Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple."
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090416.cfm
There is a long chain between what is in our bibles today and what Jesus actually said:
- almost 2000 years
- numerous translations
- Jesus spoke Aramaic;"original" source documents are in Greek
- no stenographers or tape recorders; no newspapers, TV, radio or internet
- Mark, the first gospel, is believed to have been written around 70 AD, two generations after Jesus died and ascended into heaven
So what does LK 14:25-27 mean?
The fact that the word "hate" is in our translations today says to me that the author is saying that Jesus said, in the strongest possible terms, that God should be #1 with us. Nothing, no person, place or thing, should come between us and God.
There are equally strong words in Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 through 6:
"Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."
There are equally strong words in Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 through 6:
"Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."
In addition to ourselves, the limitations of language make it difficult for us. When we praise and worship God we use words like king, supreme, awesome, love, mercy, etc. But, we use these words in other human contexts which make them unsuitable because, needless to say, God is in category that is vastly separate from human beings. We need words that are unique to God alone.
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