7.16.20 Matthew 10:34-39
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 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—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
When Peter drew his sword and chopped off Malchus’ ear in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus rebuked him. “Put your sword away! Those who live by the sword die by the sword!” In the Sermon on the Mount He also told us to “turn the other cheek” when slapped in the face. Paul also wrote in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, maintain peace with everyone.”
Yet here Jesus seems to contradict Himself. He says that He specifically came to bring a sword between FAMILY members. The Old Testament lesson has the Levites grabbing swords and going through the crowd, killing their own fellow Israelites, and Moses COMMENDS them for it. It seems so contrary to what we believe and practice. Nonetheless, today we seem to encounter a militant Jesus.
The Militant Jesus
Let’s hear what Jesus had to say again -
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
Family can make some of the tightest relationships in the world. Brothers and sisters can fight like cats and dogs but then grow up to be the tightest of friends. Jesus talks about the relationship of the man to the father, the daughter to the mother. Parents can have a great influence on their children, and that’s how it’s supposed to go. Children are supposed to submit to parents and learn from their examples. It should be a tight relationship. But Jesus said that He came to split this relationship in two with a sword.
It begs the question, “Why?” Is Jesus like a young child who demands you only have one friend and gets jealous every time you talk to someone else? We know that’s not the case. Jesus is the One who GAVE us mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. He COMMANDS us to love them and cherish them. The contradiction goes away as Jesus explains what He means in vs. 37, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” The key is in those three words, MORE THAN ME.
You can see this illustrated in modern day relationships. If your spouse wants to hang out with his old friends and go golfing one night a week, you might be fine with that. But if he ups it to two nights a week or three? Or what if your spouse tended to get out of control and have too much to drink when he hung out with certain friends? So it’s not that God doesn’t want us to love our fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. He doesn’t want our relationship with our family to come ahead of our relationship with Him or ruin our relationship with Him. When that happens, you need to put Jesus first.
It’s a tough thing, but history is full of people who stood up AGAINST their family. Korah was a spiritual leader of Israel who led a rebellion against Moses. God opened up the earth and swallowed him and his family alive. Yet we still have Psalms, written long after the time of Korah, that were written by the “Sons of Korah.” If that is the same Korah, then he may have had descendants who DIDN’T follow their dad and weren’t swallowed by the earth. They loved God more than their own father!
Josiah’s father was Amon. 2 Chronicles 33:22–23 says that, “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the LORD; Amon increased his guilt.” Yet Josiah broke off from his father’s and grandfather’s ways and became the most faithful king Israel ever had.
Martin Luther is another example. His dad wanted him to be a lawyer. Instead, Luther decided to become a priest. His father remained angry with Luther long after the fact. Yet Luther stood firm in his decision, and where would be without Luther’s teachings on justification and faith?
These are all magnificent examples of people who stepped out from their family to do something bold and faithful. Yet how often do we fall short? Family can really get in the way of faithfulness. We can say we are against divorce, for instance. But when your child wants to divorce his or her spouse because they don’t get along, do you then find a reason why that divorce was ok? What if you never liked the spouse? Are you then happy for the divorce and do you encourage it? Is it wrong when someone else does it, but suddenly becomes ok when your family is involved?
Here’s the real problem: it takes strength to stand up, and the tolerant ones get to be the good guys in our society. Nobody gets mad at them. Everyone loves them. They don’t have to say anything to anyone. They’re the lovers, while the ones who speak against something: almost anything, well they’re the intolerant haters. They’re the holy rollers. They’re the judgmental jerks. Who wants to be that? It’s so much easier to mind your own business. Keep your head down. Push the ignore button. That way, at least, you’ll still have some kind of a relationship with them. You get to love them and let them ruin their lives. Sometimes you get to love them right into hell. But at least they didn’t get angry at you. At least you were still friends.
But then you hear Jesus say, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” How intolerant, right? Maybe you’re not worthy of Jesus. I know I’m not. I’d rather not bear that cross. I’ve smiled and waved more times than I care to remember or could remember. I’ve avoided that cross for all it’s worth.
Isn’t it IRONIC is how the LORD saved us from what we’ve done? He couldn’t tolerate us as we are. Therefore, the God who says to put HIM first, decided to put US first. God plotted from eternity to send Jesus to the cross to die in our place. And then, what is more, He chose to hate His own Son in our place. So the only way He could save us from our sins was to put Himself under us, in a sense. Jesus put His own safety and well being last by allowing Himself to be crucified. This was the only way to peace with Himself, and with us. We see the awesome sacrifice that Jesus made for us - how He put us first. It makes us feel so awful for putting Him through that. But then we know we’re forgiven for the many times we’ve put Him last.
So how do we live? Jesus concludes, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It isn’t a choice between living and dying. Everyone lives and dies. It’s a distinction between finding your life or losing your life.
What is it that makes you who you are or what you are? What drives you to be you? Jeremy Schaap’s father was Dick Schaap, a famous sports reporter. He decided to stick with the sports reporting and live up to his father’s name. When he interviewed Bobby Knight, Bobby became angry with him and said, “You've got a long way to go to be as good as your father. Keep that in mind." Jeremy wanted to follow in his father’s steps. He had some big shoes to fill, and I think he did a good job at it. Bobby Knight didn’t. Not everyone does.
It sometimes kills people when they can’t be what they always wanted to be. A mother or father, professional athlete, and so many other things. Their LIFE revolves around their job or their title, and they lost sight of Jesus in the process.
It could be another scenario. The young man or woman who goes to college and is told to be whoever he or she wants to be. Throw aside the dictates of your conscience and the Bible and explore your sensuality. Live life to the full. It doesn’t take long to throw aside all of their training and “find themselves,” often making terrible decisions for themselves. They look at this faith as oppressive and humiliating. So they ultimately turn in on the self. They claim everything is THEIRS. MY life. MY choice. Me. Me. Me. You can’t CONTROL me! And sad for them, there are consequences. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
The whole nature of the Gospel is, “Here is Jesus. He is your life. He is your salvation. He is your forgiveness. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is your Creator and the One you will face at the end. The beginning and the end. He is your everything. He is also your friend. Everything you have is FROM Him. Everything He gives you is to be used to HIS glory.” Now, those of us who enjoy these gifts and see Him as our all, we enjoy these gifts. We don’t have a God who is never satisfied with who we are or what we do. He loves us and accepts us in Jesus. We are glad to be called His children. Since Jesus gives us identity, we can now live for others, and not worry about whether we are RECOGNIZED by the world or not. We can enjoy our family in perspective - not making them the end all - but seeing them as gifts from God. We are free.
Jesus lost His life to give you life. This freedom wasn’t free for Jesus. He had to fight for it. The Holy Spirit still fights for it within you. We need God to militate within us. It used to be that those who were in military positions were admired in our country and looked up to. Now they are castigated and spat upon as the warmongers. It is sad to see, as the military is decimated, it isn’t going to lead to more peace. It will only lead to unrest. We need powerful peacemakers in our society. Peace is only found when the law is enforced.
It might seem strange to encounter a militant Jesus in today’s text, one who brings a sword between family members. We don’t like war. We don’t want it. But sometimes, it’s the only way that brings true peace. Jesus understood this, and that’s why He came here, to wage war against sin and death, to break into our sinful family and become our God and Lord. Thanks be to God, Jesus came to give us life, through His death, the most militant act our earth has ever seen on the cross. This was the cost of peace. Life through death. The militant Jesus put us first, so that we could be forgiven and saved. He cut through our sinful ties and bound us to Him. That is why He is our ruler, our leader, our King, our Savior, and our God: the militant Jesus: who died for peace. Amen.
