“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)
For eight weeks we considered our love of neighbor and then for eight more we examined what is utterly “impossible” for followers of Christ. With today’s thought we begin reflecting on the profound ways our imitation of Christ challenges us.
No one comes to Jesus as an empty vessel or blank slate for Christ to fill or write upon. We begin with a way of life already well-practiced and ingrained. We may think our sin is what stands in the way of being disciples of Jesus, when actually our beliefs regarding what is “good” can be an even greater hindrance to discipleship.
Once we understand that Jesus actually intends to convert us to be new people and not just save us from eternal damnation, then we expect him to help us abandon our sinful ways and learn to embody what is good. However, this may only be a superficial change of behavior and thought within the framework of our pre-existing worldview if we are convinced we already know good from evil. Perhaps what we think is good is not truly good, and Jesus would change us in ways that are unforeseen. We want Jesus to help us be better at living as we already believe we ought, and not to upset our ideas of how we actually should to live.
In this passage, Jesus states that he did not come to bring peace but a sword. He is saying stop assuming you know what I am here to do! The angels announced peace on earth and Jesus blessed the peacemakers, and we think we know what peace means. But Jesus cannot give us his peace as long as we remain certain we know what peace is. Similarly, Jesus is not helping us be better people as we think we need to be, but wants to alter our understanding of what it means to be the people of God.
Jesus says plainly that the peace he gives is not the peace that the world gives (John 14:27). The world’s peace is the one we expect, not the peace he gives. By saying he came not to bring peace but a sword is a way of illustrating how far our idea of peace is from real peace. Divine peace looks like a sword to someone hoping for the world’s peace.
In the same way, Jesus does not intend to help me become the better person I already believe I should be. The people we are to be in Christ may be as different from what we think as peace is from the sword. Our prayer becomes help us to become not what we expect, but people who are as you intend. And let it be.
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