Today's readings are Numbers 3.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+3.1-16 ), Numbers 3.39-48 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+3.39-48 ), Luke 14.25-15.10 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+14.25-15.10 ), and Numbers 4.1-8.4 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Numbers+4.1-8.4 ).
Luke 14.26-27 is one of the more convicting statements that Jesus makes. The ESV translates it this way. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." We are often told this passage means something other than what it says. We are supposed to love our family a great deal but not compared to loving Jesus. We are to be willing to honor our families less than we honor Jesus, but we are still unconditionally linked to our families, so it really means we have an even greater regard for Jesus. We can still be believers but not true disciples. The list of bad interpretations of Jesus' command here goes on and on. But when I said "convicting" I meant that literally. If something is convicting, we are guilty.
Truth be told, we do come to Jesus as we are drawn by him. And we are convicted by the fact that we cling to our families and our own lives rather than clinging to Jesus. But in Jesus' economy there is no room for a rival. He does not share power with our parents, with our spouses, with our children, or with us. If we are following Jesus, we are required to reject all others. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. We cannot be a disciple of Jesus otherwise. We have nothing to learn and he chooses to teach us nothing. That's simply the end of the story. If we have an attachment to that human life we were pursuing and are not ready to take up an instrument of torture by which no respectable person dies, we CANNOT be following Jesus. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not take another turn, game is over.
Jesus has just told us that we are not able to follow him. It's plain. And it's not what we want to hear. He is drawing us to himself, calling us through his word, by the Holy Spirit, holding the sacraments in front of us and reminding us that they are for our good, for our life, for our nourishment. And we can't follow Jesus. What will we do?
We confess that Jesus came and he gave his life for ours. While we do not take up our cross, he does take up our cross. While we do not leave our father, he leaves his Father. While we don't forsake the joys of a family, Jeuss does, and all on our behalf. As perplexing as it is, we find that when Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow him, he has done it on our behalf.
Let us rejoice in Jesus Christ, the only person in the history of the world to be able to follow himself and to do it for us before we even knew he was going anywhere.
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