In this week’s gospel lesson, Jesus offers some harsh words to people who have been sure that they are in the in crowd. They grew up in the right community, went to the right schools and professed the proper beliefs. However, they seemed to miss the point of relationship with God. This week, we are invited deeper to think through how we connect with God and what it means to truly be children of God.

Our understanding of the Outer Darkness usually mimics our understanding of hell. But are they the same thing? Is Christ really saying that the unforgiving slave will be thrown into a place of eternal torment? Perhaps it’s time we dig a little bit deeper into the “outer darkness.”

The word ‘slave’ is all but written out of the scriptural text by modern English translations. We rightfully have such an adverse reaction to the word, and we refute any encouragement to embrace slavery. Yet, Christ gives this clear imperative, to be first, you must become “slave of all.

Following Jesus is more tricky than many of us thought. It’s hard enough to follow Jesus’ teachings but what if Jesus’ teachings change throughout the Gospels? When we look back through Jesus’ teachings we see Jesus say and do things that challenge our notion of who Jesus is and possibly even contradict how we think of Jesus. ​As we look at today’s scripture, we’ll have to listen deeply to understand what was Jesus’ purpose when he tells the disciples to not visit the Gentiles or Samaritans.

Jesus says that anyone who wants to be his disciples must “hate his father and mother, sister and brother, wife and children.” How does this call to hate match up with Jesus’ command to “love God and love your neighbor”? Are we really supposed to act with animosity toward our kin? Where’s the good news in that?

Jesus tells the rich young ruler that to inherit eternal life, he needs to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. He then says it’s harder for a wealthy man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. These don’t offer much hope to a community that is filled with great wealth. So what is a wealthy community to do with Jesus’ critique of the wealthy?