Did Jesus Come to Turn People Against Each Other?

Did Jesus Come to Turn People Against Each Other

Daily Reading: (Matthew 10:35):

“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.”

There is an old saying that if you want to have peace at Thanksgiving Dinner never talk about what…? Politics and religion. This verse when it is isolated by itself sounds a lot different from what many have thought about Jesus, did He really come to turn people against one another?

This is shocking what Jesus said. It most certainly isn’t what we picture in our minds of what Jesus came to do or the way we see in which how Jesus interacted with others. A great majority of believers don’t know what to do with this verse. Context is always vital to our understanding. What did Jesus have to say before and after this shocking statement, when we look at the whole of what Jesus said, then we will understand what His words here mean to us and actually help us when people, even loved ones persecute us for our faith in Jesus.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). I thought Jesus said He gives us His peace? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). So, did Jesus come to bring peace or a sword? The Messiah is prophesied in the Old Testament as a Lamb that would be slain for the sins of the world. By doing so He brought peace and reconciliation with God our Father not to the world but to only those who would believe and receive His sacrifice for them. This is why Jesus said not to the world, but to His disciples, the promise that He has given us His peace. We have it always, but here He says I have not come to bring peace, but a sword and He is speaking about the world.

Jesus is not speaking of a literal sword, in Revelation 19:15 it says, “Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.“ When Jesus first appeared to John in a vision at Patmos, a sharp two-edged sword proceeded from Jesus’ mouth (Revelation 1:16). The returning King of kings and Lord of lords uses this sword to “strike down the nations.” Since the sword of the Lord represents His Word (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17), it is reasonable to expect Jesus to mow down His foes with just a spoken word. He brought the world into existence by His speech (Hebrews 11:3), and He can assuredly destroy His enemies with just a word from His lips.

Jesus is speaking of a sword of truth, and truth is divisive. What happens as a result of Jesus who is the truth, coming to the world? ““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.”

People divide themselves by their response to Jesus, who He is, and what He came to do. When a Jewish believer was water baptized in the first century, they would be disowned by their family. They would receive a slap on the cheek, which was the deepest insult and they were they were put out of the Synagogue- separated forever from their family and their religious community. Everyone has a decision to make and that decision about Jesus would turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

Jesus said: “a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household” (Matthew 10:36). At this part Jesus is quoting from Micah 7:6. What this means is that the spirit of Christ can have no union with the spirit of the world.

Jesus’ mission wasn’t to turn people against each other, this is a byproduct of what happens from what Jesus’ mission did which is stated clearly in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus’ mission was to set the captives free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and this mission will turn people against each other.

Advertisement

You Have Super Power

You Have Superpower Devo

Daily Reading: (Acts 1:8):

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”

God has given us super power (Acts 1:8). In Greek, it explains what that power is dynamis. It is where we get our English words dynamite, dynamo, and dynamic from. The first definition of dynamis is strength power and ability, but then you ask the question, “strength, power, and ability for what?” The second part of the definition says, “power for performing miracles.” 

Where I think many believers are at is that they have either forgotten or do not know the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit that is placed in them. If they did, the expectation would be, that I get to see God do miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit living in me.

James 5:14: Is anyone among you sick? James says, “Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” Is it just the elders who have power? No, all believers have super power (Acts 1:8). If all believers have super powers, why do we need church leaders to pray for a miracle? Great question and the answer is that we don’t. What is so special about the elders, then? The elders are the most likely people to know the power they have been given from the Holy Spirit, they are fully persuaded that God wants to heal you! This is not always the case. Find someone who believes the promises of God and have them pray for you.

Those that are not fully persuaded when they pray, are not going to tap into the dynamis, dynamite power of God for healing. James writes this: “Let him ask in faith, with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).

