Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his [father] and his mother as I do cannot become a [disciple] to me. And whoever does [not] love his [father and] his mother as I do cannot become a [disciple to] me. For my mother (of this world gave me death) . . . but [my] true [mother) gave me life.”
As we have said before, the word translated as “hate” may also be translated as “detachment” or “to put aside.” The Anointed One, teaching the doctrine of Divine love, surely would not encourage us toward any form of hatred. For fear, leading to anger, which in turn leads to hatred, is the path that leads to the dominion of the evil one and place of anguish. No, indeed, the Lord is not speaking about hatred, but rather about self-cherishing and liberation from such ignorance. Your material mother and father represent the foundation of your self-identity with name and form, and thus the root of your self-cherishing. Hence, putting aside your grasping onto your physical family in an egoistic way reflects the loosening of your grasping at name and form so that you might cleave to your heavenly soul and to the Lord as your refuge.
More than this, the Master is speaking about striving for a love that manifests equality, an equalizing wisdom. The nature of the love of the Messiah is such that apostles of God do not love their mother more than they love the stranger in the street. They do not love their father more than even their enemy, but they love every living soul equally with the love of Christ. Now I shall not say that I, or anyone, can love in this way. Rather, the Christ-Spirit in me and in you can love in this way—a love that is perfect and true, knowing every living soul as mother and father, brother and sister equally, and seeking a greater good for one and for all. It is a love that comes through the Grace of the Holy Spirit and is perfected in the Holy Spirit, although on my part, I must let go of self-cherishing and favoritism in order to let this holy love of God shine through me.
Lord Yeshua did not give his life as a sacrifice only for his family. He did not live his life only for his own benefit and the benefit of his family. Nor did he make himself a sacrifice only for the faithful and righteous, but also for the unrighteous and his enemies. The Anointed One made himself a holy sacrifice for one and all, so that all who would seek their heavenly soul and cleave unto him might share in his resurrection and have eternal life. He has given his love, his life, in obedience to the Lord our God, for the salvation of every living soul. His love and his salvation are universal, and such Divine love is our noble ideal as his disciples. It is the only way to live.