The Command to Hate Relatives

Christianity has been viewed as a religion of peace, the crusades notwithstanding. Its founder was named the Prince of Peace and angels announced His birth as a peace bringing event. How, then, can we reconcile the fact that Matthew 10:34-37 and Luke 12:49-53 not only say Jesus did not come to bring peace but a sword, but also that Christians must hate their close relatives to be His disciples? He even says there that He would set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother. How must we understand such statements?

Commenting on Matthew 10:34-37 William Barclay says, “Nowhere is the sheer honesty of Jesus more vividly displayed than it is [displayed] here. Here he sets the Christian demand at its most demanding and at its most uncompromising [level].” Here Jesus tells disciples exactly what demands of discipleship are, if they accept His call to follow. He prepares them for a wide variety of responses to the gospel, and their espousal of it, from family members and friends. Family members would turn against each other. Was Jesus speaking the truth? Haven’t we seen that kind of reaction? Thus, contemporary disciples must also be alert to ensure their priorities are straight. This will doubtlessly involve a reevaluation of friendships and family relationships.

In Luke 14:26, Jesus intensifies the dilemma saying, “If anyone comes to me and hate not father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” “Hate” is a very strong word. What did Jesus mean? Must we literally hate family members and friends who believe differently from us to fulfill our discipleship mission? To hate means to love less. Jesus here invites disciples to love human relationships less than they love Him. As the “pearl of great price,” all relationships and possessions pale in value when compared to Him. Consequently, disciples are to ensure that nothing interferes with or transcends their relationship with Christ. The veracity of this notion is confirmed by the very words of Christ Himself. In Matthew 10:37 He says those who love father or mother, son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me. The point is that we must love these relation-ships less and Jesus more. Nothing must stand between us and the Savior.

What is your position, my friend? Can you make that kind of commitment? Is there anything in this world that is more valuable to you than the One who sacrificed Himself on a tree for your salvation and so ensure that you might have everlasting life? Think on these things!