The sword
This week is on Matthew 10:34-36:
These verses fall in the middle of a conversation Jesus is having about persecution and choosing sides. They're shocking because they don't line up with what we think of Jesus as being. How is it that the Prince of Peace hasn't come to bring peace, and that his followers may be separated from their loved ones, gunned down, tortured, imprisoned, slandered, etc?
The examples he gives are close relationships. Who turns in their own father? Who turns their back on their own mother? And yet that's what is brought into our lives when we become Christians and the society around us doesn't. The reverse happens too, on some level, when Christians would refuse to recant their faith in the face of torture or persecution. Who sticks to their faith when it means breaking their own mother's heart to watch them get nailed to cross? Who abandons their own friends and family to go off to some strange land where they could be killed?
The life Jesus brings is powerful and disruptive. It doesn't fit in with the way we are naturally wired to live. It doesn't seek wealth and political alliances. It doesn't forego love to seek justice. It doesn't try to protect itself. It doesn't preserve old institutions and traditions. It's a different thing.
There are a few times in the Gospels where Jesus has to sort of break things down for people and tell hard truths. People would come to him expecting that life as a Christian would be happiness ever after, but it's not always going to be like that. He urges us to count the cost, and be ready in case some of things that can go wrong do go wrong.
Are all of us going to alienate family and friends and be persecuted and endure hardship? Hopefully not. Chances are none of us may have to. But Jesus loves us, and wants us to know the truth. He's not going to sweet talk us with lies about how good things are going to be. He wants our decision to follow him to be informed and based on true love, not fairy tale dreams.
A sword is a violent thing. Picture ISIS beheading videos. The massacres in Rwanda. We're not being promised an easy soft life on the dole. Because of the contrast between Christianity and the world, things can turn ugly. The early church found that out too well, as the Roman government and Jewish fundamentalists joined forces to slaughter them.
We live a great life in the midst of God's blessing and the world's riches. It's not natural for us to consider the other side of the coin on our own. Jesus is so kind to tell people about it, even if it could make them not want to follow him. Our religion is a religion of truth and love. Our God is a God who is bigger than life or death or pain or suffering.
Pray we never have to endure the sword as Christians, but if it ever comes someday, make your decision now which side you'll choose. Will you stick with Jesus anyway, even if it costs?
“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.’
These verses fall in the middle of a conversation Jesus is having about persecution and choosing sides. They're shocking because they don't line up with what we think of Jesus as being. How is it that the Prince of Peace hasn't come to bring peace, and that his followers may be separated from their loved ones, gunned down, tortured, imprisoned, slandered, etc?
The examples he gives are close relationships. Who turns in their own father? Who turns their back on their own mother? And yet that's what is brought into our lives when we become Christians and the society around us doesn't. The reverse happens too, on some level, when Christians would refuse to recant their faith in the face of torture or persecution. Who sticks to their faith when it means breaking their own mother's heart to watch them get nailed to cross? Who abandons their own friends and family to go off to some strange land where they could be killed?
The life Jesus brings is powerful and disruptive. It doesn't fit in with the way we are naturally wired to live. It doesn't seek wealth and political alliances. It doesn't forego love to seek justice. It doesn't try to protect itself. It doesn't preserve old institutions and traditions. It's a different thing.
There are a few times in the Gospels where Jesus has to sort of break things down for people and tell hard truths. People would come to him expecting that life as a Christian would be happiness ever after, but it's not always going to be like that. He urges us to count the cost, and be ready in case some of things that can go wrong do go wrong.
Are all of us going to alienate family and friends and be persecuted and endure hardship? Hopefully not. Chances are none of us may have to. But Jesus loves us, and wants us to know the truth. He's not going to sweet talk us with lies about how good things are going to be. He wants our decision to follow him to be informed and based on true love, not fairy tale dreams.
A sword is a violent thing. Picture ISIS beheading videos. The massacres in Rwanda. We're not being promised an easy soft life on the dole. Because of the contrast between Christianity and the world, things can turn ugly. The early church found that out too well, as the Roman government and Jewish fundamentalists joined forces to slaughter them.
We live a great life in the midst of God's blessing and the world's riches. It's not natural for us to consider the other side of the coin on our own. Jesus is so kind to tell people about it, even if it could make them not want to follow him. Our religion is a religion of truth and love. Our God is a God who is bigger than life or death or pain or suffering.
Pray we never have to endure the sword as Christians, but if it ever comes someday, make your decision now which side you'll choose. Will you stick with Jesus anyway, even if it costs?
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