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In the name of Jesus, amen. Dear saints, this is a hard word that Jesus has for us this morning. When he says, in fact, he asked the question, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth, to give peace on earth?” And he answers his own question, “No. I’ve not come to bring peace, but bring division.”
Now how is it that this man who is the prince of peace— the one whom the angel’s birth was announced with the declaration of peace, the one who taught us to be at peace, to live at peace with all men insofar as possible, the one who declares peace to you over and over: “Peace I say to you. My peace I give to you. My peace I leave with you, not as the world gives,”—that this one can say that he did not come to give peace on earth?
The answer is that there are two different kinds of peace. There is peace with God, and there is peace with the devil, and the world, and our own sinful flesh. When our Lord Jesus says, “I did not come to give peace on earth,” he says, “I will not, in fact, let you remain at peace with the unbelieving world, with your sinful flesh. I will reconcile you to myself so that there will be peace between me and you. But that means that your life will be in fact full of trouble and turmoil, difficulty.”
The Lord’s going to draw some lines. Those lines, those divisions are going to go right through even our own homes and families. I’ve not come to bring peace but division. Now, we want to receive those words with joy. We want to receive those words as a gift. But we want to first recognize how hard this is, this thing that the Lord Jesus is telling us.
Especially because I think we all, and I don’t know if it’s like right now in the world or if it was ever any different. But it seems to me like right now, especially, there’s this strong desire for peace, for harmony. Can’t we all just get along, especially spiritually?
There’s been a lot of conversations lately. I’ve been in the middle of a lot of these conversations, and they’re wonderful conversations, especially with people who are particularly sensitive spiritually. And that sensitive spirit just wants there to be an end to arguing and into fighting; no reason to fight. There’s probably, it shows up in two different ways.
At first, it shows up kind of globally when it comes to all religions and this idea that it would be really wonderful if we could all be spiritual and recognize that there are different paths but that they all end up in the same place. But this simply cannot hold up to the claim of Christianity. As soon as God talks, and even more, as soon as God has his prophets write something down, and maybe even more, as soon as God joins himself to our history in the incarnation and the death and resurrection of Jesus, then now there is a division that happens there.
Now, it’s painful for us; it’s painful even for Jesus to know that there is now going to be a division between those who agree with what God said and those who do not. But here’s what we have to consider. This is what I think our Lord Jesus is pressing into us today: that he was willing to take that risk of speaking and declaring truth and even to divide those who are on the side of truth and those who are on the side of error. He was willing to take the risk for us. It was for our benefit.
I’ll explain a little bit why, but there’s a second way that this comes into our conversation, and it’s in the Christian church. I know you’ve met people that have said this, or maybe you’ve even thought it yourself: “Hey, look, I don’t like all these different denominations and different names. I’m not a Lutheran or a Methodist or a Baptist or a Catholic or whatever. I’m just a Christian. Why do we always have to fight about all these different doctrines and about all these different truths? Why does it even matter?”
Again, can’t we all just get along? But the Lord Jesus has not authorized us to blur the lines of his word or to change his doctrine for the sake of peace. In fact, he says, “I came so that there would be division.” And this is where the division is; it’s the division over what his word says and over what he’s done by his death and his resurrection. It’s the division that the cross causes.
Now, for us to understand what the Lord is saying, this has to first be painful for us. We can’t listen to these words of Jesus when he says, “I came to bring fire on the earth, and oh, how I wish it were kindled. I came to be baptized, and oh, I’m in agony until it’s accomplished. I came not to bring peace but division.”
I came, in Matthew, I came not to bring peace but a sword. If we say, “Oh good, that’s what we were hoping for,” then we’ve missed the point. We have to listen first to these words of Jesus when he says, “I came to bring division.” And we have to say, “Really, Lord, does there have to be division? Does there have to be family divided against family, father against son, and daughter against mother? Does it have to be this way?”
And the Lord Jesus says, “In fact, yes, because the peace that I’m destroying is for your benefit. The peace that I’m ending is for your good. Can’t we all just get along?” He’s not content to leave us in that state.
And here’s two pictures for it. You have to tell me if these are helpful. The first is a biblical picture. It comes from the parable that our Lord Jesus himself tells about the strong man. I think Jesus loved to tell this parable. In fact, I think he told it at least three different times. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us different versions of this parable of Jesus. I think it’s a favorite of his.
And the basic outline of the story is this: that there was a strong man who was guarding his house. Maybe he’s wearing armor, he’s got a sword, he’s well-equipped, he’s got this mini castle, and he’s got a bunch of loot in the basement. He’s walking around and he’s guarding the house and he’s not letting anybody get in. People might try to come and steal all this stuff, and he beats them up and sends them away until a stronger man comes and fights him and binds him and throws him out and loots his house.
