JESUS and the "SWORD"?
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. I have come to set the son against his father, the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the people of his own house. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."(Matt.10:34-39).
I was thinking about that word "sword". Jesus said that He has not come to bring peace on earth but a sword. What does the Lord mean by that?
We need to read and understand God's Word both from the direct context of the Bible passage and what the Bible says otherwise about swords, now in the New Testament. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace, and He is. And the peace that Jesus gives is the peace that Salvation gives. Man receives forgivness of his sins and are reconciled, and thus he has peace with God. This eternal peace is far more valuable than the short-lived peace on earth and in the soon-to-be-destroyed world. Jesus did not bring earthly peace in his first coming. However, in the second coming of Jesus, there will be both perfect peace on earth and peace with God when He returns and establishes His eternal kingdom.
And what about “the Sword”? We can read Luke 2:33-35: ”The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too".
The sword that Jesus spoke of in the first passage of the Bible we read concerns the difference between spirit and flesh, the heavenly and the earthly. The sword also means to repent, where you can choose Jesus and salvation, to believe and follow Jesus as Lord, or on the contrary to choose to continue your earthly and sinful life. Even Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, thus had to go through and experience the act of repentance, and in faith receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
That is why it is also said in connection with the passage in the Bible that the Lord separates family members. Where some choose to follow Jesus as saved new creations in Christ, and other members continue to live according to their sinful nature. So there will be a difference where you get a new spiritual family with new familymembers in Christ, and where you love Jesus more than your parents or your children, just what the Bible passage explains. Light and darkness are not compatible, and as God's Word clearly states in 2 Cor.6:15: "How do Christ and Beliar fit together?" Or what does a believer have in common with a non-believer?".
Many experience this as carrying the cross that the Bible mentions as part of following Jesus. Personally, I have never seen a frictionless family relationship between saved Jesus followers and other family members, quite the opposite in fact. We can also experience ourselves as earthly orphans or childless when the Spiritual sword separates. But then we have that new and eternal family, that is, God's family, with a heavenly Father and an awesome number of brothers and sisters in Christ! This is comfort now for you and me, a safe reality for ever, amen.
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