Today’s Gospel is troubling. Does Jesus really expect us to hate our
families, friends and even ourselves in order to be his followers? Jesus is
making a point here about how we attach ourselves to things and to people, even
to images of ourselves. Attachment can cause all sorts of suffering in our lives.
If we are to grow, we move on from the comfortable, we let go of the familiar
and that can often be painful. Today we can ask ourselves: ‘What is it that I
need to let go of?’
The two parables in this story remind us to think things through and
weigh up the cost involved. This Kingdom of God journey involves sacrifice and
sometimes it feels like ‘20,000 against 10,000’. A disciple of Jesus must be
ready to carry the burden not only of tensions with one’s family but even the
burden of legal consequences. This was the experience of Luke’s community and
it is still the experience of many Christians in the world today. So this
passage is a call to conversion and we read it from the various forms of
discipleship that we are in: parenting, advocacy, political life, social work,
friendships, community building...
Jesus ‘turned to them’, he is
speaking from experience. Jesus’ words are harsh, but spend time with this text
today, his words can be interpreted as passionate, urgent, focused and can even
offer us a great freedom and encouragement in whatever journey of discipleship
we are on.
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