He Didn't Come to Bring Peace

Mat 10:34-35 LITV
(34) Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
(35) I came to divide a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law.

We think of Jesus as a peace-maker. We think of Him as non-confrontational, meek, maybe even timid. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What a statement! "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

As Christians, we think of Jesus as being our peace, and He is! But we have a somewhat flawed view of peace. Jesus was talking about Shalom - the Hebrew word for peace. Yes, Jesus was thinking Hebrew, even if it was being recorded in Greek. Shalom does not mean the absence of conflict, but rather that nothing is missing or broken. Wholeness. Nothing...is missing... or broken. Peace.

Think about it. That's not what we want when we ask for peace. But that's the peace that Jesus promises. Does that mean He doesn't provide rest from conflict? No! But when we ask for 'shalom', we are asking for the ability to sleep 'through' the storm. Good stuff! That is His promise to us, and yet, He said He didn't come to bring 'shalom' to the world, but the sword.

Jesus came to draw a line. The one side is for God, the other is for ourselves. Do we live for God? Or do we live for ourselves? The presence of the line brings the sword - conflict. It creates rifts in families, relationships with co-workers, friends, you name it. Can you see why Jesus did not apologize for this? It's the line that presents the choice that we must all make.

But realize this: no matter which side of the line we find ourselves on, there is conflict. Why not choose the side that offers 'shalom' in Him. The other side only offers death.