A Year in Luke/ActsNäide

The thought of hating our father and mother, as Jesus instructed in verse 26, is appalling to our modern ears, yet, similarly, we can turn to Mark 9:43-47 and see another example of Jesus using hyperbolic language. This strong language is meant to show how much we must truly love Jesus to be His disciple. As His disciple, our devotion and love for everyone else should be great—as Jesus did preach a Gospel of love and compassion—yet it still must pale in the comparison of our great love for Him. To love Him best, we must be willing to “consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as [our] Lord” (Phil. 3:8a).