Why would Jesus ever say, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children … and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:25-26, our Sunday Gospel)? After all, he preached that we ought to love everyone, even enemies.
Well, probably Jesus did not use exactly those words. We think Jesus spoke, preached, taught in Aramaic. His remembered words were preserved at first by being shared with others in conversation and in oral preaching. By the time the first Gospel was written, Mark’s Gospel, perhaps 35 years after Jesus’ death, little Christian communities that included large numbers of non-Jewish Christians were scattered around the Mediterranean. Scripture scholars think that a form of Greek spoken in the Roman empire was likely the original written language of early Gospels. If you ever had to translate from one language to another, Jesus’ remembered Aramaic to Roman Greek in this case, you know that there are word choices to make.
Luke rendered Jesus’ Aramaic word “hate,” but Matthew’s Gospel writer chose different Greek words: “Whoever loves his father or another [person] more than me is not worthy of me… (Matthew 10:37).” Knowing that, now we can better hear the lesson about discipleship being taught: that commitment to Jesus needs to be our primary commitment. This teaching is perhaps even more important for us U.S. people than it was in Jesus’ day. Many people I’ve met want wealth for a very good reason: to give their children everything possible and leave them an inheritance. That good reason can lead to a life too dominated by chasing wealth and acquiring things. The balance of giving to others, and keeping our relationships and prayer lives nourished, can get lost. So Jesus is also teaching another lesson in this Gospel. He does it through examples. If you want to build something or win a war, you need a plan. And the plan has to include “renouncing” possessions. That is, a plan is needed to balance the beautiful value of generosity toward our families and others close to us with our call to be dedicated disciples of Jesus the Christ. So, what’s your plan?
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post September 7, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, What’s the Plan? a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.