Cofty, my thought when reading the Bible, is that the prophet's families shunned and left them for going against their beliefs at the time, not the other way around with the prophets wishing to abandon their own families.
It was the followers of the Jews, the Pharisees etc,. that considered Jesus, at the very least, a dangerous apostate. Anyone following Jesus would have been cast out of their own families. IMHO. So If the prophets, etc., wanted to follow Jesus , they had to recognize they would be forced into leaving their families, ( due to being cast out) . Kind of like how the xJWs have to know that by leaving, they risk being shunned and "cast out" by their own families.
Wasn't his hope the one of forgiveness of sins?