Luke 14:25-33
Hey there Heartbeatians and visitors!
We just finished digging into Luke 14:25-33. It's a most radical passage, as Jesus throws the hammer down and shoots straight with us on what it is to be one of his real disciples!
I don't know about you but I desire to be true and real when it comes to following Jesus but it sometimes feels out of reach for me.
I mean, He says in verse 26:
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."
What do you think?
Further do you think 1st Corinthians 10:13 applies?
"No temptation has siezed you except what is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
"No temptation has siezed you except what is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
Also in Matthew 16:24, Jesus delivers the same message as our Luke passage, but with a different wording: "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
So we see "deny" instead of "hate." What do you think? Does it help you to understand the passage better as it did with me? The subject of denying ourselves is found throughout the Bible, in fact, it is self denial that characterizes a person when he or she comes to saving faith in Christ!
Blog away with Grace and Peace,
- Pastor James
Ok, so after feeding the virtual fish for about five minutes (yeah I'm ADHD and they're are really mesmerising, lol) I decided to read and do my little post. I think this passage is really hard to read without feeling a bit fail-ish, becuase seriously, who is selfless? I don't just mean "less selfish", but truly selfLESS. No one comes to mind, 'specailly not I. Maybe it's just me, but these passages always tend to leave my feeling inadequate. But some people get really pumped up, so it's kinda weird lol. :) I still don't fully grasp the use of hate in this passage. Because you can't just replace it with "deny" if you feel like it or if it makes you more comfortable. So I still am answerless concerning that. (Oh, this is a random ADHD moment, but I like this blog) But it is wearisome for me to always ask my leaders these questions, and I think it would be more profitable if I could find the answers my self. So, to save both of us some time, could someone direct me to a website/book that translates the English words that don't make since back into Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic and what-not, so that we can grasp their meaning more fully. :) AWESOME! ^_^
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ReplyDeleteTo April:
ReplyDeleteGod's commands to be selfless and perfect aren't ultimately attainable on this earth. It doesn't mean that just because we're not completely selfless or completely perfect that God is constantly upset at us. Striving to be more like Jesus (which entails striving to be selfless and denying ourselves like He did), is the point here, not perfection on earth. So don't feel "fail-sh) because you're not perfect.
As far as having a website/book that translates English words to Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic, that wouldn't solve the problem. Because just knowing the translated word doesn't always give you the idiom or the meaning behind it (just consult a Spanish/English dictionary to see what I mean). A good example is the word "hate" here. To "hate" yourself is to deny yourself, deny the worldy pleasures that your sinful nature desires. The world sees that as "hating" yourself, so replacing it with deny isn't done because it makes us feel comfortable, its done because its Biblical.
To help in your effort though, I would suggest getting a Strong's Concordance along with a Vine's dictionary. The Vine's is based off the Strong's system...but again, unless you're a greek or hebrew scholar its tough to determine the exact meaning, thats why the translator's are greek and hebrew scholars ;)
ReplyDeleteHey everyone, When transferring my blog post from word to the blog yesterday I left out a critical part...read it and see what it was...I will give you a hint, Out of Reach!
ReplyDeleteHave a God day!
sorry April...i didn't mean to remove your post about the fish lol
ReplyDelete:)