Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, February 15, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
This text bugs lots of people for lots of reasons. And I get it. I have no love for violent imagery of any kind. This is why I struggle so much with some of the Hebrew Bible’s characterization of a vengeful and destructive God. Jesus, whose message is one of healing, wholeness, justice, equity, and humility suddenly unsheathes a weapon here and we all take in a collective gasp. I personally despair that those who claim to be Christians and who advocate violence for the purpose of gutting democracy and replacing our government with a religious dictatorship are here given biblical validation of their call to violence. This verse would have to be taken grossly out of context, but that’s what Christians have done since the beginning to justify their own points of view and usurpation of power. I feel like Jesus just dropped a powder keg and handed everyone a match.
Context matters, of course. This statement of Jesus comes in the midst of his warnings to his followers that carrying his message (you know the one I mentioned above: healing, wholeness, justice, equity, humility) is going to result in their persecution. They will be abused verbally and physically. Betrayed by their families. Arrested. Killed. Hated. Jesus promises them that it will be okay in the end. God will stand with them, give them the words to say; God knows the number of hairs on their heads and loves them completely. But in the mean time, any among Jesus’ followers who had the idea that this was going to be a cakewalk, that Jesus was going to magically cause peace to come upon the world, need to be shaken out of that delusion. Following Jesus will drive a wedge between them and any who benefit from the status quo and don’t want to see it changed, even those they know and love. I just wish Jesus had said “drive a wedge” (it is a carpentry term after all) rather than “bring a sword.”
How do I understand this violent image in relation to my beliefs about Jesus?
