It sounds harsh, doesn’t it? But Jesus is making an important point here. He would grant, I think, that family is important. After all one of the Ten Commandments is “Honor thy Father and thy Mother.” But when it comes to eternal things, just exactly how high does family rank?
The Gospel for this Sunday is one of the more difficult ones for us to accept. But that is because our view of reality is so limited. I often hear people talk about seeing their loved ones in the next life. In reality, I don’t really think that any of that is going to happen, or matter.
Of all of the people who have ever lived on this earth, Jesus has a very unique viewpoint. He came from eternity and He returned to eternity and he has offered to each of us a life in eternity. But we have no concept of eternity. For Him however, eternity has real meaning. And that is his point in this saying of our Gospel for this Sunday. For most of us there is nothing more important in this life than our family. What Jesus is cautioning us about is that “this life,” which is everything for us in the here and now, is but the blink of an eye in the total picture. He is asking us to raise our eyes up to see more than what we ordinarily see.
So, if we were to take the whole of our existence into consideration even the most important things in this “blink of an eye” would become mere trash in the grand scheme of things. Can you imagine that heaven might be so wonderful that the most important things in this life become worthless in comparison.
Are you going to see your family members in the next life? I think that Jesus would say that is a foolish question to ask. Those who even think about such things are thinking way too much about this life and far too little about the next. You might as well ask if we are going to have last week’s wilted lettuce in heaven.
So, my answer to this question has been shocking, I am sure. But that is exactly the point. Jesus was shocking in what He said because He wants us all to wake up to the reality that is before us.