Lk. 14:25 And great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
Lk. 14:26 “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.”
This verse talks about the contrast between loving and hating, loving Yeshua and hating parents. These are Rabbinic terms meaning to choose, love in the sense of choosing, and hating in the sense of rejecting. It is not an emotional question, but rather an issue of choosing or not choosing. In this context, the word “hate” does not carry the meaning it normally has in English usage, but seems to be used in a Hebraic sense. In Hebrew, “hate” can also means “love less” or “put in second place.” For example, Genesis 29:31 states that Leah was “hated,” but the context indicates that Leah was not unloved but rather “loved less” than Jacob’s other wife, Rachel. Note that the preceding verse says that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. A second illustration of this particular Hebraic shade of meaning of the word “hate” is found in Deut. 21:15, “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated .....” Here too the context shows that the “hated’ wife is only second in affection and not really hated in the English sense of the word.
Sources: Genesis 29:31; Deut. 21:15
Despite the many hardships, there was nothing to compare with the exhilaration of following and learning from a great sage and being in the circle of his disciples. A special relationship developed between sage and disciple in which the sage became like a father. In fact, he was more than a father and was to be honored above the disciple’s own father. M:Baba Metzia 2:11 says, “When one is searching for the lost property both of his father and of his teacher, his teacher’s loss takes precedence over that of his father, since his father brought him only into the life of this world (Olam Hazeh), whereas his teacher, who taught him wisdom (i.e. Torah) has brought him into the life of the world to come (Olam Habah). But if his father is no less a scholar than his teacher, then his father’s loss takes precedence. If his father and his teacher are in captivity, he must first ransom his teacher, and only afterwards his father – unless his father is himself a scholar and then he must first ransom his father.” If it seems shocking that anyone could ransom his teacher before his own father, it is only because we do not understand the tremendous love and respect that disciples, and the community at large, had for their sages.
Source: M:Baba Metzia 2:11
Lk. 14:27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Yeshua did not want His prospective disciples to have any false expectations, and He frequently stressed the need to count the cost before making a commitment to Him. The second lesson of discipleship is that one must bear his cross. To bear a cross is to identify with Yeshua’s rejection and suffering. If we are not willing to identify with His rejection and suffering, and all that is involved with it, then that too, will hinder us from becoming a disciple.
Lk. 14:28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it –‘
The question here is: how much of one’s resources is he willing to commit for discipleship? Yeshua demands all. If we are not willing to commit all of our resources for discipleship, then that will hinder us.
Lk. 14:29 “Lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him.”
Lk. 14:30 “Saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”
Lk. 14:31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?”
Lk. 14:32 “Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for conditions of peace.”
Lk. 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
Lk. 14:34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?”
Lk. 14:35 “It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
