Did Jesus Come to Bring Peace? Matthew 10:34

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. 

I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." 

Matthew 10:34

"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." 

Isaiah 53:5

The Bible is filled with tensions--not contradictions--but tensions. By tensions, I mean they are things that at first glance may seem to be teaching two opposite things; however, these tensions are resolvable--they can be harmonized. I believe this out of my convictions about the nature of Scripture. I believe the Bible is actually God's Word and that God does not lie to us. What he has said is all true. Therefore, I assume a presupposition that the Bible is internally consistent and free from contradictions. 

So, what do we do when we come across these tensions? We must compare Scripture with Scripture. We must study the biblical languages, and we must look at historical backgrounds to seek an explanation for how two things that seem to be at odds can both be true. 

I was reminded of this concept this week as I've been preparing to preach on Matthew 10:34-42. The passage begins, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth." As I first approached this text, I didn't recognize the difficulty that it was going to present. I had a preconceived notion that I understood what it meant and I went to work on thinking through how I would explain that preconceived notion. However, my preconceived notion was challenged. I attended our Thursday night Bibles study at Woburn Baptist Church and as we studied a passage in John dealing with the crucifixion, we turned to read Isaiah 53. I had been thinking and meditating on Matthew 10:34, so as I read the words of Isaiah 53:5 I was struck with a tension. Isaiah said, "Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace." I was particularly struck by the verbal parallel--"bring peace." So Isaiah wrote of the Messiah with the expectation that he would "bring peace" through his substitution on behalf of our sin. I realized that Matthew 10:34 was not as simple as I thought it was. I realized there was a tension here. Did Jesus come to bring peace, or didn't he? I don't want to be simplistic, but as I've thought about it, I'm convinced the answer is yes. He did, but he didn't, and the key to understanding what this means is in John 14:27. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you." This verse resolves the tension. Jesus did come to bring peace, but it was a certain kind of peace. The peace he brings is not what the world thinks of in regard to peace, but it is very different. Isaiah tells us that the Messiah would bring us peace, and it appears that this is peace between God and man. Through Jesus sacrificial atonement, believers receive peace with God. However, Matthew 10:35 expounds upon what Jesus means when he says he brings a sword rather than peace. He said that he came to "set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother." The world often sees peace as the absence of conflict. However, this is not the peace that Jesus brings. Sometimes following Jesus intensifies conflict. Following Jesus requires us to "take up our cross" and be willing to suffer for truth. In the world's eyes, it would be easier and more peaceful just to gloss over differences, to stand up for nothing, to be a theological jellyfish. The world's way of achieving peace is to water down theology until we aren't saying anything definitively so that everything we say is held tentatively because we don't want to offend anyone. This is not the kind of peace that Jesus calls us to. If we have trusted in Christ, we have peace with God, and we have Christian unity based upon a common gospel and a common salvation--but this unity cannot come at the expense of truth. 

In our post-modern culture, no one believes in truth anymore. You have your truth, and I have mine. If we claim, as the Bible does, that Jesus is the only way, then we will be labeled intolerant, and conflict will be unavoidable. 

Then, Jesus follows this teaching with a call to discipleship. He says that the one who does not take up his cross and follow him is not worthy of him. Now, what do these two concepts have to do with each other? What does it mean to take up one's cross? It means to be willing to suffer persecution for the sake of Christ. It would be easy to avoid persecution by theological compromise, but this would be unfaithfulness. Taking up our cross means being willing to stake our claim on Jesus and the Bible and to declare it boldly and without compromise, and to be willing to suffer the consequences knowing that having Jesus is worth it all. 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you." 

John 14:27

Matthew 4:12-25 Jesus' Message, Method, and Ministry

 "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" (Mat 4:18-19 ESV)

Following Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, he began preaching a message of repentance, calling disciples, and healing the sick. While each of these aspects of Jesus ministry have differences as they are carried out in the life of the church today, they are all essential to biblical faithfulness.

His Message: Preaching Repentance
Matthew 4:12-17 tells of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. It begins with the "decrease" that John the Baptist had predicted about himself. John was put in prison, and Jesus returned to his home in Galilee. However, he left Nazareth, the town where he had grown up and went to Capernaum. Matthew tells us that this was to fulfill a prophesy of Isaiah that a light would dawn on the Gentiles. The area where Jesus went was a region populated by Gentiles. The context of this prophecy is that of Isaiah 9 and the promise of a king who would sit on David's throne forever. Matthew had already been pointing to Jesus' kingship by the genealogy that he started his Gospel with, and now this prophetic fulfillment links Jesus again to this kingly role.

