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Luke 14:25–27
“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” (vv. 26–27).
Following Jesus as His disciple is not a halfhearted commitment that allows us to keep on living according to the ways of the world. We have seen as much in Luke 14:7–24, wherein we find parables from Christ on the importance of showing a kind of humility and generosity that the fallen world cannot understand, let alone display. Discipleship cannot be casual, for it requires that we embrace a new manner of life characterized by the values of God’s kingdom.
In today’s passage, we find more teaching from our Savior on the true demands of discipleship. Turning to the crowd, Jesus said that one must hate his parents, spouse, children, and siblings, and even his own life, if he is to be a disciple of the Lord (vv. 25–26). By this, Christ demands that we show Him absolute allegiance.
Importantly, this call to hate others must not be taken in a rigidly literal sense. To do so would be incompatible with Jesus’ command to love our neighbors and our enemies (Matt. 5:44; 22:34–40), as one commentator points out. Furthermore, many who first followed Jesus did so alongside their siblings (Matt. 4:18–22; John 11:5). Finally, the New Testament contains instructions that assume that some families will contain multiple believers, or at least that there will be households in which non-Christian family members will not object to other family members’ following Jesus (e.g., see Eph. 5:22–6:4). Jesus’ saying that we cannot be His disciples without hating our family members instead reflects situations in which family members want to keep us from obeying Christ, and His words are to be read in a relative sense. It is not that we are to hate others from our hearts; rather, we must love Jesus more than anything or anyone else. In some cases, even family members may reject us for this, and when that happens we cannot let their rejection dissuade us from becoming disciples. Cyril of Alexandria, a significant early church father, writes that Jesus “permits us to love, but not more than we love him. He demands our highest affection for himself.”
Becoming a disciple of Jesus may earn us the hatred of our family, the ire of those who are supposed to love us the most in this world. Our Lord wants us to understand this so that we will not be surprised and will know the cost that we may have to pay to be His disciple. If we are unable to bear the cross by enduring suffering even at the hands of family, we will not follow Jesus (Luke 14:27).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Are we willing to put Jesus first in our affections no matter the consequences? Even though we will never do this perfectly before we are glorified, if we are not willing to put Jesus first, then we cannot be His disciples. Let us daily remember that we must love Christ above all else, repenting when our thoughts, words, and deeds show that we are loving ourselves or others above Jesus.
for further study
- Numbers 12
- Matthew 10:34–39
- Mark 10:28–31
- Hebrews 11:32–38
the bible in a year
- Psalms 50–52
- Acts 27:1–26