You Want Me to Hate Who?!

September 27, 2020

JRCC Online

 Hard Sayings of Jesus

“Hate My Parents?”

 Text: Luke 14:26

Focus: Our love for Jesus must be paramount.

Some describe the Bible as a love story, with God as the main character who relentlessly purses his creation out of and with perfect love.

• Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, we read about this God of love who longs to be in relationship with us.
• In the NT … for example in 1 John, it definitively teaches us that God is love…
• The Gospels reveal that God’s love ultimately culminates in sending his son, Jesus Christ to earth to die for us so that we can be with Him for eternity.
• Charles Swindoll says,

“Jesus’ love was one massive crescendo that never diminished. He loves to the end.”

So is it any wonder that Christians, followers of Jesus, are called to a life that is unmistakably marked by love?

• In other words, the quality that distinctively sets apart Christians as followers of Jesus is not a pithy bumper sticker, or a cross hanging from necklace, or a tattoo of a dove or a fish.
• The true mark of a Christian is love.
• Arthur Pink, in his commentary on the Gospel of John, said it like this:

Love is the badge of Christian discipleship. It is not knowledge, nor orthodoxy, nor fleshly activities, but supremely love which identifies a follower of Jesus. As the disciples of the Pharisees were known by their morning prayers and keeping of the laws, as John’s disciples were known by their baptism, and every school of belief by it’s particular doctrine, so the mark of a true Christian is love; and that, a genuine, active love, not only in words but in deeds. (Arthur Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1968), 341)

Friends, the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that love is at the core of our calling to follow Jesus Christ…

• Whether, as Jesus says in Mt. 22, we are called to love God as the greatest commandment, and to love our neighbours as ourselves as the second commandment… we are called to love.
• We are called to love all the way to the extreme of Jesus saying in Matt. 5, that we are to love even our enemies.
• This love that Jesus is calling us to is unconditional in its expression.
• It’s intended to flow over the most impenetrable barriers, the darkest places, and into the most hardened of hearts.
• Why? John 3:16,

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

• Love is at the core of who God is and who he calls us to be, so that everyone might have eternal life with him.
• This is the radical dimension to Biblical love that Jesus adds, so that lives will be eternally changed.
• And in a compelling way, when we love like this, it shows the world that we belong to Jesus, as he said in John 13:34-35,

³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

But then, tucked away in the 14^th chapter of the book of Luke, Jesus delivers a seemingly different and rather “hard saying” when it comes to love.

• In the New International Version, Luke 14:25-26 says,

        ²⁵ 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. 

As we have said in the introduction to this series on the Hard Sayings of Jesus, some of Jesus sayings are hard due to our lack of understanding of their cultural/historical contexts and some are hard due to the demands they make on our lives today.

• This saying, while baffling on the surface, actually falls more so into the latter category.
• These words of Jesus are hard because of what they demand of us.

First, let’s be clear, Jesus is not saying that we are to love everyone else, including our enemies (as he teaches elsewhere), but then hate our parents, spouses, kids, even ourselves.

• Jesus is not contradicting himself, nor is he adding some sort of superseding addendum to his other teachings.
• So, what is Jesus saying?

As with any text in Scripture, basic rules of interpretation include: consulting parallel texts if possible and reading the broader context (i.e. zooming out to gain the whole picture)

• And in this case we have a parallel text where Matthew records Jesus’ teaching to the crowd in Matthew 10:37-39,

        ³⁷ “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁸ If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁹ If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

• Taking into account Matthew’s version, some translations, such as the New Living Translation, now include in Luke’s account the words “in comparison”.

²⁵ A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ²⁶ “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 

Now it may be that Jesus first said the words that Luke originally recorded and then expounded on them to the crowd and Matthew recorded those words that included some clarification.

• Or it may be that the two disciples simply heard what Jesus said and wrote it down from their own perspective.
• In either case, this is not a matter of right or wrong.
• Think of two sides of the same coin … each disciple wrote what Jesus said from a certain perspective.
• Matthew understood Jesus talking about us “loving more” while Luke takes the perspective of us “loving less”.

• Matthew is talking about the inadequacy of “loving more” … loving others more so than Jesus simply won’t do if you want to be in relationship with God.
• Luke is talking about us “loving less” when it comes to our family and other relationships in comparison to our love for Jesus…
• If we want to be in relationship with God, we must love others less than we love Jesus.
• The two accounts are not contradicting each other.
• Nor is Jesus contradicting himself.
• In both accounts, our love of Jesus is paramount.

If we broaden the context and include the rest of Jesus’ teachings and in fact, the entirety of Scripture itself, it becomes clear that in Luke 14, Jesus is using hyperbole to get our attention.

