Gospel in Art: This man began to build and was not able to finish

Construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, Illumination by Jean Fouquet, 1470-75, t© Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 5 November 2025
Luke 14:25-33

At that time: Great crowds accompanied Jesus, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.'

Reflection on the Illuminated Manuscript Page

The opening verses of today's Gospel may sound unsettling to our ears. When Jesus tells the crowds that they must "hate" their father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, we know he cannot mean this literally. Earlier in Luke's Gospel, Jesus commanded his followers to love their enemies, bless those who curse them, and pray for those who treat them badly. Jesus healed the ear of the soldier who came to arrest him and prayed for those who crucified him. So in today's, Jesus is using striking, exaggerated language to shock us and make us pay attention. What he really means is that anyone who wishes to follow him must love him above all else. We must love him even more than those we naturally hold most dear.

In this sense, Jesus calls us to a discipleship that is wholehearted and deliberate. Following him is not a casual decision or a passing enthusiasm... it should be a commitment that touches every part of our lives. So Jesus gives us two images in today's reading. He speaks of the man who begins to build but cannot finish, or the king who goes to war without first counting the cost. So he is urging us to reflect deeply before committing ourselves to him. Discipleship, he suggests, is not something we enter lightly or sentimentally. It requires an inner resolve that can withstand the tests of life.... and so there is a cost. Just as a builder must calculate the strength of his foundations and a king must assess his chances before battle, so too must we understand the demands of following Christ.

Jean Fouquet, one of the greatest French illuminators of the 15th century, brought an extraordinary sense of realism and architectural imagination to his Construction of the Temple of Jerusalem. In this illumination, Fouquet reimagines the biblical Temple not as an ancient structure in the Holy Land, but as a contemporary Gothic cathedral, a vision of sacred architecture as it would have appeared in medieval France. The building is nearly complete, its towers and vaults rising heavenward, yet the site bustles with life: stonemasons carve blocks with chisels, labourers haul materials, and architects confer over plans. Every figure contributes to the collective act of creation. A creation that comes at a cost. Before a single stone was laid, careful calculations had to be made - could the plans hold, and were there enough resources to see them through? Every skill, every effort, every coin was drawn together in service of building the cathedral. So too with our faith: everything we have (our time, our gifts, our love) must be gathered and offered to God, that He might build something lasting and beautiful within us.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-14-25-33-2025-2/