Here’s a piece of the Gospel that’s more potent than a triple espresso on a sleepy Sunday morning – especially as Luke presents it (Luke:14:25-27). Jesus challenges us: Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, children… (not talking about the occasional day when said person is acting like a “genuine pain in the neck” hate) you cannot be my disciple. Who would that leave as disciples? A bunch of holy haters? Who would want to follow someone who requires you to hate those you are closest to? This is crazy!
To begin to unravel this apparently insensitive, unloving and genuinely puzzling way for Jesus to sort out true from fake disciples, it helps to remember that Aramaic (the first language of Jesus), similar to its sister tongue Hebrew, is a primitive form of communication. Aramaic is predominantly oral. It doesn’t have all the sophisticated nuances of any modern language in this age of global communication. (And see how well we do communicating – even when we are using the same language!) The only way to make a comparison in ancient Aramaic is by lining up, side-by-side, opposing ideas – like love and hate.
In ancient Aramaic, in order to express preference you would have to say something like, “I love this, but I hate that.” There was no way to say, “I like blueberries better than I like zucchini.” Loyalty demanded that you give absolute preference to your tribal or clan chief. You would “love” your chief. You would pledge your life to your chief. You would “love” all the members of your nation, tribe, clan and family. This leaves all others to be “hated.” This fierce allegiance made your group strong enough to survive. Is this much different than what dictators and militaries today require?
So, what Jesus is saying in modern parlance is, “To be my disciple you need to put me first – ahead of all your other natural relationships – like family.” All those who do, have the tightest bond – even tighter than blood. He is not saying that we need to loathe, despise or have nothing to do with those we naturally love. “Hate,” as Jesus means it, is not hate – at least as we understand it.
The language Jesus used was radical in his day. Family, clan and tribe were the bedrock of social cohesion. He was calling people to a new, all-inclusive family that recognized only One as Abba of all peoples. The type of loyalty to which Jesus calls us is a major challenge. But it is not hateful of others. Jesus is asking us to put him before others in our life, and like him, to love God with all we are.
Bob says:
There are many biblical events and notions I have great difficulty with and this is way up there.
I have come to believe, in trying to experience the reality of myself – my soul – that everything
is love. It is the basis of all creation and loving one thing more than another is a personality
preference, not a real possibility. It is an ingredient of being human, of thinking, of egohood.
Hatred (badness of every kind) is a human creation, part of a material world of high contrast
(black/white, love/hate, up/down, beautiful/ugly)… a place where our spirits can create their
experiences and have full reign to screw up, to become acquisitive and fearful of losing what
they “own”. Our greatest challenge, and Christ’s central message, is to live this love…
what do you think Tim?
a43dcb5_wp says:
Thanks Bob for this thoughtful comment. Obviously this is something that you have been ruminating on for many. many years.I certainly agree that the heart of Jesus’ message, and his challenge to any and all who choose to pay attention, is to love as fully as we can.
Jana Buckley says:
Yes, thank you, Tim, for addressing a much need-to-understand passage, again. I do not like ignoring, passing over, or just trying to accept without understanding these difficult passages. Your background knowledge is so very insightful to bringing much needed light to these types of verses. Your shared information about the Aramaic and Hebrew languages in this case are exactly what brings clarification. Please, keep addressing these challenging readings from the Bible.
Kevin Buckley says:
I ‘Love” this sort of insight. It clarifies Jesus words, written in a different time, for a different people, as we try to understand how they pertain to us today. It is not always easy to ‘weed’ out the universal message (I should have saved that line for the parable about the sower of seeds) he imparts. I know it is a stretch to compare this to the Grimm tales, but for me, it is a fair comparison. I have spent the last year creating stories to teach and enlighten, using the brothers’ stories as my vehicle of choice. The challenge has been to stay true to the Grimm voice, yet be relevant to the youth of today. I hope I have been a good interpreter. Love you for all you do! Kevin