Reading: Luke 14:25-33
Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. Reflection Why would I want to follow Jesus, if it means that I have to hate my family, and even life itself? One thing we always have to remember when we read the Bible, whatever translation we prefer, is that no English translation will ever capture the full meaning of what was written in the original scriptures. The New Testament passages were written in koine Greek, a language very different from English, in grammar and sentence structure as well as the very meaning of the words themselves. To complicate matters even more, the words do not always mean the same thing! For example, the Greek word transliterated “miseo,” which is translated “hate” here, can mean anything from “detest” or “renounce” (as in “hate”), to love someone or something less than someone or something else. It is likely the latter would likely be the case here. Jesus is saying that following him is going to be really hard, and for us to be able to do so faithfully and completely, we have to love him more than the very people we are closest to in this life, and even life itself. It is a tall order, isn’t it? So, why would anyone want to do this? Why would anyone want to follow Jesus? Discipleship is something we grow into. Most of us don’t just wake up one morning, ready to give up everything, to follow him. No, it comes by taking little steps, moving from a self-centered way of life, to loving and serving the other, which is really what following Jesus is all about. Reality is, we will never be able to become perfect in our self-sacrifice, like Jesus, but we are still called to pick up our cross, and follow him, whatever that might look like for us, in our context. As we grow in discipleship, we soon realize that true joy comes from not living for ourselves, but instead through loving and serving our neighbor. --Tormod Svensson Prayer God of love in Christ Jesus, you gave it all for us, even your own life, so that we could live. Help us to faithfully follow you, and grow as your disciples, so that we too, may selflessly share of ourselves, for the sake of others. Amen
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