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Reading: Luke 14:25-34

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Focus: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26)

Reflection

I assme most readers stumble over verse 26: "Jesus can't really mean that I must 'hate' other people, can He?"

And certainly not. Jesus is not telling us to hate others.

But He is setting up a priority of affections. And our affections of love must be more focussed on him than on anyone else. 

That is difficult teaching for us because we do not typically think of following Jesus as a matter of love and affection. Usually we think of following Jesus in terms of doing something for Jesus, "have to," "got to," performing certain religions duties.

But Jesus connects following Him as fundamentally about our heart commitment--a heart that can love or not love, show affection or not show affection.

And, according to Jesus, our greatest affection must be for Him.

How are the affections of your heart aligned today?