So many nonbelievers misunderstand this verse. I feel like this clarification should have to be said. In giving the benefit of the doubt I will assume they just read this verse out of context on some anti-theist site.
So unbelievers take a few verses out of context:
Matthew.
Matthew 10:34-35 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Luke.
Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Woe shocker this seems so bad out of context. So let’s look at this in context shall we…
Matthew clarified.
Matthew 10 (surrounding verses).
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
What did we learn?
32-33 The surrounding verses are talking about people who are ashamed of the gospel denying Christ. 34 Then right after Jesus Christ says he did not come to bring peace. 35-36 For households will be turning against themselves. 37-38 So anyone who loves their household more than Christ is not worthy of serving Christ. We must even be willing to be crucified. 39 Jesus Christ is affirming that we will lose our lives to shame, mockery and maybe even death for but we will find eternal life in him.
Matthew 13 (parallel verses).
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. 10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
What did we learn? 9 Jesus Christ is warning us we will be delivered up to councils, rulers, kinds and so on to be beaten. 10 The gospel must be preached to all nations nevertheless. 11. It is not important to know what you will say to your accusers because the Holy Spirit will speak. 12 Family members will betray each other to the point of putting their own members to death. 13 This surrounding verse is key because it says we are hated for the name of Christ. It means the reason all of this conflict of betrayal going on is due to being a victim of hate because of the message of the gospel. The gospel turns people so angry and hateful against the messenger that they want the messengers put to death (even if they are family).
Matthew 24 (parallel verses).
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
What did we learn? 8 Sorrows are going to increase. 9 People will hate us to much they will deliver us up to be hurt and killed in all nations. 10 Many will be “OFFENDED” so gosh diddly darn people are offended. In their offence they will turn to hatred. Being offended must merit the execution of Christians. 11. False prophets are going to get worse so many are deceived about true Christianity. Just like right now when so many are confused about these verses. 12 There will be a lot of evil to the point love will be like cold wax so no wonder they want us killed. 13 We need to endure all these hardships for the same of Christ.
Matthew conclusion:
Jesus Christ is not bringing peace for us believers. He is turning nations, people an even our own family members against us to have us killed. He is ensuring the message of the gospel will be offensive to the point people will hate us wanting our heads. All these verses are about martyrdom and persecution we must endure to be worthy of Christ.
Luke clarified.
Luke 14 (surrounding verses).
24 For I say unto you,That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. 25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
What did we learn? 24 Jesus is talking about people who proved to be false converts who will not taste of his supper. 25-26 Oh see this verse looks like a parallel to Matthew 10:37. (He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me). That’s right in this verse Jesus increases the illustration by explaining that our love for others an self must look like hated compared to our love for God. Many will even feel hated because of the offensive message we preach and the way we must leave anyone at any time to follow Christ. To the world it may very well look like we hate our loved ones and ourselves when we walk out on them. I will talk about this more in the next verses. 27 We must bear our cross referring back to the fact people want us dead. 28-30 Jesus Christ is explaining we should count the cost of following him before following suit. The cost is that we must put him before everything even before ourselves and loved ones.
Luke 9 (parallel verses).
59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
What did we learn? 59-61 So I bring this verse up as just one example of a Christian having to forsake family to follow Christ. Leaving everything behind is part of the cost of following him. Many atheists actually use this or similar examples to show the “offensiveness of the gospel”. That is they see it as a reason to hate Christians which only ties back into the loop of the meaning behind the verses. These verses are the reason people will feel like we hate them because we exalt God above everyone (even ourselves). 62 Jesus Christ warns believers not to look back (like Lot’s wife) or we are not even worthy of Christ.
Luke conclusion: Christians must be willing to forsake all including our lives in every sense for the kingdom. We must forget honor, respect, dignity, our love ones, our own selves and even our own physical lives. We must never look back or we are not worthy of Christ. He must come first or we must forget the idea of Christianity. We must count the cost of being a disciple which is… it will cost everything.
Conclusions of conclusions:
The funny thing is when atheists bring up these verses they are only reminding us of two things.
1. Martyrdom and persecution. Everyone will hate us being offended to the point of wanting us killed.
2. The cost we must wager to follow. Following Christ cost everything from the opinions of men to our own lives.
I always read it that the Way, Truth, and the Life would turn the world on its head (“set brother against brother…a man’s enemy are the friends of his house”)
If you are an old Democrat I’m begging you to walk away from the new democratic party. It’s not the party you grew up with.
When I was a kid it was the Democrats that would give you the shirt off their backs to help you out. Today’s Democrat will tare the shirt from your back. They have completely lost touch with the working class man.
Even if you don’t like the Republicans vote red this November. America cannot afford for the New Democratic party to take root. It will no longer be America if they win. (The Democrats)
As a libertarian I believe that we can successfully create an opposition party with opposing American views once we finally put this new breed of Democrats out of the mainstream.
For the love of this country please do not vote blue. If you can’t vote red, don’t vote, but please don’t be responsible for the death of America.
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