JWs, being the Bible literalists that they are, have not failed to pick up on an important aspect running throughout most of Jesus' teaching: Jesus predicted separation and discord within one's own family, even within his OWN. Heck, he snubbed HIS family, without their doing anything on record to warrant being shunned, but merely trying to protect him from his own delusions.
Matthew 10:34-39
Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
LUKE 11:27-28
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
LUKE 18:28, where Jesus says to sacrifice ALL earthly possessions and leave one's own family to put God and Kingdom interests first:
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Luke 14:26 The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 9:59-62
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Mark 3:20 shows his family saw he was disturbed seeing him going off the deep end with his Messiah Complex and turning into a Jesus Freak, and they knew what he was toying with dangerous seditious talk and tried to intervene for his own well-being (i.e. Jesus was claiming to be "the Messiah", which obviously Jesus later was cruxified for, by the Romans):
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family b heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
Jesus disowning his own family in the same incident, recorded in Matthew 12:46-50
46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
In one Apocryphical narrative, Jesus on the cross saw Mary and her sons had arrived, and shouted, "Take your sons and go away!"
One might get the distinct impression as if Jesus were advocating that uncompromising commitment to religion could possibly lead to breaking family ties, where one's salvation of one's soul was more important than anything? He knew the story of Abraham sacrificng Isaac, Jephthah's vow of his daughter to sacrifice her to God, etc. He knew God came before family. Worse is, Jesus said it with such CONVICTION, almost as much conviction that he stated that the end was near!
Unfortunately, sometimes people are going to use their religion as an excuse to destroy the only family relationships they'll EVER have, and the sad thing is there's really NOTHING ANYONE can do to help them, if they place the eternal fate of their imaginary soul above their own flesh and blood. People have to learn TTATT for themselves, and the destructive teachings of "WISE" Jesus often serve a convenient excuse for self-centered narcissistic sociopaths who POINT TO HIM as in blame for their inability to love, when they are really have no one ELSE to blame BUT themselves for an inability to show love.
Adam
