Family Ties

Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters, and besides, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
Yes, I understand!

Jesus said some stuff that was, and still is, quite polemical. But what he said he always lived it. He told us to "hate" children, wife, mother, etc. Didn't he? At least from what we can gather from the bible today. So let's go to his life and see how he "hated" his close family. If we study his sample we understand his preaching, right?

There were several situations when he gave an example of what he thought about family ties.

Mathew 12:47-50 Then one said to Him, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You. But answering, He said to the one speaking to Him, Who is My mother? And who are My brothers? And stretching out His hand to His disciples, He said, Behold, My mother and My brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven, that one is My brother and sister and mother.

Luke 2:42-50 And when He was twelve years old, they, going up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the Feast, and fulfilling the days, in their returning, the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know... Luke 2:46  And it happened after three days they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, even hearing them and questioning them... And His mother said to Him, Child, why did You do so to us? Behold, Your father and I were looking for You, greatly distressed. And He said to them, Why did you look for me? Did you not know that I must be busy in the affairs of My Father? And they did not understand the word which He spoke to them.

It was hard for them to understand that Jesus was not putting his family in first place.
He also warned us that our biggest enemies would be those from our own family.

Matthew 10:34-37  Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I came to divide a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law. "Ones hostile to the man shall be those of his own house." (Mic. 7:6)  The one loving father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And the one loving son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

So here it is what Jesus thinks about family ties.

God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, in other words, kill him and offer him in sacrifice. Don't you think that Abraham had to hate his son when he was on the way to kill him? Don't you think that maybe he had to harden his heart in order to be able to bear it? His most beloved son, how could he even bear the idea of killing him?

God the Father went through similar situation. He offered his son in sacrifice. Jesus said to him, "Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?" The plea of a beloved son to his Father. Imagine how much this broke the Father's heart to not being able to do anything for his beloved son at that moment. At least for a moment Jesus thought that his Father had forsaken him.

All this was necessary to redeem humanity to the original state of grace and bring the Kingdom of God on earth. What an Amazing Story.