我们都知道，在中国孝道是社会的核心。在《圣经》里，孝道也非常重要。圣经·旧约·出埃及记…教导古代以色列人：“要孝敬父母…”（出埃及记20:12）。违背此诫命的后果也很可怕。譬如，“打父母的，必要把他治死… …咒骂父母的，必要把他治死”（出埃及记21:15, 17）。
在《圣经·新约》马可福音，耶稣因为一些犹太教徒不孝敬父母，不供养他们，所以耶稣就责备了他们。（请参看马可福音7:8-13）。在以弗所书，神提醒基督徒：“你们做儿女的，要在主里听从父母，这是理所当然的。‘要孝敬父母…’”（以弗所书6:1-2）。
以上的经文让我们明白耶稣所说的另外一句话。在《新约》的路加福音第十四章，耶稣描述他的门徒：“人到我这里来，若不爱我胜过爱自己的父母、妻子、儿女、弟兄、姐妹和自己的性命，就不能做我的门徒。凡不背着自己十字架跟从我的，也不能做我的门徒”（26-27节）。此翻译很好；此翻译把原文的意思翻出来。那意思是基督徒要爱耶稣胜过爱别的——物和人。甚至于要爱耶稣胜过爱孩子、父母、房屋等。但是，希腊原文有“恨”字在内。（这是希伯来人的用语和说法——用的字是“恨”，但意思是“爱少”。）所以，中国标准译本把这句话翻译为“如果有人到我这里来，而不恨自己的父亲、母亲、妻子、儿女、兄弟、姐妹，甚至自己的生命，他就不能做我的门徒。凡是不背着自己的十字架来跟从我的，也不能做我的门徒”。除此翻译本以外，也有一些英语翻译本在翻译这句话时，是用 hate （恨）这个字。（我认为“恨”这个翻译不好！它把不必要的绊脚石摆在读者的眼前。）字是“恨”，但是意思是“爱少”的意思，所以翻译成中文就是“若不爱我胜过爱自己的父母、妻子、儿女”等。中国传统的和合本翻译的很好：“人到我这里来，若不爱我胜过爱自己的父母、妻子、儿女、弟兄、姐妹和自己的性命，就不能做我的门徒”（路加福音14:26）。
从此可知，耶稣的意思并不是说我们要恨父母。不！这是夸大之词 hyperbole 。耶稣强调他的门徒要如何地爱他，所以他用这句话让他们吃惊的注意他所说的。
您和我有时候也用夸大之词。譬如，朋友问你：“你热不热？”你回答：“我热死了！”你真的热到那个程度吗？——你会死吗？
在别的场合，耶稣也使用夸大词形容他的意思。在强调信心的作用，他曾经说“是因你们的信心小。我实在告诉你们：你们若有信心像一粒芥菜种，就是对这座山说：‘你从这边挪到那边！’，它也必挪去；并且你们没有一件不能做的事了”（马太福音17:20）。耶稣把事情夸大，使得听者吃惊，而因此就好好地思考耶稣所说的。
在今天我们所说的那句话，也是一样。耶稣不要我们恨我们的父母，相反 耶稣要我们爱父母，尊敬父母，供养父母。但是耶稣强调我们要爱他更多。基督徒要把耶稣摆在我们生命之上，摆在我们单位之上，摆在我们家人之上。在基督徒看来，耶稣比一切更加重要。就如有一首诗歌所说的，“耶稣比全世界更宝”。
你爱耶稣吗？
Hate Our Parents?
Did Jesus say that we should hate our parents? Filial piety is the nucleus of Chinese society. It is also very important in the Bible, as we see in Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother…” The result of breaking this command was “He who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death” (Exodus 21:15, 17). In the New Testament, Jesus reprimanded people who did not take care for their elderly parents; see Mark 7:8-13. In Ephesians 6:1-2, Christians are reminded “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’…”
The preceding Scriptures help us understand something else that Jesus said: “If anyone comes to me and does not love me more than he loves his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Also anyone who does not carry his own cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27 [E. Short’s translation of the Chinese Union Bible]). This is a good translation of the original statement because it brings out the meaning of the Greek. Some other translations, whether Chinese or English, use the word “hate” because the original Greek says “hate”—“unless one hates his father…” However, the meaning of the word “hate” in this verse follows the Hebrew usage and it means to “love less.” Thus in this case, the literal translation of “hate” becomes an unnecessary stumbling stone; the word is “hate” but the meaning is “love less,” so the traditional Chinese Bible translation of “If one… does not love me more than…” is a correct translation.
So, No! Jesus does not want us to hate our parents! Jesus’ statement is an example of hyperbole. To emphasize how he expects his disciples to love him, Jesus made an astonishing statement. We do the same thing sometimes, do we not? “I’m about to burn up!” Really???
There are other examples of Jesus using hyperbole, such as in Matthew 17:20: “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Jesus used hyperbole to cause people to pay attention and to think deeply about what he was teaching.
Jesus does not want us to hate our parents; he wants us to love, honor and care for our parents. But Jesus emphasized that he expects us to love him even more. Christians should put Jesus first in life; his place is higher than our own lives, more important than where we work, a higher priority than our families. As Christians sometimes sing, “Jesus is more precious than all the earth.” Do you love Jesus?