When you think about Christian values, you'd probably say family would be at the top of the list, right? Well, for Luke's Jesus, family is not one of the supreme values—familial duties are actually obstacles to becoming his disciple. Following Jesus quite simply increases the likelihood of familial conflict and strife. There is no way to make this less prickly of a fact. It's as hard to swallow now as it was two millennia years ago.
Questions About Family
- How does following Jesus conflict with familial obligations? How can we reconcile this today?
- How would the abandoned family feel about their loved one following Jesus? Does Luke anywhere recognize the family's point of view?
- What are the rewards for disciples who ignore their familial duties in favor of following Jesus? Why do they do it?
- How is the break from family an imitation of Jesus himself?
- Does this demand apply only in select cases or are there examples in Luke of disciples who still maintain their family connections?
- Is there any sense in Luke that the requirement to abandon family for following Jesus is valid only during the lifetime of Jesus? Or is it in any other way limited in scope?