Expert: Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine - 4/29/2009

Question
Someone please explain! Excerpt from Luke 14:26
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  

Answer
Hi Sydney

Glad to help.

It is absolutely essential to consider the context of biblical verses to see what is being discussed. Obviously we are to love our parents etc.

This is a section where the Pharisees (now known as the rabbis) were debating Jesus' teachings. Their doctrine was based on the Oral Torah (the Talmud etc) rather than (in addition to) the Hebrew Scriptures (the so-called "Old Testament")and they were having an ongoing debate with Jesus, who rejected the Oral Torah and believed only the Written Torah (the "Old Testament") should be accepted as God's Word.

The chapter begins with:

Luke 14  
1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
6 And they could not answer him again to these things.

The Oral Torah forbids all work on the Sabbath.

So we are seeing an ongoing conversation/debate.

Now we get to the section you are asking about:

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21 So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
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.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Verse 20, 'I can not follow you because I am married and too busy'. In other words, I have concerns that are more important than my spiritual life. I have to make a living, pay the bills... Jesus replies that those who come to God must put God before everything and everyone else. He clarifies this in verses 27: whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

What is more important than God?
Nothing. Not even loved ones.

This became especially important as the Church entered into persecution (and for those enduring it today). We must be prepared to pay any cost for our faith, even our lives. Amidst persecution God must always be placed first. Nothing, not even our loved ones, are more important than our obedience and service to God.

Hope this helps,

~ Pastor John