• We already know from the broader context of Scripture that love is at the core of who God is and who he calls us to be.
• In this instance, Jesus is using a public speaking tool to gain our attention for a greater, deeper meaning.
• He’s using the most arresting and challenging language he can in order to call us to a radical love.
• Our love for others flows from the core of Christ’s sacrificial love for us.
• We are still called to love our neighbour, which by extension includes those closest to us.
• However, there is an even greater agenda when it comes to our love.
  • We are being called to an even greater, more radical love toward Jesus.

In other words, the degree of loving Jesus is much greater than the degree of loving our parents, spouse, children, etc…

• And because the degree of love is so great, the cost on everything else in my life is greatly affected.
• Fully giving my heart to Jesus requires a relinquishing of control in every area of my life… no matter the cost.

Let’s look again at Luke 14 and let’s keep reading beyond vs.26:

²⁵ A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ²⁶ “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? ²⁹ Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. ³⁰ They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

³¹ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? ³² And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. ³³ So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

³⁴ “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor (over time), how do you make it salty again? ³⁵ Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”

In Luke 14, Jesus isn’t advocating a lifestyle of hatred, he is simply, yet profoundly teaching how I am to love and where my priorities must lie if I am going to love and follow him.

• He’s putting into perspective the life I am called to live if I choose to follow him as a disciple.
• We are called to live for Him in everything we do, with every word we speak, and in every relationship we have.
• Am I willing to surrender that degree of control to Jesus, even to the point that it may cost me my family or my life?
• John Piper says,

Christianity, what Jesus demands from us, is not most deeply and most fundamentally decisions of the will. That comes later. Deeply and most fundamentally, Christianity is a new birth – a deep, profound transformation of what we treasure, what we love. And if that deepest, fullest love isn’t for Jesus, then we are not worthy of Jesus. When he is your supreme treasure, you belong with him.

• In other words, as a forgiven and redeemed person, it’s my radical, unconditional love for Jesus that allows me to be in his presence.
  
  

Friends, the cost of following Jesus is extremely high… and he wants us to know this upfront.  

• Christianity is not a bait and switch scheme.
• Jesus grabs our attention with this “hard saying” and warns us not to start something that we are not prepared to finish.
• He’s saying; don’t fall in love with Me if you aren’t prepared to commit fully to the relationship.
• In fact, from Jesus’ disciples onward, many followers of Christ have paid the cost of their relationship with Jesus, by losing their lives.

• For most of us, the cost of loving Jesus may not involve sacrificing our lives, but it can still be very painful when it includes the loss of relationships, such as being disowned by your family.
• And others may give up wealth and positions of power to love and follow Jesus.
• Some count their own health as secondary or place themselves in uncomfortable or dangerous circumstances to live out their love for Jesus.

Whatever particular path Jesus is calling you to, his teaching in Luke 14 is that entering the Kingdom of God by loving him as Lord, is paramount in comparison to any other endeavour, no matter how noble, that you pursue.

• To follow Jesus is always a matter of unconditional love… no restrictions on our love for him.
• As I have heard more than once, “Life is not about you!” when you follow Jesus.
• God’s goal is not to ensure my comfort, my happiness, my success, or my trouble free standard of living.
• God’s goal is for me to mature in my love for Jesus.

To love Jesus first and everything else second, is the essence of what Jesus meant when He said to the crowds travelling with him: “Whoever does not hate…

• It’s a litmus test … is Jesus first and foremost in your plans, your thoughts, your goals … whatever you are pursuing in life?
• Or, are there areas you are striving to control … areas that are reserved as off limits?
• If you don’t hate these areas in comparison … or stated as Matthew would write it … if you don’t love Jesus more than these areas, you’re not ready to be Jesus’ disciple.
• Jesus, himself, modeled this for us as he followed his Father all the way to death on the cross.
• An act of obedience, yes.
• But ultimately, first and foremost, an act of love.

And in Luke 14, he invites us up front, to join him in this love … to join him in a pursuit of love that will be a much greater challenge than you expect it to be.

• To join him in a pursuit of love that will require a far greater sacrifice than you ever imagined it would.
• To agree to love God with all your heart, mind and soul is to commit to stay the course to the finish.
• The ultimate reward Jesus received for his pursuit of such love is to sit at the right hand of the throne of God the Father and to be given all authority in heaven and on earth.

 Our ultimate reward for pursuing such love … to be in the presence of Jesus for eternity.

Friend, if this love, this following of Jesus, is something that you want to commit to, I invite you to pray a simple prayer with me.

• And if you are watching our Church online live feed, you can click on the commitment button you see on your screen.
• Let’s pray together.

Sending/Benediction

 To conclude our time together, I send you with this promise of Jesus from Mark 10:29-30,

 ²⁹ “Yes,” Jesus replied, “I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Gospel, ³⁰ will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.