Scripture: Luke 14:26
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.
Thought for the Day: A week ago, our Ten Commandments’ Study focused on the Fifth Commandment which says we are to Honor our Mothers and Fathers. Alongside those words, I referenced the above words from Jesus who seems to indicate that if we are to follow him, we must hate our fathers and mothers and others as well. I have always found these words troubling and shocking, but the response in the class and outside the class was fascinating. I was told I should just ignore the passage from Luke because it opposes the Ten Commandments. I had someone else suggest that I mistyped the passage when I put it into our study sheet. Ignoring it would have been a nice option, and thinking it might have been a misprint would have made my life much easier. Neither one of those is the case, and for that reason, we cannot be afraid of any scripture…especially those we do not like.
Now my theory is that Jesus enjoyed shocking his audience, and in the same way that we will occasionally state the absurd to make our point, Jesus might have been doing the same. As much as it may sound like Jesus was undermining the Fifth Commandment, let us look at another possibility… that maybe, just maybe, our love of parents, brothers and sisters, children and spouse, should be absolutely unquestionable, unless this love keeps us from following Jesus. Then, we should hate the relationship that keeps us from loving Jesus, follow him fully, and then discover anew our ability to love the others while loving Jesus as well. It’s just one theory, but struggling and questioning is much better than ignoring or dismissing.
Prayer: Merciful and Grace-filled God, when faith or scripture does not fit my preconceived ideas of what it should be, give me the courage to seek understanding even if it is uncomfortable. Amen.
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