Finally, in verse 17, Matthew tells us that Jesus began to preach the same message that John the Baptist had preached--"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." A definition of "repent" must be given. John had preached this message, and his baptism was characterized by repentance. People came to him confessing their sins, and John told them to bear fruit which accords with repentance. It is only natural that Jesus' meaning was the same as that of John the Baptist. Repentance meant to turn away from sins, to confess them openly, and to declare publicly a renunciation of those things, and then to live a life that is consistent with that public testimony.

Today we are often soft about the message of repentance. We want to explain the gospel in winsome ways, and we want to make it palatable for people so that they will accept it. We tell children that Jesus can be their "forever friend." We tell adults to come and "make a decision." We emphasize belief in Christ, and salvation by faith, and somehow we are fearful of speaking about repentance because it sounds like it must be some sort of work. In actuality, repentance is the fruit of true faith. Repentance is a gift of God. If we truly believe on Christ, we will naturally repent. What does that look like? We will have a change of mind and heart about who Jesus is and his authority over us. We will bow to his lordship, and we will be marked with genuine sorrow for our sins. These are all things that happen in the heart that cannot be manufactured or manipulated. True repentance only comes when God grants it.

His Method: Calling Disciples
In verses 18-22, Jesus calls his disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John. These men are called in pairs. First, Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee and saw the brothers, Simon and Andrew, fishing. What happens is striking. Jesus simply says, "Follow me." There is no discussion or questions. There is no arguments for why. Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him. They obeyed without question. Then, Jesus saw two more brothers--James and John. They were in the process of fixing their nets, and their father was with them. They were a small family business. In this text, we aren't given Jesus words to James and John; it simply says "he called them," and they responded just as Simon and Andrew. Immediately, they obeyed; they left their nets, they left their father, and they followed Jesus.

Now certainly, we don't have the same kind of authority that Jesus had. Jesus is the Lord of Creation. He has all authority in Heaven and Earth. He commands the wind and the waves, and he is the LORD who turns the heart of kings whichever way he wishes. However, there is an analogy between Jesus' method of calling his disciples and the way we preach the gospel.

When we preach the gospel, we preach a command. Jesus commands that all men everywhere must repent and believe the gospel. We can be tempted to have a different posture when we proclaim the good news. It could be tempting to mound up persuasive arguments about why following Jesus will give people a happier, more fulfilling life. However, that isn't the posture we see here. When we preach the gospel, we must remember that we are proclaiming the objective news of the life, death, burial, and resurrection, and we are telling people what they must do because of that reality. We are pleading with men to be reconciled to God, but in doing so, we must not forget that repentance and faith is the duty of all. It isn't just something that you can add to your life to be more fulfilled. True conversion to Christ isn't just adding Jesus to "your life"; it's renouncing your former life to follow him.

His Ministry: Compassion on the Multitudes
The next section, verses 23-25, is a summary statement that describes Jesus' ministry. Jesus was an itinerant preacher. He preached the "good news" of the kingdom, and he healed every disease. As he went around preaching, he would heal as he went, but then word got out. He became famous. So then people started bringing him all those who had diseases. He even healed those who were demon possessed, those who had seizures, and those who were paralyzed. He healed all manner of diseases, and crowds followed him everywhere he went.

People have various opinions about the continuation of miraculous gifts. I would put myself in the cessationist camp. I believe that the gifts of healing were given specifically for the time of the apostles to mark a unique period in salvation history. However, I think there is an example of ministry that believers today should follow today. I don't mean a healing ministry, but a ministry of compassion. These verses are very similar to what Matthew writes in 9:35-38. There Matthew records, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." A ministry that follows Jesus' pattern will be a ministry of compassion. We may not be able to say to people, "arise, take up your bed, and walk," but we can model compassion in action.

Believers can show compassion today in serving the poor, in caring for the sick, and helping counsel addicts as well as many other ways. Those things aren't meant to replace Gospel preaching. This passage tells us that Jesus did both. He preached and he healed. The compassionate ministry of mercy that we, believers, engage in will be the authenticating mark of having a heart like Jesus. We can be doctrinally sound and have cold hearts and tight fists. Jesus calls us to combine the message of good news with a ministry of compassion.