“Call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” Why is oil used? According to Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible, oil in the East, and especially among the Jews was a sign of the divine grace (James 5:14).[1]  

Why is bringing God’s divine grace into the equation when I pray so important? Oil reminds me as I pray who the Healer is, who we are taking this situation too, that’s the job of the Holy Spirit in me when I pray. I can use oil to remind myself, and the one I am praying for that it is not about me, it is all about the grace of Jesus Christ who bore our infirmities and by His stripes we are healed. The oil reminds us of this powerful truth. So, when the elders or church leaders who believe the promises of God pray and use oil, the oil says the healing is theirs not because the leader is so amazing with their prayers, but because Jesus has purchased for me to have this healing and it comes by the very grace of God.

Part of the reason the church spread so much was there was a group of believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit and they believed they were vessels to be used in the authority of Jesus’ name to perform miracles.

“And you will be my witnesses…” “Witnesses” is the Greek word martys.  Martys is part of the same word as martyrs, but it can simply mean witness or it can also mean those who after Jesus’ example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death. Christianity was real and genuine because people were willing to die for it. The point is that when you tap into the power that God has given you to do the works Jesus did you will have the opportunity to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). The trials and the tribulations that we all go through is an opportunity for the power of God to be on display.

Why would the world hate me for doing such good, for showing the love of Christ? Jesus has an answer for us in John 15:17-19. Jesus says “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.” Jesus who is love- who is grace and truth- what happened to Him? He was crucified. “If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

---

[1] https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jfu/james-5.html

Pray For Disciples

Pray for Disciples

Daily Reading: (Luke 10:1-2):

“After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Some manuscripts say seventy others seventy-two. I believe that Jesus sent out seventy and I will explain why that is and what message that conveyed moving forward.

Jesus just sent out seventy other individuals to every place Jesus was about to go. The word “others” here is important because this word derives from (heterous), which means “others of a different kind”. This tells us that the seventy are totally different disciples of Jesus that does not include the original twelve.

“And sent them two by two”. They were sent out in pairs. I cannot stress how powerful and important it is to go and do ministry together with others. Why would Jesus send them out in pairs? It provided the 4 C’s of courage, cover, companionship, and credibility.  

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:1 “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” When somebody tells you something it is more likely to be believed when more than one person is saying the same thing. The news the Messiah that has been waited upon for centuries has finally come, and you can see Him if only one person is telling you this at this time it would have been hard to believe. You might share the miracles you have witnesses but who would believe you? Chances of you reacting to a single person telling you this is not great. But with two, there is credibility to what they are sharing.

Also, when you are together with another it gives you courage. You are not alone, you have someone to pray with, someone to encourage you, you are embolden to speak and share the Gospel because you have the support of another with you. There is also the building of companionship through the adventure that ministry brings. Going out on mission can be dangerous when you find yourself in a new area all by yourself. Together you are safer, there is protection and cover as you traveled the highways and the byways. Jesus sent them two by two.

Why did Jesus send seventy? The number sent on this mission had spiritual and symbolic overtones and this is why I believe it was seventy and not seventy-two. The Jews held that the Gentiles were made up of seventy nations; and at their feast of Tabernacles, “seventy bullocks were offered on behalf of the Gentile nations to make atonement for them.” The cities and places to which these seventy were dispatched was in the Trans-Jordan where Gentile population predominated[1] and so Jesus sending seventy was a sign for the Gospel to be for all people, the Gentiles as well as the Jews, and the Samaritans.

Jesus sent out seventy and it seemed like a lot but Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Jesus gives us the answer when there is so much Kingdom work to be done and there are seemingly not enough people engaged in disciple making.

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2).

Praying, “Lord, send out workers to Your harvest” is just the kind of prayer that builds a harvest-interest within the one who prays. If you will pray this prayer, it will change you. When we will pray this way, your heart will become focused on Kingdom work. We are now actively seeking and expecting the Lord of the harvest to send workers. Imagine praying for God our Father to send us more Kingdom laborers and then believing He will, and then being ready when He does, to disciple those He sends us.

---

[1] Coffman’s Commentary on the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bcc/luke-10.html