Matthew 10:34 – “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’
37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
40 “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. 41 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. 42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” (NLT)
To understand this difficult passage, we must understand what the Jews of that day were expecting from a Messiah. They expected the Messiah to be someone who would remove foreign governments from the land, creating once again the nation of Israel. In verse thirty-four, the word that we translate as peace is not the peace of shalom. The word is εἰρήνη, which meant a state of national tranquility. To paraphrase verse thirty-four, let us understand it this way: “Don’t imagine that I came to remove Rome from our land.” Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that many were looking for, indeed, Jesus may not be the kind of Messiah many are still looking for!
So, what are we to do with the verses that speak of Jesus setting families against one another? Again, we look at the context of that day. The people were going to have to choose what kind of Messiah they were looking for, and what kind of Messiah they would follow. If one family member rejected Jesus because he was not a political or military Messiah, and another family member chose to follow the teachings of Jesus because they believed that he was a spiritual Messiah, it would cause divisions within the family.
This choosing still has to be made in our day. We have to choose what kind of Messiah we are looking for: a worldly Messiah who blesses us with things such as money, possessions, or status; or a Messiah who saves us from our sin and teaches us how to live with one another here and now. Sadly, families are still dividing over who and what to follow. Ultimately, Christians must love Jesus above all else. This may sound harsh, but placing Jesus as our Lord will then put every other relationship into perspective. Indeed, placing Jesus as our Lord will enhance all of our other relationships.
This day, we will all have at least one opportunity to make a choice. Let us choose Jesus over everything else.
Posted by Ramón Torres
So, my enigmatic question continues: why are the English interpretations not more clear on actual meaning? Why vague and frequent misinterpretation of actual, contextual original writings. You teach truth and correct interpretation, but so, so many “Christians” read other meanings into Scripture resulting in a “Church” with misguided doctrine/dogma. Thank you for causing us @ Wesley to actually understand the truth of Christ.
I choose Jesus.