Results
What results should we expect from a ministry following this patter. What should we expect when we preach the message of repentance, when we call people to bow and submit themselves to a King, and when we minister in the compassion of Christ? He will receive the glory. It isn't about us. It isn't about accumulating crowds for us. It's about bringing fame to Jesus, not about making ourselves a name. 

"So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them." (Mat 4:24 ESV)

The Big Picture

Tonight I recommended a children's Bible...to an adult...and not for her kids...for herself.

There's no shame in this. Fifty years ago, when you talked with someone about the Bible, the chances were they had some frame of reference to understand what you were talking about. It's just not that way today. We no longer live in a culture that shares a common understanding of what the Bible is.
This brings a challenge to us when we do evangelism today. We use our church language and expect that people know what we are talking about...but they often don't.

Case in point (I'll spare details for the sake of privacy), I was having a conversation with two other people. One was a mature believer, one is just beginning to seek Christ. The seasoned believer encouraged this young sister to read her Bible...and not to forget the Old Testament...that's important too. Now, I agree with this mature assessment about the necessity of the Old Testament for the life of a believer. I mean, I've spent years studying Hebrew and got half way through the coursework for a PhD in Old Testament. Believe me, I affirm the need for the Old Testament. Later...when it was just me and the new seeker...I brought this up again and asked..."Do you know the difference between the Old and the New Testaments? The answer was no. When we've been in church so long we often take little things like this for granted.

I spent the next 5 minutes trying to give an explanation of the contents of the Old and New Testament. I started with the New, and I explained that it begins with the 4 Gospels. Each of the Gospels tells the story of Jesus life and ministry through his death and resurrection. I told her that they aren't in chronological order, but rather they each tell the same story from 4 different perspectives. Next comes Acts. This is the story of the next 30 years or so after Jesus ascended into heaven. It tells the story of the apostles taking the message of Jesus throughout the world. Next come letters to specific churches and individuals that are intended to address specific situations. Finally, Revelation is probably the most difficult because it is filled with symbolic imagery and it is about the things at the end--things in the future.

Then I turned to the Old Testament. I didn't take the time to break down the divisions of Law, Prophets, and Writings. Rather, I just told her that the Old Testament is important because it is how we know that Jesus didn't just plop out of the sky one day from nowhere. Rather, it was the unfolding of God's plan throughout thousands of years. I told her that it tells the story of God working among the Jewish people, promising a Messiah who would one day come. I concluded by saying that the two parts of the Bible can basically be summed up with Promise and Fulfillment.

Imagine, if you were an alien from a distant planet and you came here. Assuming this is in the world of Star Trek where all planets speak English, you are familiar with literature, but only one genre--Children's Books. When you arrive here on earth you quickly find a library and randomly pick up a book assuming that it will be a children's story; however, you soon find the book difficult and give up because it was actually a technical manual for repairing an automobile. This technical manual does not follow the rules of the children's book genre, so you give up, assuming that it is too difficult and you can never understand what is so entertaining  about the story.

This is what reading the Bible can be like. When we come to the Bible, we have to realize that it is written in several different genres over the course of thousands of years. There is great diversity within the biblical corpus, and it is an ancient document that is very foreign to modern readers. For those of us who grew up with the Bible stories in Sunday School from our childhood, we can navigate the Bible with some level of ease. At least we know what it is we're looking at. But think of what it must feel like for someone coming to the Bible for the very first time without any knowledge at all of what it is all about.

People have to have a reference point. We have to have some kind of idea of what it is we are reading before we can understand what something big and complex is all about. When a child is leaning to read, they always look for the pictures to get some idea of what it is they are looking at. Children's books are filled with pictures. This isn't something that is necessary for children only. It can be very helpful for adults as well. I'm not saying that we can be content with just a children's book, but how about instead of telling new believers to start with the book of John, we get them a copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible so they can at least have some idea of the big picture of what the Bible is about.

So I recommended it. I recommended the Jesus Storybook Bible to an adult, just beginning to seek Christ. And I would suggest, that when you have conversations with others that have limited understanding of the Bible, you might want to do the same thing. Start with a children's storybook Bible that can sketch the main story line of the Bible. We all have to see the big picture before we can make sense of the details.