[SUP]26 [/SUP]“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
The Hebrew and Greek understanding the word hate here does not caring the same meaning in our language and culture. What Jesus is conveying is that if one is not willing to part from their family, for the sake of Christ, the savior of the world, then they are not worthy to be called a disciple. The word hate really means "to have less priority then" or "to prefer less". We can see this clearly seen with the OT story of Jacob, Rachael and Leah. The story says that Jacob hated Leah, Gen. 29:31, most translations translate this word "hate" as "not loved" or "unloved", which is a correct translation of the word IMO. However, the Hebrew word being translated "hate" is H8130 "sane". Clearly Jacob did not hate Leah, but preferred her less then Rachael (If he really hated her, he probably wouldn't have laid with her) (see some of the different translations and commentaries on this here).
You must try to understand the culture in which Jesus said this too, those who followed Jesus were seen by their own Jewish families as apostate and shunned, cast out from that family and community, and often killed. They were seen as a cult, much like how a Muslim who defects from their faith and becomes a Christian. Thus the pressure to stay with ones family and traditions was much greater then to follow Christ. Maxwel is correct, it is about priority, do we love Jesus more then our family, our things the Lord gives us, our life even? Are we willing to give things up for Christ. Psycomom is also correct in saying everything we have belongs to the Lord, and everything we have belongs to him. The responsibility we have is how we prioritize these things in relation to what Jesus tells us to do, it's about being stewards or managers of what God has entrusted to us.
The Hebrew and Greek understanding the word hate here does not caring the same meaning in our language and culture. What Jesus is conveying is that if one is not willing to part from their family, for the sake of Christ, the savior of the world, then they are not worthy to be called a disciple. The word hate really means "to have less priority then" or "to prefer less". We can see this clearly seen with the OT story of Jacob, Rachael and Leah. The story says that Jacob hated Leah, Gen. 29:31, most translations translate this word "hate" as "not loved" or "unloved", which is a correct translation of the word IMO. However, the Hebrew word being translated "hate" is H8130 "sane". Clearly Jacob did not hate Leah, but preferred her less then Rachael (If he really hated her, he probably wouldn't have laid with her) (see some of the different translations and commentaries on this here).
You must try to understand the culture in which Jesus said this too, those who followed Jesus were seen by their own Jewish families as apostate and shunned, cast out from that family and community, and often killed. They were seen as a cult, much like how a Muslim who defects from their faith and becomes a Christian. Thus the pressure to stay with ones family and traditions was much greater then to follow Christ. Maxwel is correct, it is about priority, do we love Jesus more then our family, our things the Lord gives us, our life even? Are we willing to give things up for Christ. Psycomom is also correct in saying everything we have belongs to the Lord, and everything we have belongs to him. The responsibility we have is how we prioritize these things in relation to what Jesus tells us to do, it's about being stewards or managers of what God has entrusted to us.
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