Luke 14:26

[A-Bomb]

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."
What?!

I'm not going to hate my parents....I don't understand this. Anyone want to take a stab at it?

 

[A-Bomb]

So how would you know when one really did "hate" someone and didn't just love one less than another?

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."
What?!

I'm not going to hate my parents....I don't understand this. Anyone want to take a stab at it?

It's just a hyperbole meaning, Christ must always come first.

 

[A-Bomb]

But he says "hate". Can anyone address my second question?

 

[Rafael]

To take this scripture out of context and dump the rest of scripture that speaks about love would be to look at scriptures in a prejudictial manner - to find error, but there is no error with God when it comes to love or hate, and He knows what is important. We all love our parents - well most - but God tells us to honor our parents. Perhaps He knows what we fail to give them. He tells a husband to love his wife, and again, God knows where children and men fail the most and have lack concerning these relationships.
Most of us spend our lives lacking to give the love we owe to God, and then when He uses extreme terms to tell us the importance of our love towards Him as creator, we act shocked when the shock is the blindness we display to the plain importance and precedence He should have in all people's lives.

This is from http://www.carm.org/bible_difficulties_6.htm on Luke 14:26:

Jesus is drawing a comparison of importance by exaggerating a relationship. He is saying that it is far more important to love Him than anyone else, including your own parents. Of course, He is not telling people to hate their parents. He is saying that by comparison to Him, you must love Him more than all else.

 

[HeatherJay]

As others have said, this verse means only to demonstrate that the Lord must be loved supremely above all else. The word 'hate' in this verse could be more correctly translated to 'love less'. And it's very true. We, as Christians, should love God above all earthly things. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't love your parents...only that you should love God more.

As far as your second question...sounds like you understand it better than you think

Love, Heather

 

[SelahCrys]

A-Bomb,

What do think when teenagers say "I hate my parents"? Do you think they really hate them? Or do you think that this is a needful psychological disconnection from their parents so that they can become autonomous human beings?

That's all.

 

[Boanerge]

Hey how you doing,

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."
What?!
I'm not going to hate my parents....I don't understand this. Anyone want to take a stab at it?

You know that in the bible it says "honor your parents". Then Jesus goes on to say "if you can not hate then you can not be my disciple".

Many say that Jesus is simply saying one needs a complete dedication, in which, comparing God to Parent, the commands of God are higher than that of the parent. Especially when the parent wants you to do something everyone knows is wrong except the parent ofcourse.

I will go on to say that if my Parents tell me "HEY! dont do that!" Did they yell and correct me because they hate me? or because they loved me enough to express their concerns for my choices?

Now Jesus expressed this same thing to his disciples. To see your parents do something you know is not right, and you tell them, "Um, mom, i don't think you should be doing this, smoking is bad for your lungs." In those times, trying to correct your own parents would be almost equivalent to hate. But it's not. It seems that following Jesus would open up your eyes that first you would fix what is wrong with yourself then you can help others, even your parents, out.

I don't know if this has made sense but that is what i can see.

In other words if you have to suppress the truth, in order to please, or not hurt those closest to them, how can they be totally dedicated to God when others occupy that space?

Remember the truth hurts, hurts enough to seem like the one telling you the truth dislikes you. But when you tell the truth, with love, the way God says, what at first may hurt, in the end will edify, and last better than trying to suppress that truth. In other words, to be direct, especially with things concerning God, with those who you consider to be your loved ones. This is why it would be nice to have a family that prays together, it opens the door for honesty, and we can tell the truth in humbleness, love, and like a servant of God. Not a barbarian, with no control of their Sword (words)

Why be alert about those who are closest to you and don't show favoritism? because those closest to you are the ones to really hurt you, because they are those you keep in your heart. If you are nto careful, one of them may lead you away from the presence of God.

So how would you know when one really did "hate" someone and didn't just love one less than another?

"Hate" in this context you would mean to really dislike someone?

well disliking or detesting someone is not of God in the first place, we should love everyone the same, but God more, because God would come first. He is the one you can trust with all your heart.

A-Bomb,

What do think when teenagers say "I hate my parents"? Do you think they really hate them? Or do you think that this is a needful psychological disconnection from their parents so that they can become autonomous human beings?

That's all

You mean "I hate my parents" Means "My parents don't understand me, i need to grow."? that is what autonomous means right? to live on their own?

