Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 14:26

"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." — Luke 14:26 (ASV)

If any man come to me, and hate not his father.—Similar words had been spoken before, as in Matthew 10:37-39 (see the notes on that passage). Here they appear in an even stronger form, “not hating” taking the place of “loving more,” and they are spoken, not to the Twelve only, but to the whole multitude of eager would-be followers. Self-renunciation, pushed, if necessary, to its furthest extent, is, for Jesus, the one indispensable condition of discipleship. He asks for nothing less than the heart, and that cannot be given by halves.