Matthew 10:34-42 (Pentecost 5)
St. John, Galveston 6/28/26
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The message this morning is based on the Gospel reading from Matthew 10, but especially theses words of Jesus, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
An enigma is a person, a thing, or a situation that is mysterious, or puzzling, even impossible to fully understand. At the end of WWI, a German engineer by the name of Arthur Scherbius invented a coding machine that enabled the German army to send secret messages to it’s various military branches. The messages were said to be undecipherable, and so the machine invented by Scherbius was known simply as “Enigma.” Some of you may know the story of the British mathematician and computer scientist, Alan Turing, who developed a machine that broke the Enigma code, which aided the Allied forces in defeating Axis powers in WWII.
Bible scholars and theologians have long recognized that some of the things that Jesus says in the Scriptures are enigmatic, that is, they are mysterious and even puzzling. In fact, some of Jesus’ words are so puzzling that, back in 1983, F.F. Bruce, a renowned Bible scholar, wrote and published a book titled, “The Hard Sayings of Jesus.” The book dealt with Jesus saying things like, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” No doubt those who wish to criticize the Bible, without delving into it deeply, find these sorts of passages to be very troubling, even contradictory to other things that Jesus said during His life and ministry.
As difficult as Jesus’ words can be to understand, He doesn’t ever contradict Himself. We say and believe that categorically, because it is not within the nature of God to contradict Himself, just as it is not within the nature of God to tell a lie, or to deceive. So, how are we to understand the mysterious and puzzling things that Jesus sometimes says in the Scriptures?
Well, to begin with, we approach His word reverently and prayerfully, and with a due sense of humility. In handling the Scriptures we are handling that which is other worldly and profound. Therefore, elsewhere in the Scriptures we are told that “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
In this morning’s Gospel reading, we begin with Jesus saying, “I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword.” Those are difficult words for us to process, because they seem so contrary to our perception of God. What Jesus says next, about setting family members against one another, is even more troubling, we begin to better understand what the sword is that He brings.
First of all, peace, as I’m sure you are aware, is a significant topic in the Scriptures, especially in relation to the Gospel and to Jesus Himself. In the Book of Isaiah, Jesus is referred to as the “Prince of Peace.” Isaiah also says, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” In Luke 2, where the events of Jesus birth are recorded, there were a multitude of angels who praised God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Finally, Jesus Himself says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
And yet, here, He speaks of a sword. As we consider the sword, note first of all that there is different kinds of peace mentioned in the Bible. There is world peace, peace between nations. There is inner peace, a certain calm, or tranquility of the heart and soul. There is peace between people of a common land, a nation, or a society. But, there is also the most important peace of all, which is peace between God and man. Frankly, this is the sort of peace that the Gospel deals with and proclaims to us. As the Scriptures say, “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
While Jesus didn’t come into the world to give us a utopian society here on earth, He did come to break down the dividing wall of sin, that separated us from Him, in order that there might be peace between you and God. Unfortunately, not everyone believes that Jesus has reconciled the world to Himself. Not everyone believes that He is the Savior of the World, the One who took the punishment of sin into His own body that all people might relate to Him according to the grace that He has given. And sometimes, those divisions, those differences between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not, are within one’s own household.
This is the context of Jesus’ words this morning, from Matthew 10, where people might find themselves caught, if you will, between the Savior who has loved and redeemed them, the Savior in whom they believe, and the family they love. It’s not, by any means, a new conflict, or new tension. Rather, it’s been with us since the days of Cain and Abel, and you know how that story ended. That same household tension remained even in the days of Moses and Joshua. Why, some 1,400 years before the birth of Jesus, it was Joshua who implored those who believed in false god’s to put them away, “Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt (he wrote), and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
As we contemplate these words this morning from Matthew 10, knowing that none of us can discern or understand, or even appreciate God’s Word, apart from the Holy Spirit, we thank Him that He has opened our eyes and ears, that He has enlightened our minds, that we might find all of the fulness of God’s grace and mercy in His Son, Jesus Christ, who took away from us sin and death, and gave us the gift of life in His presence..
As to the divisions over faith that may arise even within our own families, we implore God to give us the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that only He can give, the peace between us and Him. But we also ask Him to continue to break down the wall, the fortress of sin and unbelief that captivates those we love. Indeed, Lord, we pray,
“to hope grown dim, to hearts turned cold
Speak tongues of fire and make us bold
To shine Your Word of saving grace
Into each dark and loveless place.”
And if this should be our cross in life, that is, division, or Jesus says, the sword, by God’s Holy Spirit, and by His overwhelming love that He has bestowed on us in Christ Jesus, we are convicted even then that our house can serve none other than the One who loved us unto death, even death on a cross. And so,
“Let us follow Christ, our Lord,
And take the cross appointed
And, firmly clinging to His Word,
In suff’ring be undaunted.
For those who bear the battle’s strain
The crown of heav’nly life obtain.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +