Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?Imagine having to make the choice Jesus is suggesting in this passage; family or faith. Which would you pick?
There's absolutely no doubt that the word used here is "hate". I looked in three different sources and each one gave the same meaning for the Greek - hate. So why is Jesus asking us to hate our own family in order to be his disciple? Isn't Jesus' message supposed to be about love and acceptance and living together in one world filled with peace and joy?
Well, Jesus isn't actually telling us we have to hate those close to us in order to follow him. What he is trying to tell us is that if we decide to be his disciple we need to be prepared to do those things.We see this in how he follows up the statement about family with examples about being prepared. In fact this would be very sound advice indeed, especially in Jesus days.
The message Jesus preached was a very radical one in his asking of people to forget the laws and remember to love one another (a very, very short summary). This message was beginning to get Jesus and his followers noticed, and not in a good way. Jesus knew the laws of his time and knew that this kind of teaching could get him arrested, if not killed. Jesus could also see that his message of living in accordance to the laws of love God, love each other and love yourself was beginning to create large crowds of people who wanted to be his "followers".
Jesus, in my opinion, chose this moment in his ministry to send a stern warning; know what you're getting into. In this message the people are being told that they must be ready, willing, and able to give up everything, including your family. So, the question to us today is if this is something we're prepared to do.
Being a disciple of anything requires sacrifice. Those who completely understand this know that there are things we give up to follow what we believe in. What are you willing to lose to live the life Jesus is asking of you? Do what Jesus suggests and "sit down and estimate the cost" before you answer that question.
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