Of Peace and Swords: A Meditation on Matthew 10

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, 

him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

But whosoever shall deny me before men, 

him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: 

I came not to send peace, but a sword.

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, 

and the daughter against her mother, 

and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: 

and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

He that findeth his life shall lose it: 

and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Despite the scurrilous claims of some, Christianity has never been about martial or political conquest.  Jesus never talks of sending His disciples into physical war or to build political kingdoms, and when He is arrested and falsely condemned to death by a horribly corrupt system of clerics and bureaucrats, though He is and was and shall ever be the King of the Universe, He did not permit His disciples or the angelic hosts of heaven to fight against His enemies.  Jesus did not enter the world so that He might play about in the world’s corrupt systems of human pride and power, granting them validity by His  participation.  Instead, He brought something much more powerful and irresistibly victorious:  His very Word and Spirit.

While gatherings of fallen men and women might think they wield power through their politics, their mobs, their building of nations and global corporations, their use of force to establish and compel their laws, it is really a shadow of much darker things.  Pagan religions and secular atheists have a bloody track record throughout history of using force to compel their will upon others— from the hundreds of millions slain by atheist dictators in the 20th century, to the global scourge of Jihadist Islam which has burned since the genocidal wars of Muhammad in the 7th century, to the various pagan wars of conquest by Rome and Greece, to ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, and others lost to the mists of time.  And of course, other civilizations on other continents trace a different bloody history of power and politics down to our present time, be they in Asia, or Africa, or Europe, or the Pacific Islands, or anywhere else.  In a dark and fallen world, the will to power drives wicked men to horrible deeds, where despite the trappings of royalty or dignity or affluence, the real motivations are pride, lust, greed, avarice, and hatred, imposed by the strong upon the weak by use of force.

Jesus did not come to validate such a treacherous, bloody, and demonic system, but to defeat it.  His Kingdom, in which His Word reigns as the font of all life and creation, breaks into our murderous morass not to seek peace through force of arms and political intrigue, but to provide the sword of His Word and Spirit to eviscerate it.  Jesus knew that there is no true peace in the reign of evil, nor is there eternal life where death rules supreme.  To each and every person caught up in the malevolent maelstrom of this dark and dying world, Jesus plunges Himself to save us, to give His life as a ransom for ours, and to give us the power to stand within and against the evil of our time by grace through faith in Him.  His living Word, incarnate and breathed out into our world, provides to each and every soul the means by which it can be born again unto eternal life, setting it apart from the judgment which shall surely come at the end of days.  This Word of Jesus drives back the demonic hordes, pierces the stony hearts of spiritually dead men, and brings forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to all who will repent and believe in Him.

This is the sword Jesus is speaking of in Matthew 10.  Not a bloody and gory sword like the pagans and atheists use to murder and terrorize, but a sword which cuts through the vanities and insanities of the world’s lies, bringing hope, restoration, and reconciliation with our Creator.  This is a sword that reaches the heart, the soul, and the mind, in ways that instruments of mortal war cannot.  With this sword there is no compelling of the fallen to compliance, but rather a calling of all men to live— it is a sword that gives life rather than taking it, and keeps at bay the agents of death who so despise it.

Such a distinction between life and death, good and evil, brokers no divided loyalties.  Either a person’s heart is yielded to the deadly evil of this fallen world, or it is yielded to the eternal life brought forth in Jesus’ eternal Word.  The heart is a very personal and individual territory, and none can compel it— but its affections and devotions are uniquely identifying features of every human being.  If a person is defined by aligning his heart and mind with the wickedness of the fallen world, he may find varying levels of success in this mortal life, but in the end, his wicked soul will descend to where all evil shall be imprisoned and judged for eternity, never again to compel or wound another living soul.  But those who are defined by grace through faith in Christ alone, who live not according to the wickedness of this fallen world but according to the Word and Spirit of Jesus, while they may find persecution and ridicule in this fallen world, their lives are kept and guarded forever by the Prince of Life.  Though the Christian dies forgotten and abused by this evil world, his soul continues forever in the blessed communion of his Creator, united with all others who live and abide in this faith, hope, and love, forgiven and reconciled by the holy blood of Christ.  Between these two fates there is no mediation, even as it is impossible to merge the holy with the profane, the good with the evil, the light with the darkness, or life with death.  Anyone who prefers the darkness of this world over Christ is unworthy of the life He brings to them, and such divisions may emerge in our own homes, our own communities, and our closest circles of friends.  To choose the death of this world may look like life for a while, but it is destined for eternal destruction; and to chose the Gospel of Jesus Christ may look like a path to death in this world, but it is always and only eternal life.

And so to you this day comes the sword of Christ’s Word and Spirit, calling you out of darkness and into His marvelous, life-giving light.  This sword may divide you from those who prefer the wickedness of a fallen and dying world, but it gives life to all who turn and believe in Him, and a fellowship of peace which the fallen world cannot provide.  Hear the Word of Christ come to you this day, that you may believe and live, and carry that sword of Jesus’ life-giving Word and Spirit to everyone you encounter.  For ours is not a battle of politics and temporal war, but a spiritual battle for the souls of all mankind. Amen.