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Taking Up the Sword of Justice,
Mat 10:24-39,
Rev. Frank Schaefer
Surely,
Jesus words take us by surprise this morning, when he
says: "Do not think I have come to bring peace on earth.
I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have
come to set a man against his father, a daughter against
her mother . . . and our enemies will be members of our
own household."
Whoa! This does
not make for a good passage for Sunday school, does it?
Don't these words of Jesus stand in direct opposition to
some of his other words, like: "blessed are the
peace-makers for they shall be called children of God?"
Just a couple of
weeks ago in our Sunday school lesson, we talked about
the passage where it says: "if you approach the altar
and you remember that a brother has something against
you, go first and make peace with him, and then come and
bring your sacrifices?" So, what about that, what about
trying to resolve our conflicts in a civilized manner?
What about being mediators?
In order to
resolve this seeming paradox, we need to understand the
historic background of Matthew's community. It seems
likely that this controversial saying by Jesus was
included in the Matthean community because a conversion
to Christianity meant that you faced severe
persecution, and often at the hands of family
members.....
click here for the full sermon manuscript. |
