לתשובת המינים

Michah 7:6

Will Mashiach Bring Peace or a Sword?

Matthew 10:35, 36

"For a son disparages [his] father; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the people of his household."

By now we’ve all seen the "WWJD?" material meant to prompt people into self reflection and encourage people to act more like the Nazarene. The challenge is that all too often people simply superimpose their own personal views of right and wrong onto the Nazarene. The Nazarene has become, in our Christian dominated society, the symbol "for all that is good and holy." To me this is illustrated by another common slogan found on bumper-stickers of late, "Who would Jesus Bomb?" While I would not deny that there are strongly pacifistic tendencies in the Gospels, it would be a gross oversimplification to suggest based on the picture of the Nazarene in the Christian Bible that he would categorically reject the use of the military.

In Mathew chapter ten, the Nazarene makes the following assertion, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to 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 member’s of his own household.’" (verses 34-36).

Insofar as this strongly conflicts with Messianic prophecy as understood by both Jews and Christians, Haley argues "That is, the object of his mission was peace, but a result of it would, in many cases, be strife and war. Often, in securing a valuable end, we cannot avoid certain incidental evils." ¹ The difficulty with this resolution is not only does the Nazarene claim to bring the sword, he denies that he will bring peace! He is not merely making a counter-intuitive remark about the peace which he will bring, but states plainly that he has not come to bring peace.

Similarly, Lockyer cites this "prophecy" under the heading "Continuous opposition to [his] Gospel." ² The words of the Nazarene, however, seem to suggest a more active role in bringing "the sword" rather than it being a passive result of his mission. The Mashiach’s coming may accompany such lawless behavior, or more correctly follow such lawless behavior, but nowhere does the passage indicate that he will "bring" it. To the contrary the subsequent verses make clear that the redemption which Mashiach will bring will end such strife, indeed the passage teaches us that the Mashaich will bring peace.

The truth is that this verse is relatively isolated in the teachings of the Nazarene presented in the Gospel, while it does present a serious theological problem for Christianity in my opinion, I can also understand why a Christian wouldn’t feel incredibly bothered by this passage [were it the only difficulty].