Comparison

We are currently revisiting the story of Jesus as written by Luke. Our goal is to complete Luke’s account with the RESET series. In order to do that, we will periodically skip over a passage. Today, we are given a challenging comparison chart.


Luke 14
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison - your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ 31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. 34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”


Comparison. I have received a lot of questions (understandably so) about Luke 14:26. The key for me is the phrase “by comparison”. Most translations don’t include this phrase which makes it even harder to comprehend; but the idea is that we are to love God soooo much that “by comparison” it appears we “hate everyone else”. Remember, as you are processing that verse, Jesus also taught that we should “Honor our father and mother” (check out Luke 18:20), “Love your neighbor as yourself” (check out Luke 10:27) and even “Love your enemies” (check out Luke 6:27). I guess the real question is, what does my life say about who I love ... others, me or God.