“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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 —
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.“
Matthew 10:34-39 (NIV)
A much earlier post (“Follow me, Soldier” – Dec 2020) on this blog dealt with one element of our passage, but in its Matt 16:24 version: “taking up the cross”. I suggested there that “cross” is wrong in this context, and this passage in Matt 10 supports that view. But to begin at the beginning…
Here’s how I think we might be reading this passage:
“You think I am bringing peace, but actually I am going to smite the earth with the sword and cause family divisions, because unless you love me more than your family, you are not worthy of me. If you don’t carry your own cross around, you aren’t worthy of me. Only by dying can you live.”
And here’s what I think we ought to be seeing:
“You are expecting my coming to usher in, or build, peace; but actually I am tossing a sword your way. And as Micah prophesied, the best of you is like a brier patch so the result of God visiting you is you fall into confusion and households fall apart. You already know you need to love your father and mother, but when it comes to the pinch, if you choose them over me and my call (to pick up the sword I tossed you), you are not worthy of me. If you fail to pick up your gear and follow me, you are not worthy of me. If you cling on to what you think is your life, you will lose it, but if you let go so you can follow, you will find fullness of life.”
I am not sure whether that seems a little different to you, but it does to me. So let’s unpack that a little.
Firstly, I don’t think Jesus is saying that He has come in order to divide households. Instead He is saying that this will be one consequence of His coming.
This is very clear if we read the passage in Micah 7 from which He quotes directly:
The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day God visits you has come,
the day your watchmen sound the alarm.
Now is the time of your confusion.
Do not trust a neighbor;
put no confidence in a friend.
Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
guard the words of your lips.
For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
Micah is clear: it is the bankrupt character of the people which causes them to be thrown into confusion when God visits them, not God.
We have a lot of latitude when translating verse Matthew 10:34
Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν.
That is because βάλλω, “I throw” covers a wide range of meanings. “Cast” covers most of the mainstream ones, which tend to ‘the military’ (cast a spear, cast a stone, cast the anchor); but it is used in a loose (possibly debased over time) sense as well, as in “bring”, “build” and so on. So I think we can say something like my version above – maybe “don’t think I have come to bring in (a reign of) peace; I haven’t come to bring peace but to cast a sword.” And yes, you could also say βάλλω can be used to say “smite with the sword” – unfortunately, the required preposition is missing, so that won’t fly.
But what we can tell is that tossing, or bringing, a sword is the equivalent of “the day God visits you” in the Micah passage, because in both cases the effect is the same. We may assume that Jesus means “I am lobbing a sword at you”, but I think “to you” is the only option, thanks to the rest of the passage.
If we leap ahead to v 38, we see the reference to picking up a cross. I won’t repeat all that I said in the earlier post, but there is no evidence that the people of Judaea ever once saw anyone carrying a cross, nor part of one, until they saw Jesus do so. What they did see, probably on a daily basis was a Roman soldier with a pole (τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ) over his shoulder, and loaded with all his baggage and utensils. This pole, or in Latin, furca, was one of the marks of a soldier on active service. And I believe it is this, rather than a cross, that Jesus was referencing. Now of course, when it came to it, everyone would see Jesus carrying His burden on His “furca”, also; the one upon which He would be nailed and die. But He wasn’t expecting anyone to guess that or make the connection ahead of time, nor was He setting execution as the norm for His followers.
So where does that leave us with love of Father and Mother, Son and Daughter? If we read carefully, we will see that Jesus is not here telling us to do anything other than love them all; BUT (and it is a big BUT) when it comes to taking up the sword, and picking up the furca and letting go of the little life you were trundling along in, and instead following Jesus: if you choose those loves over the love of Jesus then indeed, you aren’t worthy of Him.
And, Jesus knows, this is going to cause big trouble, division and even full-on warfare within households. Not by His intention, but not everyone reacts well when a family member chooses to follow Jesus over their love and obligations to family.
Although, of course, that doesn’t have to be the end of the story for those left behind.
So what is the sword? What, in fact, is the warfare Jesus calls us to? Not against people. Never. Quite the opposite; God is all about freeing people who are captive to His enemy. There is a section on this in the Seeing the Kingdom book; but for now, enough to say that this is about seeing and picking up the assignment God has given you, and learning how to persevere in it, so that you take ground and deny it to the Enemy.
So no, Jesus isn’t saying He came in order to break up happy homes.
Seeing the Kingdom 