One of the more popular passages of Scripture sited during the Christmas season is Isaiah 9:1-7. We love to explore the ideals of having a "Prince of Peace" in Jesus. But then there’s Matthew chapter 10... especially verse 34 where Jesus in his own words throws us a curve... "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."
Between Isaiah 9 and Matthew 10, we go from an encouraging uplifting vision in Isaiah’s prophecy to something more troubling in our relationship with the Son of God. What did Jesus mean when he said, he came not to bring peace, but a sword? What are we supposed to do with a Prince of Peace who says such a thing in a tone of warning?
During this time of the year it's normal for us to think of Jesus as the sweet baby in the manger. Our songs are about him being tender and mild, how he lays down his sweet head and no crying does he make, and all these wonderful images of this divine child. Those images and views are certainly appropriate at this time of year. But knowing what he himself said in Matthew chapter 10... we need to ask ourselves if we’ve suspended our perception of Jesus to that of a baby in a manger? Have we allowed our vision of “Jesus the man” to be distorted by our vision of Jesus the baby?
These are fair questions to consider, because I think many Christians tend to view Jesus as an adult the same way we view him as a baby. As an adult we picture him as being a mild, sweet-natured, and gentle Savior, somebody who talks softly, who never scolds... pretty much a big, grown-up baby. We rarely think of him as being aggressive or belligerent or combative or in any way socially impolite.
So this Christmas season we need to ask the questions... What child is this? Do we really understand who it is that we worship at Christmas? To answer that question, we've got to let Jesus out of the manger.
Jesus said he didn't come to bring peace, but a sword. If we go back 2,700 years, to the time of the prophet Isaiah... he was writing 700 years before Jesus came. He prophesied that when the Messiah comes, when this divine King is born, he will be the Prince of Peace.
That's an amazing title when you consider that at the time Isaiah was writing, the monarchs were seen as those who brought war and destruction. And here he says the divine monarch will come and be a prince of peace. If you know the Christmas story [Luke chapter 2] you know that on the night Jesus was born there were shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem, when suddenly the clear night sky exploded into a glorious light of angels that filled the sky. They declared to the shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest, and to men peace on earth." That's one of the most dominant themes of the Christmas season. You see it posted everywhere... Peace on earth. We think that Jesus came to establish peace, to bring an end to conflict and strife, to make our lives more comfortable, more safe and secure. But is that accurate?
Certainly Scripture says he is the Prince of Peace and he has come to establish peace. But in Matthew 10 Jesus says something very uncomfortable. It's challenging. It disrupts our assumptions about who he is and why he came. The chapter begins with Jesus selecting his 12 disciples, and then in verse 5 he sends them out on a mission to proclaim the kingdom of God throughout the villages and towns of Israel. He gives them specific instructions-to raise the dead and heal the sick and proclaim the Good News. Then in verse 26 he tells them that as they do this, they are going to be persecuted. People are going to hate them because of their affiliation with him.
Then on the heels of all that, in verse 34, Jesus says this... "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." What are we to make of that? What happened to our Prince of Peace? What happened to "good will toward men"? Jesus says he did not come to bring peace... but a sword. This doesn't fit with our view of Jesus in the manger, the sweet, innocent, meek, and mild baby. This doesn't fit with our cultural view of Jesus the man, who is equally as infantile and sweet and gentle. How do we reconcile that Jesus says he has come to bring a sword? What does that mean?
First, he's not speaking literally. Jesus is not literally wielding a sword. He never once displayed that sort of behavior or advocated for armed conflict in any situation. It's important to put his alarming statement in the context of the entire chapter. Starting in verse five, when Jesus is giving instructions to his disciples as they go out, he tells them what they should bring. He says don't bring any money, don't even bring a bag, don't bring an extra change of clothes, don't bring extra shoes, don't bring a walking stick, don't even bring food. He certainly doesn't tell them to bring a sword. So Jesus is not speaking literally. He's using the sword as a metaphor, as a symbol. What does it represent?
