NOT PEACE, BUT A SWORD
‘There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.’
We see what strifes and controversies our Lord occasioned when He was on earth. We read that ‘there was a division among the Jews for His sayings,’ and that ‘many of them said He hath a devil, and is mad,’ while others took an opposite view.
I. It may seem strange that He Who came to preach peace between God and man should be the cause of contention. But herein were His own words literally fulfilled—‘I came not to send peace, but a sword’ (Matthew 10:34). The fault was not in Christ or His doctrine, but in the carnal mind of His Jewish hearers.
II. Let us never be surprised if we see the same thing in our own day.—Human nature never changes. So long as the heart of man is without grace, so long we must expect to see it dislike the Gospel of Christ. Just as oil and water, acids and alkalies cannot combine, so in the same way unconverted people cannot really like the people of God. ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God.’ ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God’ (Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14).
III. The servant of Christ must think it no strange thing if he goes through the same experience as his Master. He will often find his ways and opinions in religion the cause of strife in his own family. He will have to endure ridicule, hard words, and petty persecution.