Year C
Season after Pentecost
Proper 18 (23)
What I Am Learning
Jesus is on the road, and large crowds are following him. In the first-century Jewish world, it was common for rabbis to gather disciples—students who would listen, learn, and imitate their teacher’s way of life. But Jesus does something unusual: instead of celebrating the size of the crowd, he turns and warns them. Discipleship, he says, will cost them everything.
First Century Culture
When Jesus speaks of “hating” family, he is not rejecting family life. This is a Semitic way of speaking in contrasts. The Social Science Commentaries talk about the word “hating” really about offending expectations of their family. He is echoing the Torah’s command to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). His point is that loyalty to God’s reign must come first—even before family, possessions, or personal security. To follow him is to carry a cross, to take up the risk of living God’s vision in a world where power and fear still hold sway.
Within the Jewish Tradition
This was not a new idea outside of Judaism. Jesus stands within the prophetic stream of his people, where prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah called Israel back to wholehearted devotion to God and to God’s covenant of justice and mercy. His words here are not a rejection of Jewish life but a radical intensification of it.
The Challenge Then
Following Jesus was not about crowds or comfort. It was about costly loyalty to God’s dream for humanity—a dream that would clash with Roman imperial power and with any system built on domination.
The Challenge Now
We too are tempted to make faith a pathway to status, comfort, or control. Christian Nationalism offers this in obvious ways, promising privilege and dominance. But progressive Christians can fall into the same trap when we take pride in our enlightened values or distance ourselves from those we judge as regressive. Jesus reminds us that discipleship is not about superiority—it is about costly trust in God’s reign, lived out in risky love.
Implications for Leaders & Communities
In a collectivist society, loyalty to God’s reign was understood not just as an individual choice, but as a reordering of community life. Leaders and communities were judged by whether they embodied covenant faithfulness. For us today, the question becomes: can our churches and institutions cultivate a discipleship that stays relationally connected while also speaking hard truths? Communities need leaders who model this paradox—remaining present in love while differentiated enough to call people into change.
What I am learning is that discipleship is not cheap. It asks me to count the cost, not in terms of what I can gain, but in what I am willing to release. Am I willing to set aside comfort and security to risk relationships across divides? Am I willing to loosen my grip on possessions so that others might have enough? Am I willing to give up control so that trust and community can grow? Jesus is not looking for admirers—he is calling for companions who will join him in God’s healing work.
Question I am sitting with:
How can we stay connected to people while also engaging in the challenging conversations we need to have?
