No saying or commandment of Jesus Christ is 'easy.'
His commandments are difficult. They're difficult to hear and even more difficult to follow, and frankly, at times, are even commands Christians can hate hearing. Jesus wasn't always gentle with His words, He wasn't a people-pleaser, and He most certainly wasn't politically correct. His teachings were countercultural to His day, and are even more so today. He taught to turn the other cheek, to forgive even in the most extreme cases in the most extreme ways and that He is the only Way to eternity. He gave it to us straight, no chaser.
It's not just non-Christians, who feel like Jesus' teachings are extreme at times. Even to Christians, there are times that call for head scratchings and, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" moments- Moments like these, when we hate what we hear, but are called to live accordingly anyway:
1) Love your enemies
"You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' but I say to you, love your enemies . . ." - Matt. 5:43-44
Humans hurt one another, and no one gets through life without enemies. We have national enemies, friends who hurt us and other people we don't always see eye to eye with. It seems ludicrous to love these people, especially when they cause us harm; however, that's what we're supposed to do, love and pray for them. That's a tough one to swallow.
2) Take up your own cross
"If anyone desires to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me," - Matt. 16:24
Following Jesus comes with a cost. Though the gift of salvation has been paid, it still comes with a cost- your life.
3) The 'Golden Rule'
"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." - Matt. 7:12
It's easy to be selfish. It's easy to only do what I want to do for me and forget about others; however, the moment I stop thinking of myself first and begin to think of others, the moment I begin to realize that there's more joy in selflessness that selfishness. It's hard to hear, but makes living so much better.
4) 'Hate' your family
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26
We all love our families, our friends and ourselves. It would seem like the worst thing to do to 'hate' the people we love, especially when Jesus says Himself to love everyone. It seems like a command that counters His other commands of loving thy neighbor. I don't believe we are to actually hate, but instead are called to put into perspective the importance of following Jesus, rather than following the world, even if it comes with following Jesus' commands rather than those closest to us.
5) Let the dead bury the dead
"Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God." - Luke 9:60
This sounds intense, doesn't it? No time for mourning or sorrow? It doesn't sound like it. Jesus reminds us of the pressing issue that this life is fleeting, and that the time to preach the Gospel is short. As intense as it sounds, I believe He's right: This life is temporary, and we shouldn't waste it. We should be ready to proclaim the life to come, not the life that has past.
I think C.S. Lewis had it right:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Jesus was either Who He said He was, or He was crazy. He wasn't just a moral teacher or a God we can listen to sometimes. We have to either take all He said seriously, or nothing at all, even if we hate hearing it.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Sometimes what we need to hear most is what we hate hearing.