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Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Not Peace, but a Sword

Bible Verse:Matthew 10:34-38 (ESV)

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”"

Message: Wow. This disturbing passage could not be any more direct. But as clear as the words are in their immediate meaning, it creates a very difficult dichotomy of ideas within the framework of Christ’s teachings. Cain and Abel by Titian Cain and Abel It is by no means an isolated teaching. Many passages echo the same idea, or related concepts that seem difficult to reconcile with teachings on peace and love. E.g., “If any man come to Me and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26) Earlier in Chapter 10 we read the corollary of this; in verse 21, Jesus warned the apostles to expect hostility from their friends and family: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.” We are at war, in other words, with all nonbelievers. And at war with our own life! But then, we have the Christian teachings that seem to be the exact contradiction: Love thy neighbor; use your gifts to serve other; the Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve; etc. And we see Jesus enjoying life, and even, for a moment, regretting that he must die: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? ” (John 12:27) First off, there is a cardinal principle of reading Scripture we must always hold foremost, when a paradox troubles us: We cannot understand God. We are, at times, like children who have been told not to stick our finger in the light socket. Our minds are not always sufficient to understand the “why” of God’s actions or commandments. We must love Christ, first, foremost, and — on rare and painful occasions — only. When something stands between us and our love and obedience to Christ, that something must be dealt with; it cannot be chosen in preference. And the “somethings” that might stand between us and Christ include some things very painful to oppose: our natural love for our family; our appetites and comfort; even our own life. Lorenzetti|love of Christ When Jesus tells us we must hate our own life, he does not mean hate in the sense of actively wanting to destroy it. We do not “hate” our family or our life in the same way we “hate” evil: language is a clumsy tool, here. The Greek word translated “hate” clearly encompasses a much gentler emotion, something like “love less.” In fact, one might say that “love” and “hate”, especially when used in contrast, sometimes do not describe emotions at all, but rather, a decision to follow one thing or person and to disregard the other. We must be willing to give up family relationships to the degree they form a barrier between us and God. Christ does not mean we should call our family members ugly names. In fact, in Chapter 5, he told us, “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” This passage essentially develops specifics of the general rule of Christ’s primacy in our lives, if we would find salvation: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24) Christ does not mean we will feel the emotion of hatred against our own parents; but that we might be called upon to endure their anger, to refuse to accede to their wishes or attempts to impose family obligations between us and our service to God. See Luke 9:59-62.