“Do not suppose that I have come to
bring peace to the earth. I did not come
to bring peace but a sword… Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me.” Matthew 10:34-37
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he angels in the fields near
Bethlehem proclaimed that the birth of Jesus would usher in peace, and yet
Jesus as an adult insisted that He came not to bring peace but rather a
sword. How can the “Good News”
proclaimed by the angels really be so good
if Jesus Himself speaks such bleak words about family members being set against
one another? Jesus elaborates by
explaining that those who set out to follow Him will have to choose between
making Him Lord or making someone or something else Lord. He has already told
us four chapters earlier in His Sermon on the Mount that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the
other, or hold to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).
Jesus’
purpose in telling us these things was not to cause trouble but to prepare
us for it. He wanted us to count the
cost of being His true disciple before we set out on this road. He had already explained that there would be
few that would take this narrow road and many more who would take the broad one
that leads to destruction ( Matthew 7:13-14). Neither was He advocating
violence when He referred to the “sword,” but rather used it metaphorically to
describe how the choice we would make would divide—cut in two—some of our prior
relationships.
Indeed He did come to bring us peace—the very
best kind, the only lasting kind—and He continued to proclaim it right up to
the eve of His death: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to
you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be
fearful” (John 14:27). There could
be no more perfect picture of peace than Jesus spelled out for His disciples,
but He made it perfectly clear that it was His
peace, not the peace that the world offers and not the stereotypical definition
of peace that many earthlings embrace.
Think, for instance, of the Hippies of the sixties who in the name of
peace burned their draft cards, or many who every day, in the name of a “peaceful”
life, choose to end their babies’ lives before they see their faces or hold
them in their arms.
To be at peace with
Christ is to be at war with Satan and to be at odds with the world, but it is
the only peace worth having. It is the
only peace that follows us through all of life’s conflicts, diseases,
disappointments, and death. This is a
peace of mind and security of soul that can be possible only by means of a
Savior— and not just a pseudo-savior that brings a temporary, fading relief that leaves us worse off than before—
but a true Savior who serves as a
Peace Treaty between ourselves and
Almighty God who will judge the entire universe.
The
sword of Christ is a weapon of destruction but not the kind we need fear or
dread. Living the Christian life arms us
with the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God— which is vital if we are to cut
through the lies and discover the truth.
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