εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizo)
“to announce the Good News of victory in battle”
“If anyone comes to me
without hating (μισέω [miséō]) his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry (βαστάζω [bastázō])
his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
θεωρέω (theoreo)
(“to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning”)
Beyond any shadow of doubt, Jesus’ words proclaimed this Sunday are more than challenging. They are direct, demanding and leave little wiggle room to drift beyond the literal sense of the Sacred Text: “If anyone comes to me without hating (μισέω [
miséō] “to hate”) his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry (βαστάζω [
bastázō] “to bear”) his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (
Luke 14:26-27) While ‘bearing one’s cross’ is challenging enough, “hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life” has us scratching our heads asking, “What does Jesus want?” After all, for the vast majority of people of good will, to hate is an action we were taught
not to do by our Moms and Dads. Yet Jesus demands hating people that we love and depend upon the most.
Given the harshness of Jesus’ command, how do we take His words to heart and live them faithfully as His disciple? A tendency, admittedly not common, is to take Jesus’ words
literally (Catholic hermeneutics [the way or science of interpreting] listens and reads Sacred Scripture by engaging the literal sense. Catholic biblical hermeneutics does not listen nor reads Sacred Scripture
literally but engages the
literal sense. See
Catechism of the Catholic Church,
109-119.) The difference between literally and the
literal sense is night and day, and even that image that does not quite capture the distinction! The literal sense demands the background and context of the words, including the sense of the words as used at the time of Scripture’s writing and when uttered by Jesus.
Literally approaches Scripture with no engagement of context as well as no concern for the sense of the words in their original oral and written meaning. Generally this results in one listening and reading Scripture from one's perspective and knowledge of the translated words as used in present culture. Thus, taking Jesus’ words literally to heart would seem to call for engendering hostility between oneself and mother, father, brother, sister, etc… For the vast majority of Christian, ‘something inside us’ suggests that Jesus is not promoting familial bitterness, enmity, ill will or resentment.
On the other hand, while one may not engage the words of Jesus literally, one might say words to effect, ‘Oh, Jesus – because He is so nice – doesn’t really mean
to hate.’ The way of listening to the Word in this vein is like other difficult sayings of Jesus such as
Mark 9:42-48. This approach, which may be more common, simply dismisses Jesus’ words with the rationale, ‘He can’t possibly want me to hate mother, father, brother, sister and myself…’ and then I forget about the words and move along living life as if everything is fine in terms of my commitment to and with Jesus. Dangerously though, dismissing the words of Jesus means dismissing the catechesis He presents to live as a child of the Kingdom of God. Our task, then, is to dive deeply into the Text – being guided always in the grace and light of Holy Spirit – to learn the sense of His words and, most importantly, live them in our lives.
μισέω [
miséō], the Greek verb translated in the
New American Bible Revised Edition as “to hate,” appears in the Old Testament, especially the
Psalms as שָׂנֵא [śānē]. In many
Psalms, שָׂנֵא [śānē] defines the difference between friend and foe, all and enemy: “See how many are my enemies, see how fiercely they hate me.”
(Psalm 25:19) and “My enemies live and grow strong, those who hate me grow numerous fraudulently…” (
Psalm 38:20) Other examples convey a slightly different message: “You hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD.” (
Psalm 31:7) “You love justice and hate wrongdoing; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.” (
Psalm 45: 8). These are but two examples of many that present clear, direct and forceful distinction between the things of God (justice, trust) and the realities that are not of God (worthless idols, wrongdoing). Again, the distinction is clear, direct and forceful. There is no missing the point that when it comes to living the Covenant, idols and wrongdoing have absolutely no place in the life of the believer; period end of discussion and no questions. That’s it! Furthermore, as the Australian biblical scholar Fr Byrne notes, μισέω [
miséō] as a translation of the Hebrew שָׂנֵא [
śānē], is idiomatic and as anyone learning a new language knows well, idioms can be difficult to understand initially and master. When we say, “I’m all tied up at work,” it does not mean that I am physically restrained with ropes or chains. Rather, the idiom conveys quickly and clearly that I am exceptionally busy. When “it is raining cats and dogs,” I do not mean that furry quadrupeds are falling from the sky. Rather, it means that it is a deluge outside. With vivid imagery, idioms help to express quickly the intensity of a given reality and do so quickly.
Often in the Old Testament, the Hebrew שָׂנֵא [
śānē] is understood as the opposite of אָהֵב
ʾaheb. Usually, אָהֵב
ʾaheb is translated into English as “to love,” love in the sense of being an ally, friend or having affection for another person. As such, both
śānē and
ʾaheb are fundamentally choices between opposites.
śānē in this sense does not carry the present English sense of animosity, estrangement or rancor. It is simply a choice, albeit a clear, direct and forceful one, that I choose not to have affection for you, that I do not opt to have you as an ally or friend. The choice, however (and most importantly in the Biblical world), does not involve any stoking of hostility or resentment, just a decision for how one will live in relationship with others in a clear, direct and forceful way.
For Jesus, the challenge ‘to hate’ mother, father, brother, sister and oneself is all about a choice: a choice for being a disciple that must be clear, direct, forceful – and – may I add here, conscious and intentional. It has nothing to do with animosity, estrangement, hostility or rancor. Being a disciple of Jesus is NOT about an aimless, mindless nor heartless living of life, occasionally popping in and out of Church when I feel like it and/or trying to be a nice person. These are certainly good virtues for civil society and our world would be a much better place if there was more genuine niceness (emphasis on the word genuine). But Jesus demands more of His disciples, plain and simple. He demands a conscious and intentional decision for Him, done with the entirety of our being – body, mind and soul – to clearly, directly and forcefully choose Him first and foremost AND the consequent changes in life that must be made to make Him first and foremost. Vital, good and necessary relationships – spousal, parental, child, etc… - are lived by opting always for His spousal way of living, His parental way of living and His way of being of child, His way of being myself.
Podcast featuring an excerpt from Saint Basil the Great’s Concerning Baptism —
