Commentary by Michael VandenBerg
In Matthew 10 of the Bible, Jesus is quoted as saying, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
These are strange words for one who is known as the prince of peace. Jesus pronounced His blessing on those who were peacemakers, He gave His peace to those who received Him, He instructed His disciples to be at peace with one another, yet here we hear Him say that it is not peace that He has come for, but war.
Peace, it seems is usually that illusive dream that we strive for but never seem to quite achieve. When the world was thrust into war, twice in 50 years, it was peace that we sought. When once again we found ourselves at war in Korea, the Middle East and around the world, we dream again of peace.
Peace all too often for us means a cessation of war. For Jesus, peace was not something that was absent (war), but something that was added to our lives. It was eliminating the negatives in our lives and refilling them with positive. It was taking our guilt ridden, sin laden, over-taxed, over-worked lives and replacing them with lives lived in satisfaction, hope, assurance, love and yes, peace.
Jesus said, “My peace I give to you; not as the world gives peace, do I give it to you. I say, Let not your hearts be troubled.” Jn. 14:27
Jesus came to make war with troubled hearts. He came to do battle with the pain and destruction of lives that were torn apart by the lies, deceit and troubles of daily living.
When the battle was done, He filled the void that the absence of these negatives created, by filling our lives with peace, contentment, satisfaction, a higher calling and God’s love. Jesus did not come merely to bring peace to the comfortable. He came to trouble the comfortable and comfort the troubled.
May the peace of Christ be with you and may you find a new peace that will give you greater self worth, deeper comfort and a more lasting hope. May all of your troubles be engaged in battle by Christ’s sword of the Spirit, so that the negatives in your life will be replaced in Christ’s love with the positive power of His peace.
