People who eat bread in the kingdom of God are blessed. Some scholars think people will be blessed because they will be eating with all those who belong to the kingdom of God. More scholars think that eating in the kingdom of God will happen in heaven.
Jesus said “none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner”. He said this because the men who were invited refused when Jesus first invited them.
Jesus said that Christians must hate their families. This was a hyperbole. He wanted Christians to love him more than they loved their families (see: Matthew 10:37).
Jesus told people to carry a cross. This was a metaphor. Someone carried their own cross when they suffered or died for following Jesus. The cross was a metaphor for suffering and death.
When someone counted the cost of something, they would calculate how much money the materials to build a tower would cost. He would also calculate the cost of paying people to construct the tower. He would then know if he had enough to build the tower.
Jesus said that if a person did not give up everything, then this person cannot be Jesus’ disciple. Jesus was telling people the cost of following him. Some scholars think Jesus was clearly saying that a disciple must give up everything they own to follow Jesus. Other scholars think Jesus was saying that a disciple must not keep anything that would stop him from following Jesus.
Jesus said “he who has an ear, let him hear” because he really wanted people to listen to the things that he just said. Jesus knew that when he spoke, the Holy Spirit spoke too.