When Jesus said Hate your parents, he says it to mean "take off any excess weight you may have with them, so you can follow me better". this hate is Taking off, or seperation, or unmasking, or revealing, or making clear any differences or anything that is not being done right. IT may hurt but it is to work for the good. This is an action type of hate, that you start, to make things clear and set things straight, who are you going to serve first.

the other to detest or "hate" is to want seperation, to push away, to aviod, to hide, to be laid with burden of, to be in stress, and tension and ignorance, because of self pride or rejection. Kids do not naturally hate, but their hate comes from a negative cause, and therefore it is a reaction type of hate. This is not the hate that Jesus was speaking about.

Then again i didn't go to the root of the greek meaning of the word, so im just guessing.

 

[sbbqb7n16]

A-Bomb,

What do think when teenagers say "I hate my parents"? Do you think they really hate them? Or do you think that this is a needful psychological disconnection from their parents so that they can become autonomous human beings?

That's all.

There's still a difference between "I hate my parents" and "I hate the fact that my parents are over me still."

Needful psychological disconnection? You are never disconnected from your parents psychologically or emotionally. For example... when you finally headed off to college, you still thought about your parents... you still acted in ways that you learned from your parents... and you probably always will.

And teenagers are autonomous human beings before they begin to revolt against their parental authority as much as anyone else is. We are all under some form of government whether parents or government officials or a boss or whatever... so at 12 you still decide whether you will obey the authorities or not.

 

[Ken]

from the OP:

So how would you know when one really did "hate" someone and didn't just love one less than another?

Jesus told us to not even hate our enemies, but to pray for them as well.... I am not sure there is any place for literal vengeful hate for another person in the Christian worldview, the idea of "loving less" best describes the idea of placing one's ultimate trust, i.e. "loving most", in God; for:

(Mat 22:36-40 NIV) "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" {37} Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' {38} This is the first and greatest commandment. {39} And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' {40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So the point is to set aside everything and everyone else as second to the love and allegience one owes to God, but this does not mean to fail to uphold the laws, i.e. one is to love and honor one's parents, but what is crucial is one must never follow this or any command at the expense of violating one's primary and ultimate allegience to God. Indeed, one can only properly love one's parent, spuse, neighbor, etc., unless one first properly loves God.

Does that help?

 

[Reformationist]

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."
What?!

I'm not going to hate my parents....I don't understand this. Anyone want to take a stab at it?

Here's my "stab" at it. When the term "hate" is used in the Bible it means one of two things. First, and foremost, it means "to NOT give the recipient of your actions that which they most need with no regard for one's self." An example of this is found in Proverbs 13:24:

"He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly."

In this instance, if the father does not give his son that which he most needs, in this case "the rod," then he is, in a sense, hating him. To love his son he would have have to disregard the feelings of uncomfortableness of disciplining his child and look to the proper training and guidance of his son.

This same principle is reflected in Romans 9:13:

As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."

In this verse God is saying that He has given Jacob that which he most needs, salvation, with no regard for the fact that Jacob, in his unregenerate state, is His enemy because he's a sinner. As for Esau, it means simply that God has NOT given him that which he most needs.

The other way in which the term "hate" is used is the way in which many have already voiced. In the case of Luke 14:26 the word is used to express our need to put the sanctity of our relationship with our Creator foremost in all things. IOW, love our fellow creation less than we love God.

So how would you know when one really did "hate" someone and didn't just love one less than another?

You will, in the biblical sense, hate someone if you don't give them that which they most need with no regard for yourself. This should clearly show us how often we hate those we profess to love.

God bless

 

[pmarquette]

But he says "hate". Can anyone address my second question?

as with Matthew 6.33 -- put God ahead of parents ;
ie if parents are heathens and you accept christ , will have to do
what Jesus asks and walk away from them for a season

as with Jacob I love and Easu I hate ... hated his laziness , lack of ambition , willingness to sell his birth right for a bowl of soup ...

as with submit yourself to God / hate [ forsake ] the devil and he will flee - James 4.7

like some of our words .... chill [ put folks in freezer ?] ; wassup [ speaking of new satellite ?] ; yomamma [ talking trash .... ] ; square [ not up on current events ] ; lighten up [ lose weight ?]

 

[thereselittleflower]

But he says "hate". Can anyone address my second question?

ABomb

JefferyLloyd did give you a very good explanation of what this means . .

You have to allow for literary conventions such as hyperbole - hybperbole simply means an exaggeration to get a point across . .

I know what it is like to agonize over scriptures such as these . .but without understanding the literarly convention imployed here, it makes it VERY hard to undersand what is really being said . . Christ has to come first . .

That really is all . . Jesus is not really telling us to hate anyone . . just using hyperbole to get His point across as strongly as possible ..


Peace in Him!