"How do you look up on wood?"
- Admin
- Sep 7
- 1 min read
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14. 25 - 33
These are harsh words we hear from Jesus in today's gospel. My Jewish annotated New Testament says that hate is used hyperbolically here...that's all well and good but it still hurts and is confusing. In a search for better understanding of this passage, I found an article in this month's Christian Century which nailed it for me.* In the article entitled "Jesus makes it hard to be a Christian," Gary Percesepe suggests that the cost of being a disciple is everything, just as Bonhoeffer said, and we are initiated into Christ's death at our baptism and there the work begins.
At the end of the article, Percesepe quotes this beautiful old Methodist hymn that says pretty bluntly how costly discipleship is and then Percesepe closes with the question, "How do you look up on wood?"
I always took this mention of “hate” to be akin to the notion that you have to lose your life to save it. This is another mind bender but is referring to to the level of change and challenge necessary in following Christ. It may be a bumpy ride.