Peace or division?

37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. "

These are the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 10 as He is sending out the 12 disciples on an outreach missions trip! But how could Jesus say these words? They seem pretty strong right? In some other versions, it's even more harsh words like using the words, unless you hate your father or mother, you're not worthy of me. This sounds pretty harsh. Well, not if we look at the big picture. Let's take a look at the whole context of what He was saying here.

34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 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-- 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' 37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. "

So now we have another odd phrase here. "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Doesn't this seem like a contradiction? Especially since I don't ever remember Jesus getting into a sword fight! There was that one time that He drove all of the merchants out of the Temple, but He used a whip for that. Well, let's stop and think about what a sword does. It cuts things, people, and animals. It slices them. It DIVIDES them. What Jesus was saying here was that I am a dividing line in people's lives. People will either be for me or against me. Within households, some will believe and follow Christ, and others will reject Christ and those that follow. Jesus will be a point of contention between family members, friends, even countries! He's saying that you're going to have people that are close to you that will reject me and you will have to make a choice of who you love with all of your heart...those people or Him.

Let me ask you now. The line has already been drawn. Jesus has used the sword to make the dividing line. Who will you give your life to?

Have a great weekend guys!

Ron Foster