Parables

The construction of the tower

From the Gospel of Luke Chapter 14, Verses 28-30

Who of you, wanting to build a tower, does not sit down first to calculate the cost, if it has the means to bring it to completion? To avoid that, if he lays the foundation and cannot finish the job, all those who see begin to mock him, saying: He started to build, but he was not able to finish the job.

Parabole of Luke exegesis

With this step, Chapter 14 of the Gospel of Luke ends, through which Jesus continues his teaching by talking about the choices facing the disciple who wants to follow him. And he proposes this parable that invites you to do the calculations well before embarking on such a difficult undertaking.

Jesus demands sacrifices from his followers, because they must arm themselves with fortitude in order not to fall into temptation after having decided to follow him.

Jesus teaches this truth with the parable of the tower, in which he pauses to emphasize how important it is to think and reflect thoughtfully before acting. However it is necessary to consider that what is impossible to our forces, it is possible to the grace of God.

The tower expresses well the sublime perfection of Christian life, and abandoning a project that has already begun is a great dishonor: it would have been less collapse not to have begun; says St. Peter: "It would have been better for them not to have known the way of justice, which, after having known it, turn back from their holy commandments".
(2 Pt 2:21)

Every Christian, if he wants to really be a disciple of Jesus, must reflect before starting to follow him because the Christian reality is a serious thing, which puts everything at stake, even his own life and his possessions, to live fully this choice.

Otherwise you risk remaining "lukewarm" and failing miserably in your mission. You say: "I am rich, I have enriched myself; I don't need anything ", but you don't know you are an unhappy, a miserable, a poor, blind and naked man. I advise you to buy from me gold purified by the fire to become rich, white garments to cover you and hide your shameful nakedness and eye drops to anoint your eyes and recover your sight.

I love all those who reproach them and punish them. Show yourself therefore zealous and repent. (Rev 3,15-19) The gold purified by fire, which will allow us to become rich for the Lord, is the grace that he himself can grant us to free us from the demonic and earthly slaves that prevent us from fully adhering to his sequela; but grace is a gift which, as such, must be desired in order to be accepted, required with that continuous, insistent prayer that pities the Father and moves him to help his children: only in this way, with our united willpower to His help and to the saving power of His Holy Spirit, we can be certain of fulfilling our Christian vocation in a complete and holy way.