October 5th, 2009
26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Upon reading the rest of the words of Jesus in Luke 14:26-35, we find that he suggests that we must give up everything to follow him. This is still quite the shock to the average Christian.
Jesus suggests that we must give up our families, our friends, all our possessions, and even ourselves, take up a cross, and follow after him. Either interpretation is rather strange to our current sensibilities. There are not many who would give up everything to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. I certainly couldn’t imagine a member of the decorated clergy doing such a thing.
Perhaps all of Christianity has strayed from its true message. Perhaps we should all become paupers and make ourselves sacrifices to this world. Perhaps the interpretation isn’t out of context and Jesus really did want us to hate our families. If that’s the case, then it certainly contradicts the common theme of Jesus as the Prince of Peace.