Priorities - Luke 14:25-35

As Jesus travels from place to place “great multitudes” followed him. The rest of Luke chapter 14, read on it’s own, is totally confusing and really makes me question my ability to understand these concepts. It appears that Jesus turns to the people who are following him and says, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” What? That flies in the face of his previous teachings “honor thy father and mother,” and “love your enemies.” This is an instance where ancient perspective is necessary because honestly, this makes me want to throw the whole book out the window. The Jesus that I know and love has taught me that what JTC says is the truth, “Literal hatred toward one’s family was not specified as a condition of discipleship; indeed a man who indulges hatred or any other evil passion is a subject for repentance and reformation. The preeminence of duty toward God over personal or family demands on the part of one who had assumed the obligations of a disciples was the precept.”

Thankfully, the IM gives some insight saying, “The Greek word translated as ‘hate’ means to ‘love less’ or ‘esteem less.’ The Savior was not revoking the commandment to ‘honour thy father and thy mother;’ He was teaching about priorities. For a disciple, devotion to family must come after devotion to Jesus Christ.” If we look at it in this context, and substitute the phrase “and love less not his father… cannot be my disciple.” A synonym for “esteem” is value, so let’s substitute that into the sentence. Another way that we could read this would be to change the two negatives into two positives and say something like, “If any man come to me, and values more than me his father, and mother, and wife, and children… He cannot be my disciple.” Looking at it like that, Jesus is saying, that no one can be his disciple who puts anything else as first priority in their lives.

There is such a fine line here, especially if we take into consideration our own religious obligations. I’ve heard that yes, you put God first, for in terms of church service, the priorities should be 1. Family 2. Profession 3. Calling. So what does that mean? How can you put God first and your calling third? Doesn’t putting God first and putting your calling first mean the same thing? Clearly not or there would have not been guidance given. There is going to be sacrifices on all sides, but priorities are where the difference is, I think. Families are forever, and while the gospel is also forever, a calling is not. I teach the 7 year olds in primary, I don’t have to take any time away from my family to fulfill that calling. I’m also a visiting teacher, so I have to take time away from my kids to fulfill that calling, actually I almost always just take them with me because I’m a single mom and don’t have anyone to watch them. Plus, I think it’s good for them to see me making visiting teaching a priority, and not use them as an excuse to get out of it. What about callings that require more time and commitment, like bishop or stake president? Those callings entail significant amounts of time away from the family, but I think that this circumstance is one of those times where the guidelines are given and then the implementation is worked out between the individual and the Lord. It’s one of those “come and ask me and let’s grow a stronger relationship while we work together for a solution.”

Circling back around to Jesus’ intial statement about putting God first, the question remains why would Jesus say that in the first place and seemingly so randomly? If he were truly trying to gain power and prestige or trying to overthrow a government or con people out of their money, having endless multitudes of people following him would be great for his cause. But that’s not what Jesus is trying to do, he’s trying to teach people the way of happiness, he’s trying to develop a strong core of firm believers who can spread the gospel after his death. Having 100 followers who are 100% committed can do a lot more to spread the gospel than 1,000 who will give up the first time they are threatened or inconvenienced or home sick or lonely. His disciples will mostly end up sharing His fate for their commitment to the gospel and Jesus finds it necessary to only move forward with those who understand the sacrifices to be made and accept it. So where it might seem like it’s saying crazy things randomly, he’s actually preparing his followers for a more intensive training in discipleship and weeding out those who are not ready. It’s also important to point out that these new converts are going to be especially vulnerable to family strife because of their decision to follow Jesus. Because they are Hebrew, any straying away from strict adherence to what the priests and rabbis considered to be the Law of Moses is seen as a grievous sin. Many families will not be able to co-exist together, Jew and Christian without trouble. Jesus is being extreme in his examples of “hate” or “valued less” because there will be those who face those extremes and they have to know what they are getting into.

To illustrate his point, Jesus gives a couple of examples that are difficult for me to place together. The first is of a man who wants to build a tower. Jesus asks what the man does first, count the costs and make sure he has enough to finish it or “after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him.” It’s vital to make sure you have enough to finish the job before you start, that’s the lesson. The second example is of a king who’s “going to make war against another king.” I think that it’s implied later that this king’s kingdom is being attacked and that he’s not the aggressor. What does the king do first? JTC says, “So also a king, finding his realm menaced by hostile invaders, does not rush into battle recklessly; he first tries to ascertain the strength of the enemy’s forces; and then, if the odds against him be too great, he sends an embassage to treat for peace.” Jesus is putting those who follow him in the place of this land owner and the king, letting them know that the wise thing to do is to know all the facts up front before making a decision, and Jesus is trying to give them all the facts. Discipleship might seem amazing all the time, but there are hard times, sacrifices are required that are not expected from non-believers, but the rewards are greater. Jesus is focusing on the sacrifices for right now. He needs people who are sensitive enough to the Spirit that they accept the sacrifices because they can feel in their hearts that it’s the right thing to do.

The way that these sayings are worded here implies that it is imminently going to happen. When Jesus says, “whosoever he be of you that foresaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” It might sound like he’s saying “you have to give up everything right now,” but I don’t necessarily think that it would have been like “go sell everything you have and give me the money.” Interestingly, the word “disciple” is cross-referenced with D&C 132:50 which says, “Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins; I have seen your sacrifices in obedience to that which I have told you. Go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the offering of Abraham of his son Isaac.” Abraham didn’t actually have to go through with sacrificing Isaac, but he was willing to because that was what he was commanded to do. Likewise, there are many people who didn’t have to give their lives for the cause, but some did. Our salvation and our commitment isn’t measured in the giving of our lives, but in the willingness to give our lives.

Luke chapter 14 verse 34 has an extensive JST which says, “Then certain of them came to him, saying, Good Master, we have Moses and the prophets, and whosoever shall live by them, shall he not have life?” I don’t know if this is a genuine inquiry made by those who are trying to reconcile the law of Moses that they know with the gospel that Jesus is teaching, or if it is an attempt to trap Jesus into denying that the law of Moses was the word of God. If it were me, I would answer something like, “the law and the prophets are important but I have a new gospel that is true so follow me.” And that’s probably why I am not the Son of God, because my answer would have put me in the ground so fast. But Jesus answers saying, “Ye know not Moses, neither the prophets; for if ye had known them, ye would have believed on me; for to this intent they were written. For I am sent that ye might have life.” Jesus isn’t denying the importance of the law and the prophets, but he is linking the mission of the law and the prophets to his own mission. The people who asked this can understand that obeying the ancient Jewish law was the means of salvation. Jesus is making the next cognitive step to “I am what the law and the prophets talked about, and I am here to save you.”