Daily Bible Reading 25th October 2026 // Luke 4:25-27
25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
To hate father and mother as such would be monstrous (cf Matthew 15:4ff). 'Christ', says Calvin, 'does not enjoin us to lay aside human affections, or forbid us to discharge the duty of relationship, but only desires that all the mutual love which exists among men should be so regulated as to assign the highest rank to piety. On the other hand, to exclude from Jesus' words any idea of literal hatred does nothing to blunt or compromise the terrific thrust of His challenge. The challenge remains, and it is this: Ties of kinship must not be allowed to interfere with absolute commitment to the kingdom. To 'hate' means to give the family second place in one's affections. In this connection we should remember Cowper's words
I hate the sins that made thee mourn
And drove Thee from my breast
And if these 'sins' should be family or family loyalty, then 'hate' is the word: G. Campbell Morgan comments: 'It is arresting that He did not name a low thing, an ignoble thing. He was facing the possibility, which often occurs, of a conflict between that which is beautiful in itself and loyalty to Him. Nothing is fairer, finer, more beautiful in human life than love of father, and love of mother, love of wife, and love of children, love of brothers, and love of sisters; and yet these fair things can, and often do, challenge our loyalty to our Lord. Thus He was declaring that if ever an hour strikes when there is a conflict between the call of the highest earthly love and the call of Christ, then there is only one thing to be done, and that is to trample across our own hearts, and go after Him, without any compromise and any questionings'. The 'good' and the 'beautiful' are often the worst enemy of the 'best'.