Most of us think of a sword as an instrument of violence. It's a weapon of warfare. So is that what Jesus means, that he's come to bring death and war and destruction to the earth? Some people think so. In fact, throughout Christian history some have interpreted this verse to justify war against non-Christian cultures. Others have used it to justify Christians killing non-Christians in the name of God for self-defense or to protect the church in some way. That's how it's been interpreted throughout history. Some boldly say that Jesus is pro-war. That's a misinterpretation of what Jesus is saying. Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus advocate violence. Nowhere is he pro-war. Jesus is not using the sword as an illustration of vengeance or violence or death in any way.
Remember, this is also the Jesus who told us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. And he modeled that for us as he hung on the cross, where he prayed to forgive those who were in the process at that very moment of murdering him. This is also the Jesus who told Peter to put away his sword, because those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. Jesus is not advocating violence or war. That's not what this symbol means. So what does it mean?
The key to understanding what Jesus means is in the word peace. Jesus says he has not come to bring peace. The word he uses here is the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom means peace. But the Hebrew word has a more nuanced meaning. It doesn't simply mean peace in the absence of violence. It's a peace that comes from wholeness, from being complete, completely put together, unified. It's the wholeness that comes when nothing is missing, when everything is one.
So what Jesus says is saying is this... I have not come to bring wholeness; I've come to bring the opposite. The opposite of wholeness or unity is division. He's using the image of a sword to illustrate... to divide, to cut, to sever in half. "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." I did not come to bring wholeness and unity, but division. This meaning fits the context of Matthew chapter 10. In the verses immediately before verse 34, Jesus warns the disciples to expect to be persecuted and hated because of him. He, Jesus, will cause reactions in people much like the results cause by a sword. His presence, his words, his activities will cause division among people. It’s as if HE becomes a line is drawn in the sand, and people will be forced to take sides... for him and with him or against him and opposed to him.
This imagery of a sword being an instrument of division is picked up by the author of Hebrews in describing the Word of God. It says the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, able to divide spirit from soul (Heb. 4:12). So the idea that a sword is to cause division or to separate or to sever, cut in half, that's what Jesus means. His presence in the world causes division. His presence on earth was not to bring peace, but cause separation and division.
What Jesus is saying is that his mission is to turn the world upside down. We see him doing that even from the moment of his birth. If you know the Christmas story you know that when King Herod heard that the Messiah, the divine King, had been born in Bethlehem, Herod was greatly disturbed, because Jesus even as a baby, as a newborn, was a threat to his power. He'd come to turn the world upside down. So Herod tried to have this child killed.
Also, when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus as an infant to the temple to be dedicated, an old man named Simeon recognizes that this baby is God's long foretold deliverer. While he's holding the child he says to Mary and Joseph, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel." In other words, this child is going to turn the world upside down. He is going to cause division among people.
Maybe it’s time we change our perception of Jesus during this season. At Christmas, we don't welcome and worship and celebrate the birth of a passive Savior, a pushover Messiah, somebody who just came to make us feel better. Jesus is the most radical person who has ever walked the earth. He did not come to bring peace; he came to bring a sword, to turn the world upside down, to radically alter the world, to dethrone every illegitimate king.
The reason why this is so threatening, the reason why Jesus turns the world upside down, is because to be in a proper relationship with God, to love him with all that we are, means removing things in our lives to make room for Him.
Every one of us has put something in the place in our lives that rightfully belongs to God alone. Just as Herod was threatened by the birth of this rival king, every one of us should be threatened by the birth of Christ, because he has come to dethrone whatever it is that dominates our lives that he alone has authority over.
That's why His coming into this world is like a sharp cutting sword... He came to radically alter the world and redirect our lives to God. Jesus came, not to bring immediate peace, but to divide us from our illegitimate allegiances. Jesus comes to ask for our full allegiance, and that will cause division both in us and in our world.
During this Christmas season, don’t be fooled into thinking that Jesus is a helpless, sweet baby, tender and mild, laying down his sweet head in a manger. Jesus is no such thing. He did not come to make us feel better about ourselves, but to demand our allegiance.
He came as a threat to every illegitimate “god we have placed before him.” He seeks to tear down every illegitimate thing, every attitude, every desire in our own lives, whether it be family or self or anything else. God alone can make such a demand.
