This coming Sunday is the 23rd Sunday (Year C) with the gospel from Luke 14:25-33. Jesus’ command of love makes it unthinkable that he commands hating one’s family all the while commanding to love those we do not know and are even our enemy. As Culpepper [292] notes, one should understand the Semitic hyperbole always uses stark differences so that the contrast is more clearly seen. The term misein (hate) denotes attitudes and modes of action rather than emotions. The point is not how one feels towards one’s parents, but rather one’s effective attitude when it comes to the kingdom.” This becomes clearer in 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters, he will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”  This continues Luke 12:49-52 regarding division with the household caused by the proclamation of the reign of God.

Other scholars argue that “hate” is a Semitic expression meaning “love less” or “put in second place.” For instance: Genesis 29:30–31 says Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and in the next verse, Leah is said to be “hated.” This sense of “hate” aligns with Matthew 10:37: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…” — a softer but similar idea.

Others emphasize that Jesus is making a provocative statement underlining the cost of discipleship.    In this view, “hate” should be felt in its emotional weight—as a shocking but intentional call to absolute commitment. It reflects the radical reordering of priorities demanded of discipleship, even to the point of seeming betrayal of one’s family or self. Jesus may be using hyperbolic speech to emphasize that the kingdom of God demands everything—and nothing can take precedence.

Some scholars interpret this saying in light of the urgency of the coming Kingdom. In a time of eschatological expectation, Jesus called people to leave everything behind (cf. Luke 9:57–62).    Relationships, social norms, and family roles all had to be subordinated to the mission. This could explain why Jesus also warns about counting the cost before following him (Luke 14:28–33)—the stakes are eternal.

“Hating” one’s family and even one’s own life can be seen as symbolic of dying to the old self.     Following Christ involves a kind of spiritual severance from one’s previous identity and loyalties.    This is consistent with Pauline themes (Gal 2:20; Rom 6:6) of dying with Christ in order to live anew.

New Life, New Allegiances

This coming Sunday is the 23rd Sunday (Year C) with the gospel from Luke 14:25-33. In addition, this saying likely had a practical application in the lives of the first generation of Christians. The first generation of Christian missionaries and evangelists were highly itinerant. Discipleship entailed a willingness to leave home and family with minimal provisions (cf. 10:1-2; 18:29). The starkness of Jesus’ language about “hate” makes clear that the choice itself is stark and demanding. 

The demands of leaving behind familial ties in favor of right relationship to Jesus (v.26) as well as the demand to leave behind possessions that burden one from the fullness of the relationship with God (v.33) are not keyed to severing of family relationships or entering destitution, but rather ask a distancing from the high value that the culture places upon these things.  The mere claim that one accepts Jesus and his teaching is a far cry from a radical shift in fundamental allegiances away from family and clan. For example, the teaching about invitations (vv. 12-14) makes clear that the cultural expectations and obligations of hosting and attending sets up a pattern of allegiances that makes a claim upon a person resulting in the exclusion of all outside the bounds of family, friends, and social/business peers. Discipleship demands moving from those norms to the norms of the Reign of God in which one openly invites those “outside the camp.”

Just as Jesus has been reminding the Pharisees and scribes (vv.1-24) about the right behavior (orthopraxis) consistent with the Reign of God (belief as orthodoxy), so too are the crowds being reminded that the same is demanded of them – and it has implications and repercussions in one’s life. The listeners are not encouraged to abhor their families, their parents, but to reform one’s identity from service limited to the family/clan to an identity open in service to the Reign of God.  In other words, to reorient oneself within the new community dedicated to God’s purpose.

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