Peace or Sword

Scripture: Matthew 10:34-39 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. 35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’ 37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. (Matthew 10:34–37 NLT)

We could add this to the growing list of “Hard Sayings of Jesus!” Jesus came declaring the coming of God’s rule on this earth in the hearts and minds of those who believed and received his message. That put the followers of Jesus at odds with the nationalist Jews who believed they were God’s Chosen People and were good just because they were Jews. It also put them at odds with the moralists and legalists who believed that if they religiously kept the commandments of the Law, God was pleased with them no matter how prideful and hateful their hearts.

Jesus came to confront wrong thinking about God and man. Jesus came to expose wrongly motivated religion. He came to establish a new Kingdom without geographical borders, not ruled from the Temple at Jerusalem or the Palace in Rome, centered in the hearts and minds of those who heard and responded to his teachings. No wonder there’s conflict!

And then, this: 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. (Matthew 10:38–39 NLT) How do we measure the value of our faith? By what it gets us or by what it costs us? There’s times I’ve been tempted by the Health, Wealth, Prosperity message that says if I just have enough faith in faith, I’ll be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous in every way. I wonder how Jesus feels about that!

Prayer:

Father, This is a hard saying. It’s hard to hear and it’s hard to live. I loved my Dad and Mom, but I know the choices Jean and I made to leave them and live overseas, to not be with them in the final years of their lives were hard on them. And I know you loved them when you called Jean and me away from the US for all those years. I love my kids and I’m so grateful they chose to be followers of Jesus too! And I’m more than thankful for all the time I have with them and our grandkids. But following Jesus is first. Amen.