I Have Come to Bring A Sword

I HAVE COME TO BRING A SWORD

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. 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. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Jesus was quoting a Scripture from the Book of Micah the prophet, who felt the burden of serving God above all else when many of God’s people were serving all else above God.
For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I look to the LORD; I wait for the God of my salvation. my God hears me (Micah7:6)

‘I come to bring a sword’ would ordinarily be received in the sense of saying that the whole purpose for Jesus coming to us is for him to bring division.
This is not what this Scripture is saying. ‘I come to bring a sword’ is describing division as the primary effect of what happens when the word of Jesus comes to proclaim the inner kingdom of God. It divides the self-centred focus of our life from his Kingdom centred focus of our life.

If a business management consultant visits a corporate workplace with the purpose of bringing efficiency and productivity, he will discuss the order and disorder of what is happening in the company. He will then set about how to prioritise goals and roles, and some staff may be moved around or displaced and replaced. His comments will have the immediate effect of ‘shaking things up’ and revealing the disorder and chaos. He is not bringing the chaos and disorder, but he is bringing the sword of division that divides between order and disorder. People don’t generally like that. 
Here is an example of what Jesus was experiencing in his own life, as the SWORD OF THE WORD OF LIFE that people could believe or reject, to either live for or live without.

Matthew 12:46 As Jesus was speaking in a crowded house, his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk with him. When someone told him they were there, he remarked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He pointed to his disciples. “Look!” he said, “these are my mother and brothers.” Then he added, “Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother!”

That was certainly a shakeup and a wakeup for all those people, and for all of us reading these difficult Scriptures. Jesus was not speaking personally against his mother and his brothers. Jesus knew full well of his own mother Mary’s obedience to his Heavenly Father and her devotion to himself and his Father’s mission. Mary had lived with that sword piercing her heart from before Jesus was born, and in due course his own brothers would become his disciples. Jesus had brought to all of humanity the greatest gift of life that had ever existed and would ever exist. Israel up to this point had received the best that was on offer as declared by promise to Abraham two thousand years before that time and then to Moses through the law and blood sacrifices. Jesus had but a short time to make it clear what was on offer for mankind and he spoke and acted clearly and compellingly at all times. He was saying ‘you can have not only a better life, but you can have the best life – believe it and receive it!’ It means a surrender of our life to his and a surrender of our will to his. That is the cross in our lives - where our will crosses God’s will. The vertical dimension of the cross is God’s will from Heaven – the horizontal dimension is our will on the earth. Where that crosses is where the sword is applied to our lives.

Jesus also experienced the work of the sword bringing division and reorder in his own hometown.
Matthew 13:54 Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked. Isn’t this the carpenter’s son, and aren’t his brother’s names James and Joseph and Simon and Judas (not Iscariot)? And aren’t all his sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they were offended at him.

Jesus also had to put up with the unbelief of his brothers in his own family who didn’t yet believe that he was the Messiah. Perhaps they were too used to seeing him as the older brother reminding them of things like showing more respect to their mother or being more diligent with their work in their father Joseph’s carpentry shop. Like most of humanity then and now, they wanted more outward proof of his supernatural power so that he could impress the crowds more, and also convince them as we see in the following Scripture – but for Jesus the power he came to exercise was for the inner lives of people to be transformed. 
John 7:2 But soon it was time for the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the annual Jewish holidays, and Jesus’ brothers urged him to go to Judea for the celebration. “Go where more people can see your miracles!” they jeered. “You can’t be famous when you hide like this! If you’re so great, prove it to the world!” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him!

The sword was operating in Judea, and in his own hometown, and even in his own home. 
For Jesus the miracles were an advertising billboard, and they did get the attention of people to see that something powerful was going on. But that was not his aim in coming to earth. A sign is a signpost that points to something far greater and for Jesus the greater thing was not the outward display but the inward life of his Kingdom at work within us. The power that he came to release in the earth was to be exercised in the hearts of men and women, not just for an outward show of power but an inward power and authority to display the nature of God in the earth, for people to become one with him in the spirit. 

Mary the mother of Jesus fully understood this conflict between the inner and outer life concerning her son Jesus. After Simeon the prophet spoke to Mary and Joseph at the time of his dedication in the temple, he prophesied over her, saying.
‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many may be revealed – and a sword will pierce your heart also’ (Luke 2:34)
Mary lived with that SWORD OF GOD’S WORD in her life. She had said ‘Be it done unto me according to thy Word’ to the angel Gabrielle when he announced that she would be the mother of Jesus. Mary had to contend with the continual sorrow of knowing that her son was destined to be opposed by his own people and suffer the fate of all of Israel’s prophets, just as did her nephew, John the Baptist who was beheaded by Herod. And she lived with the fact that even her other sons that she loved opposed and disparaged him. 

God comes to first expose the chaos and disorder of this world and its lack of love and lack of faith in action. And the sword must come and work in us first, allowing the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us close to himself in mercy and grace to reorder our souls first. The Holy Spirit calls us into the surrender of the rest of faith so that we can obtain mercy and find grace and come from an inner place of love and peace in our relationships.

Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

I love to see the supernatural work of God, the miracle work of God. And I have seen it, and I do see it. This work is happening continually if you know where to look. This work happens in the ordinary day to day occurrences where people take up their cross and follow Jesus and lay down their lives for one another and are being transformed into His likeness. (illustration of the horizontal and vertical aspects of the cross) If you’re looking for signs and wonders as a priority you will run after the signposts to find them, and the signposts are impressive, but they don’t deliver the way the marketing says they will. If you are looking for changed hearts of love and faith starting with your own life the signs will follow you and you will recognise them as being God’s confirmation of the SWORD OF GOD’S WORD at work in your life, dividing between soul and spirit and bringing about his will in your life through occurrences and events that you could not possibly have planned.

Further on from the quotation of Jesus from Micah 7:6 we read Micah 7:14 where finally Micah prays to the Lord - ‘Shepherd your people with your staf,f the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in the midst of a forest… 
And the Lord answers Micah back…
I will show them marvellous things. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf. They shall come out of their strongholds. They shall turn in awe to the LORD, and they shall respect you as God’s people. (Micah 7:14)
We see the same thing in the Book of Acts - The Christians actually received favour from the people after the Holy Spirit came upon them. The sword does not only bring some opposition, but it also releases grace in us and through us and draws people toward God.
Acts 2:47, ESV: And they continued in praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
In one way or another, if we understand the principle of THE SWORD OF GOD’S WORD, we will live with that sword piercing our hearts for our good. If we know we bear that sword it will deepen our life of prayer and we will accept our God given role under God and will find grace, whether we are opposed by people or accepted by them - whether some be offended or whether we find favour. But we say to God 
‘‘Be it done unto me according to thy Word’
A person who is at peace, at oneness with Jesus, can administer that peace to others.