Now that’s a pretty, I mean, as far as parable goes, it’s pretty amazing. Jesus is not teaching us like instructions for cat burglary. He’s not telling us this is what we ought to do. He’s actually giving us a picture of what he is doing. He tells this parable in response to the Pharisees who say, “You’re casting out demons by Beelzebub.”
And Jesus says, “No, that’s not what’s happening at all. It’s not the demons casting out the demons. The strong man in the picture, in the parable, is the devil himself. And the stronger one is Jesus. And he comes and attacks the strong man, fights the strong man, ties up the strong man, and loots his stuff, which is you.
So that when the kingdom of God comes, it does not come unopposed. When Jesus comes, he comes for a fight against the devil and against the world and against your own sinful flesh. To be able to loot you out of the devil’s house, he has to first bind the strong man.
And here’s how Jesus says it when Luke gives us that parable: “When a strong man fully armed guards his house, his goods are at peace.” In other words, as long as the devil is ruling over us, as long as he’s unopposed, as long as we’re chasing after our own desires or whatever, living in the flesh and the world and under the captivity of the devil, there is a certain peacefulness to it. There is a certain we’re all getting along. There is a certain lack of trouble.
But Jesus says, “I cannot abide that peace. I cannot let you abide that peace. I cannot endure that peace. I’m coming to oppose it.” It’s probably what happens in the garden. When the Lord finds Adam and Eve clothed in their fig leaves and hiding in the bushes, he finds them—really, there’s three people in the bushes. Remember, it was Adam and Eve and the devil. And there was a peacefulness to it. They thought they had solved their problem with their little fig leaf clothes. And they’re chatting with the devil. “Hey, that wasn’t nearly as bad as we thought.”
Until they hear the sound of the Lord in the garden. Now they’re terrified, and the Lord comes, and the very first thing He says to the devil is, “I will put enmity, strife, battle, struggle.” The kingdom comes with enmity between you and the woman and your seed and her seed.
The third picture is, I suppose, like this. We normally think that on Judgment Day, if you could imagine that we’re all kind of lined up, the Lord comes to each one of us, and he makes a determination for us: that you’re in heaven, come with me, or you’re in hell. And he pushes the person down into the pit. And you’re lifted up, and you’re thrown down, and you’re lifted up, and you’re thrown down.
So that the Judgment Day is the Lord either condemning or exalting and saving. But that’s not the biblical picture. The picture is not that the Lord is pushing us down into condemnation, but that we start down there in the pit. Jesus says it like this when he’s talking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3: “I didn’t come into the world to condemn the world.” Why? “Because the world was condemned already.”
We’re born as God’s enemies. We’re by nature children of wrath. We start in the pit. The picture of the Bible is not the Lord pushing us down there, but jumping down there with us and finding us in our trouble, and throwing us out, or loading us up on his shoulder, and carrying us out to safety—that we start condemned, and that the Lord Jesus is the one who’s rescuing us, like a good shepherd, going after those lost sheep and bringing us out of the wilderness and into the glory of his home and the safety and fellowship of his care and provision.
It’s the Lord finding us and rescuing us. That’s the picture. Now, so it starts out that there’s this kind of condemned peacefulness, and the Lord Jesus says, “I’m not going to let it stay that way. I’m going to bring division. I’m going to bring my word, my kindness, my promises, my blood, my death, my resurrection. I’m going to bring it down into the world.”
And I know that not everybody is going to believe it, that not everybody is going to receive it, that not everyone is going to rejoice in it, and that it’s going to be trouble— that some will believe and some will not, that some will trust and some will not, that some will be saved and some will not. But Jesus says, “It’s worth it.”
That he would come to us and deliver us and rescue us. So these words of Jesus are hard, but also they are for our good. He’s not pleased. Your Lord Jesus is not pleased for you to be at peace with this world. Your Lord Jesus is not pleased for you to be at peace with the devil. He’s not pleased for you to be at peace with sin.
So he says, “Do you think I came to bring peace on the world? No, but division. Division.” He’s divided you from all these things so that he can unite you with himself. Paul says it like this, “Having been justified by faith, in other words, we’re forgiven by the promise of God, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.”
And the world cannot take that away from you. So we, dear saints, rejoice, even though it’s difficult. We feel the pain of that dividing line of the Lord’s Word running through even our own families. We feel the pain of it, but still we can rejoice in these words—the words of your Savior who loves you, who says, “Do not think that I came to bring peace but division.”
May he continue to separate us from the dangers of hell and bring us to himself. May he grant it for Christ’s sake. Amen. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.