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NASB | Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]--he cannot be My disciple. |
Bible Question:
SBF members, In regards to my question on Jesus' teaching on "hating", would most of you agree that the seeming contradiction is directly related to our interpretation of the word "hate"? If I were going to explain this concept to someone else, what resource(s) would I use to substantiate that "hate" does not mean "hate" as we understand it? (Side-note: I am all for literal translations but I suppose that they can sometimes pose a problem.) seeking4truth |
Bible Answer: Greetings Seeking4Truth, God is love (Romans 5:5; John 3:16; 1 John 4:16). And Jesus is God (John 1:1; Acts 20:28). Therefore, Jesus loves us (John 15:13), and so does God the Father (John 16:27)! Therefore, Jesus is not saying that we should "hate" anyone (John 17:23), but love everyone as we love ourselves (Matthew 19:19). With that said, how can we understand Luke 14:26 in light of such verses as John 17:23? In another post that I wrote this very day, I explained this verse in the following way: Luke 14:26 simply means that we, as believers, must love Christ more, and must be more willing to do His will more than love our own families. It is only in the 'comparison' between the love that we have for Christ and the love that we have for our families that Jesus uses the word "hate" in this verse. We shouldn't hate or neglect our families in any way, but our love for them should almost be leaning towards neglect when compared with what our love for Christ should be. Blessings to you, Makarios |