Matthew 10:34-42: Bringing the Sword!

Lectionary Cycle Year A: Seventh Sunday After Pentecost:
Matthew 10:34-42 (Read it on Bible Gateway)
Bringing the Sword
In perhaps one of the most controversial selections of the Gospel, we encounter a Christ who will not bring Peace, but will bring a sword, will divide families and who denounces anyone who doesn't put him above all others to be unworthy of him. This hardly seems to be the Prince of Peace that we find portrayed elsewhere.

However, it is important, as always with Scripture, that this passage be taken in the context of its surrounding verses, the ones we spent the last two Gospel readings going through (See Devotions: Matthew 9:35-10:20 & Matthew 10:5a, 21-33). By looking at that context we see that Christ here is not talking about his own ultimate goal or purpose, but the unfortunate reality that will often swirl about it.

Christ did come to bring peace. He came to bring the kind of peace we can find in being freed from our slavery to sin. He came to bring the kind of peace we can find when we truly accept the forgiveness he offers to us for those sins whose burdens we've carried around all our lives. He came to bring peace between those of faith and God, so that they could grow closer together then anyone had perhaps imagined. He came to bring peace between those willing to lay aside their differences to join together in faith, thus Gentile and Jew, ruler and slave, rich and poor.

However, this gift of peace can be sharp as any sword, for its presence will nevertheless bring division. Those who remain trapped in their sin will be bitter towards those freed from it. Those who cannot accept forgiveness will be critical and judgmental of those who do. Those who denounce or defy God will thus denounce and defy God's followers. Those who cling to their differences, their petty divisions and boundaries will turn against those who seek to tear them down, even in the name of peace.

As we've said elsewhere, Christ never sugar-coated the ramifications of following him. Here, he makes it very plain that there will be a heavy price to pay. His words were of course born out in his own life and death. He spoke of peace and love, he healed and helped make whole. He acted in compassion and love to those in need. As a result, he was maligned, hunted, arrested, brutally beaten and tortured then publicly executed while being mocked. He came in love and instead received a great deal of hate in repayment. His words here are a warning to the Disciples that they would face the same.

It was true then, it remains true today. If you're involved in any capacity in some type of critical outreach ministry, with lofty goals of bringing peace and healing, it is almost guaranteed that there will be a highly vocal and even perhaps mean-spirited opposition. Homeless Shelter? Rehab Clinic? Counseling for women who've gotten abortions? Street outreach to youth? Someone will oppose it. Either because it spends money best spent elsewhere, they don't want it in their neighborhoods, or they don't feel the target audience deserves the investment. If you're part of any Church which is active in the community or involved in witnessing to the community, there is no doubt there will be someone opposed to it, who will complain, lobby, or just bad mouth those involved as a result.

Why? Because those who are not of the mind of Christ don't understand it and more, often operate under principles diametrically opposed to it. So, when Christ says he comes to bring a sword, he is warning the Disciples, and us, that our seeking to be faithful will bring division and conflict because it will pit us against a world unprepared and unwilling to not only accept the message and life we bring, but, at times, will be just as unprepared and unwilling to co-exist with it.

Christ here is demanding absolute devotion from those who choose to follow. He uses the famous phrase of taking up our cross and following him. To us modern Christians, when we think of a cross, we most often probably picture the cross at the end of a necklace, or a cross ornament, or the cross on the altar at our Church. However, to the people of that time, the cross meant only one thing...a painful death. It was a symbol of fear and pain. Christ calls his Disciples to be willing to die for the faith, to be willing to die for him...actually to be willing to die with him, because he was willing to die for us. He gave us absolute devotion and he expects it in return.

A lot of Christians struggle with that and many of us would love to be able to gloss over these verses, because they make us feel uncomfortable. That level of devotion, that absolute commitment, to love Christ and God greater than our own families...its intimidating. Yet the teaching is there and that means we have to look at it, weight it and decide what that means for us.

For the complete listing of our Devotions, see our Devotions Archive