly, from this passage — that true Christians must be ready, if need be, to give up everything for Christ's sake. This is a lesson which is taught in very remarkable language. Our Lord says, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be My disciple!" This expression must doubtless be interpreted with some qualification . We must never explain any text of Scripture in such a manner as to make it contradict another. Our Lord did not mean us to understand that it is the duty of Christians to hate their relatives. This would have been to contradict the fifth commandment. He only meant that those who follow Him — must love Him with a deeper love even than their nearest and dearest relatives, or their own lives. He did not mean that it is an essential part of Christianity to quarrel with our relatives and friends. But He did mean that if the claims of our relatives and the claims of Christ come into collision — then the claims of relatives must give way. We must choose rather to displease those we love most upon earth — than to displease Him who died for us on the cross. The demand which our Lord makes upon us here, is particularly stringent and heart-searching — yet it is a wise and a necessary one. Experience shows, both in the church at home, and in the mission-field abroad — that the greatest foes to a man's soul are sometimes those of his own house. It sometimes happens that the greatest hindrance in the way of an awakened conscience, is the opposition of relatives and friends. Ungodly fathers cannot bear to see their sons "taking up new views" of religion. Worldly mothers are vexed to see their daughters unwilling to enter into the gaieties of the world.