BUT this is not what Jesus is saying here, Jesus could not have been saying we should not love the members of our families when it is clear from the scriptures that he loved His family and those of His disciples. For example, in Matt. 8:14–15 when Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, He healed her. In John 19:25–27, when Jesus was about to die on the cross, He handed over His mother to one of the disciples to take care of her so that she would not suffer.

Given these demonstrations of Jesus, love to His family and that of Peter, Jesus could not have meant that we should hate our families as He can not contradict Himself. What Jesus is saying here is that He must be number one in our lives. When He tells us to do a thing, we must do it, no matter what others are saying.

When He mentions hating the family in this passage, what He means is that if there is a conflict between what He tells us to do and what our family wants, we should do what He tells us; In other words, we are to obey Him above our families because the members of our families are mere human beings while Jesus is

God. How then can we disobey God and listen to human beings?

Therefore, the first mark of a disciple is following the instructions of God, no matter the difficulties he is going to encounter.

In verse 27 of our text, the second mark of a disciple is bearing the cross of Jesus Christ. During the time of Jesus, a cross was a mark of shame because only the most hardened criminals were killed on a cross. The cross was made of crude wood and was very ugly, in addition to its being heavy. A disciple of Jesus must be able to carry his cross daily. In other words, he must not be ashamed of being a Christian or a disciple. He must be ready to identify with Jesus and

Christianity 24 hours of all the days of his life. He must not, for once, be ashamed to be called a Christian.

We Christians must know that no excuse will be tenable before Him because whatever the Lord is asking us to do, He knows that we have the capacity to do it. Our God is not a task master. In Matt. 11:30, Jesus says His yoke is easy and His burden is light. This means that if we are ready to follow Jesus at all cost, He will make the Christian life easy for us.

The third mark of a true disciple of Jesus is that he is conscious of the cost of following the Lord He does not take chances when it comes to spiritual issues. Rather, he consciously plans for success.

In verses 28:32 of our text, Jesus says “For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it - lest, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying ‘this man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000, or lest while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.”