Bible Strands
Luke 14:25
Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses a large crowd traveling alongside Him, interrupting their movement to speak. This occurs immediately after His parable of the great banquet, marking a shift from invitation to requirement.
The words — στραφεὶς (strapheis) means "having turned," and ὄχλοι (ochloi) means "crowds." The syntax shows Jesus physically pivoting to face the mass of followers before delivering His statement.
The thread — The motif of crowds pursuing Jesus appears in Luke 12:1 and John 6:24, where multitudes follow Him for physical presence or miraculous signs. Luke 14:25 marks the moment Jesus redirects that physical following toward costly commitment.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to examine whether their allegiance to Jesus supersedes all family ties and self-preservation. It requires a clear-eyed assessment of priority before claiming the title of disciple.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Cross-references
- John 6:24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him.
- Luke 12:1 In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.