PART THREE
“Following Jesus represents the greatest commitment” .
In Matthew 10:37, Jesus said, “anyone who loves their father or mother, or their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
Let’s make the observation of this seemingly “difficult to apply” statement.
What is not being said? Loving family is a part of God’s law – we know this. Loving family is what God desires. So, God is not saying “it is okay not to love your family.” Consider how Jesus taught the value of family relationships. He firmly confronted and corrected the scribes and pharisees for not honoring fathers and mothers by telling people they could give monetarily to the temple what they should give to their parents (Matthew 15:3-9). Jesus told the rich young ruler, “honor your father and mother” (Matthew 19:19). Therefore, Jesus is not saying to disrespect the family relationships and family ties. Yet, Luke 14:26 records Jesus saying, “unless one hates his father or mother, one cannot be my disciple. Please understand Jesus was not emphasizing a disposition of hate. For He is love, and this would stand contradistinctive to His nature (“love you neighbors”, Matt. 22:39, “love your enemies,” Matt. 5:44, “love one another”, John 13:35). Jesus is most definitely not saying “hate your family.”
So, what is being said – what is Jesus saying? Here we discover the principle of prioritized commitment. A clue to understanding what Jesus meant is to compare these words with His statement in John 12:25, “the one who loses his life in this world will keep it”. “In this world” references lived out actions in real life. To lose one’s life is to live in such personal obedience to Jesus that it appears one hates his or her life own life, as he or she would put obedience to Jesus even before personal popularity or safety. In like manner, one’s commitment to Jesus may appear to be hatred toward family members (and all other relationships) in this world, because expressed devotion to Jesus reigns paramount in priority over all other commitments. So, we are encouraged to a prioritized commitment of faith. But there is also the issue of relational claim. The claims of the natural relationships (mom, dad, children, siblings, etc.) are not as absolute in comparison to the absolute claims of Jesus over our lives.
So now that we know what is not being said and what is being said, we now ask, “Why is this being said?” Practically, why did Jesus say these words? A true encounter Jesus had with someone may give the answer. Follow the conversation from Luke 9:57-61. Jesus said to an individual, “Follow me.” But that person said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” The matter is not of disrespecting family. The matter represents excuses to support not following Jesus with one’s whole heart. We have a natural protective reflex. We desire to protect whatever we hold dear (this case, family relationships). But, Jesus calls us to radical obedience that even supersedes this natural protective reflex. We can give a natural reflex to protect relationships even when relationships get in the way of serving Jesus. Just as we can have a naturally reflex to protect our money even when our own resources come under God’s claim. So, we need these words of Jesus to move us past protecting what we hold dear so that we can live in the greatest commitment: following Jesus.
To hear the full sermon, follow the link below and the podcast dated August 16, 2020.
