Letter to the Editor

Editor:
On the Religion page of the Jan. 26, edition of The Leader-Union, the Rev. Kurt Simon has written another scholarly article.
The passage he refers to in Luke 14:25-26 has always confounded and disturbed me. How does “hating your family” square with the loving Jesus I was taught. Another similarly confusing text is in Matthew 10:34, where Jesus is quoted as saying, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” This seems to be at odds with his name of the Prince of Peace.
But, back to the Rev. Simon’s text. Knowing that various translations can present problems, he traced the word “hate” back through the Greek and then Aramaic, concluding that the original meaning may be closer to “love less.” This softens the blow, suggesting that loving Jesus more is the priority.
My good friend and retired Methodist minister, Floyd Hale from Mt. Vernon, has recently completed a book called “How Jesus Was Lost in the Bible,” in which he addresses this same text. He would agree, in essence,  with Simon’s explication, but takes it further by claiming that Jesus was speaking to his disciples. He was training them for the hard road ahead, and anyone who signed on as a disciple must be fully committed to the cause.
Jesus was not anti-family, but he was dead serious about his mission.
Mike Travelstead
Vandalia