October 11, 2021 - Jesus, a Sword of Division?
Matthew 10:34-39
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter
against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s
enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me. Whoever does not take up
their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for
my sake will find it.
“I did not come to bring peace, but
a sword.” This is one of the sayings of Jesus
that many Christians would like to ignore.
Other Christians over the past two millennia have used to justify
violence. Neither of these approaches is
helpful. When Jesus says something, we
should not ignore it and it is clear from the trajectory of all Jesus’s
teachings that he is not one to incite violence. So what exactly is Jesus saying here?
As is almost always the case, we
have to look at the larger context of what Jesus was saying. Following His statement that he brings a
“sword,” he talks about family divisions.
And my guess is that many of us know all too well how this works. Many families have experienced division
because of religious faith. I had a
friend my freshman year of college who was disowned by his Jewish family
because he made the decision to become a Christian. I know Christian families that have been
divided by what the correct Christian position on a particular issue should
be. I also know many families who know
that when they get together, discussions about religion (and politics) are
off-limits.
Jesus saw all of this coming. He was warning his disciples (and us) that
when we decide to follow Jesus, some of those closest to us will not understand
and may not share our faith. The “sword”
here is not meant convey violence, but division. Following Jesus has some unintended
consequences and Jesus wants us to be sober about that reality. Though He does not address it in this
passage, his teaching elsewhere should guide us to continue to love and strive
for peace with those loved ones who do not understand. But in doing so, we are to never put our
loved ones ahead of Jesus.
That for me is the hardest part of
this passage. Jesus warns that following
Him will put us at odds with those we love to the point that we will be tempted
to abandon our faith in order to make peace.
The hard teaching here is to never do that. Always keep Jesus first. Keep loving who you love, but love God
more. If you are forced to choose,
choose God. There’s no way to soften
this. It’s really hard.
However, there is some logic to
this teaching if we think about it. My
faith and love for God have actually strengthened my ability to love
others. One reason for this is that God’s
love is steadfast and completely reliable.
It never fails. As I learn to
trust that, I can love others better because I never have to doubt that I am
loved. God’s love frees me to love
others without fear of being rejected because I will always enjoy the perfectly
faithful love of God. If I abandon my
faith in God in order to make peace with my family, I have given up my one
completely reliable source of love. This
is because, while my family does love me, they are human. This means that their love for me will falter
sometimes. They will let me down as I
also will let them down because I am human.
It’s only a matter of time before that happens. It makes more sense to have held onto the
perfectly reliable love of God when my other loves fail me. In fact, God’s love for me will actually
empower me to keep loving them when their love fails.
Remembering the Great Commandment (Matthew
22:34-40), we have to remember that there was a specific order given. When Jesus was asked what the most important
commandment was, he said “love God.” He
then said that the second one was to love people. Love God and then, love people. We could even say, love God so that we can
love people more.
Question: How has
your faith enabled you to love others better?
Prayer: God, thank
you for loving me completely and faithfully my whole life. Help me to always stay true to your love so
that I can love others better. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Spend
some time asking God to help you connect more deeply to God’s love for you.
Song: Dear Ex-Best Friend
– Tate McRae
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