Every now and again we run across a word from Jesus that just clanks when we compare it to what the rest of what he says sounds like. It jars not because it runs counter to what the world tells us, but because it seems to run counter to what Jesus says and to what scripture tells us about Jesus. We have one of those here today.
"I have come not to bring peace, but a sword," Jesus says, outlining the way his words will divide household members from each other to the point of making those under the same roof actual foes of each other. Is this the man Isaiah prophesied as the "Prince of Peace?" Is this the man to whose body Paul will compare the church as a model for understanding its unity in the midst of difference? James will tell us that if we say we love God but we don't love each other we're liars, but here Jesus says his coming will produce enmity even in our own housholds!
When I try to suss this out I come up with a couple of possibilities. One is that Jesus comes with this kind of division as a goal of his ministry and mission. It's on the checklist: Feed the hungry, heal the sick, start fights between family members. In favor of that idea we have this passage from Matthew. It's not one of those where the Greek is wonky, either, and we have to be open to other possible translations.
But against it we have the things I mentioned earlier. And as well, we have the passages where both Jesus and Paul tell us to love our enemies. Not to mention a good-sized handful of other New Testament mentions of Jesus that emphasize his desire for unity among the believers. If Jesus intended to bring division instead of peace I'm left pretty confused.
Of course, it's also possible that this kind of division happens not because Jesus causes it, but because he's come here to do other things and opposition like he describes happens as a result of it. I can make some more sense of things by seeing them in this light. If there is one thing for certain about Jesus' mission it's that he comes to bring truth -- both by teaching it and embodying it. In John he will even say he is the truth, along with the way and the life. As for his teaching, how often does he begin one of his lessons or parables by saying, "Truly, truly I say unto you...?" Both bringing truth and being truth are essential elements of Jesus mission during his time on Earth.
And humans being what we are, claims of truth are one of the most certain ways to create division between people. In fact, most adult disagreements root in different understandings about what is true. Other disagreements, of course, root in whether or not she's touching me, he's sitting on my side, or she got the bigger cookie and so on. It's not that adults can't act that childishly, but we generally expect them not to.
We expect them to disagree about what is true. Let's take politics, since we can't apparently disagree about that without being ugly to each other. People who support President Trump think that, on balance, his term in office has benefited the country. They're not happy with everything he does or says and they may even dislike some of it pretty strongly. But on the whole they think he's a net positive.
Detractors, on the other hand, may like this or that policy goal or outcome but think that overall his term has been a net negative for the nation. This is what they hold to be true. As these things go, we could say that the supporters are wrong or the detractors are wrong or maybe even that both of them are wrong. But since they make oppositional claims about the truth, at least one of them has to be wrong.
The truth about Jesus creates the same kind of division. But at the same time, it creates the responsibility for disagreeing without disagreeability, which I do not know is a real word or not but is still a real responsibility. Jesus is clear that he will come with claims about truth, both in what he teaches and in who he is. That can't happen without disagreement. Jesus says he is the way, the truth and the life. There are people who believe otherwise, meaning our claims about the truth differ from theirs and can't be reconciled away without weakening the truth we claim to hold.
But do you and I, Christian, need to win an argument about the truth or do we need to open a door for Christ to win the person with whom we disagree? Do we need devastating comebacks and invulnerable logic, or do we need the heart of the Savior who washed Judas' feet? Will we speak the truth, or will we speak the truth in love?
Jesus said he came to bring a sword. He never said we had to pick it up and use it.
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