Jesus’ Teachings Cause Division

Sometimes Jesus’ teachings are hard to understand. Let’s be honest and admit that this is true. Let’s also not skip over passages in the Bible that we don’t like, if we are trying to understand shalom.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus says “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 members of his own household’.” This statement, including the quote for the prophet Micah, is one of those difficult passages in Scripture that requires careful study, because it seems to contradict everything we have learned about shalom so far.

If our beginning assumption is that the Bible does not contradict itself, which is my belief, and if God is the author of truth and not deception, which is also my belief, then where does this leave us? How do Jesus’ words square up with Isaiah’s description of the Messiah as the Prince of Peace? What, then, does Jesus mean when he announces that he brings a sword?

In my earlier posts, I looked at Old Testament passages that clearly establish God’s desire for shalom in his creation and his hatred of violence and conflict, although God will use war as an instrument of his judgment. We also established the fact that the prophets described the promised Messiah as a king who would rule with justice and in peace, a promise Jesus identified with when he began his public ministry. One thing therefore seems clear: Jesus is not advocating violence in this verse.

Jesus’ statement was meant to describe the effect of his coming, not the purpose of his coming. The gospel message that Jesus shared does, in fact, cause division. Sometimes it generates conflict within families, between parents and children, or brothers and sisters.

Jesus knew about this through his own personal experience: even his brothers did not believe in him until after the resurrection (John 7:5). By quoting Micah’s prophecy about conflict within families (Micah 7:6), Jesus was warning his followers that the cost of discipleship might be rejection by their own family.

Being a follower of Jesus requires a willingness to bear wounds, often painful wounds, from family and friends who reject the Messiah and instead create and follow their own gods.

Jesus, the Prince of Peace, wanted his followers to understand the cost of their discipleship. He was not going to hide the price they might have to pay. After all, he knew that he would soon face death – a man of peace, who selflessly helped others selflessly, but was executed as a criminal.

Being a peacemaker is not a safe calling -- let’s be clear about that!

So What?

• Have you ever experienced opposition and conflict among friends or family related to your faith in Jesus? How does a peacemaker respond to these kinds of challenges?
• Would it be fair to assert that if we have not faced any opposition during our lifetime because of our faith, that might be an indication that our faith is too well-hidden?

Non-Retaliation

Let’s be honest. Jesus’ teachings on peacemaking are radical. Not only does Jesus take actions that alienate most of the respected religious leaders of his day, he also gives his followers new commandments that are hard to believe and even harder to follow – both then and now!

Shortly after the Beatitudes recorded in Matthew 5, Jesus shares some of the most radical of all his teachings. He begins by quoting the Mosaic law (Exodus 21:22-25) that established the principle of exact retribution. This Mosaic law was revolutionary in its time because it limited compensation due to a victim and restrained revenge – contrary to the common response to injustice in the culture of that time, especially if a family feud developed.

Although Jesus does not contradict the principle of retribution, he states that this principle is not applicable to our personal relationships where love, not justice, ought to be the dominant characteristic.

What a difficult teaching! Jesus says our duty to someone who wrongs us is not retaliation, but acceptance of the wrong without a spirit of revenge. Jesus illustrates this radical teaching with four examples taken from the everyday world of his listeners, examples that must have been painful to hear.

The illustration of being struck on the right cheek was not taken from a fist fight, but was rather the back-handed slap of a master to a slave, a Roman to a Jew – the demeaning blow of a powerful person to the face of a weak, vulnerable one. In a similar way, going the second mile was a clear reference to the practice of the occupying Roman army to commandeer Jews to do forced service.

Jesus is teaching his disciples to avoid revenge and to practice non-retaliation in their personal lives. We must not conclude that Jesus is prohibiting the administration of justice or suggesting that we acquiesce to injustice. Rather, Jesus is forbidding his followers from taking the law into their own hands.

An “eye for an eye” is a principle of justice that belongs in the courts of law, but in our personal lives, Jesus teaches that we must not repay evil with evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). If, in response to a blow to the cheek, we retaliate with a return slap, then the perpetrator has taken control of the situation and determined our reaction. Jesus gives us the freedom not to respond according to the actions of our attacker, but to respond in love.

So What?

• These teachings of Jesus are hard for me to share with you, because I really struggle with them in my own life. I am someone who hates injustice and wants to deal harshly with its perpetrators. I can’t stand it when people cut in line in front of me, make fun of minorities, or take illegal actions for their financial benefit at someone’s expense. How do you deal with these kinds of issues?
• It is hard for us to understand the radical examples Jesus used because we don’t live in a country occupied by foreign soldiers who exploit us. Can you think of some examples that fit our cultural context?

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Of all the teachings of Jesus, the “Sermon on the Mount” is probably the best-known. Matthews tells us that the crowds began following Jesus after news of his miraculous healing of “every disease and sickness” spread throughout the entire region of Galilee and Judea. When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and began to teach them.

The location of this teaching in Matthew 5-7 suggests that it occurred very early in Jesus’ public ministry. This “sermon” is only recorded in the first Gospel (Matthew), although Luke records a similar sermon, sometimes called “the Sermon on the Plain” in the third Gospel (6:17-49). While Luke’s account is considerably shorter than Matthew’s, both sermons begin with what are known as the Beatitudes, end with the parable of the two house builders, and contain much material in common.

It is quite likely that the teachings recorded in these three chapters of Matthew were not a single sermon given on one particular occasion, but rather are a collection of teachings by Jesus early in his ministry. Of all the teachings included in these chapters, the Beatitudes especially establish the radical character of Jesus’ ministry and clearly set him apart from all other teachers of his day.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus describes what his followers ought to be like. The first four Beatitudes describe the disciples’ relationship to God and the second four, the disciples’ relationship to other people.

As far as we know, this is Jesus’ first recorded teaching on peacemaking. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). The Amplified New Testament reads “Blessed are those who are makers and maintainers of peace.”

As noted in previous posts in this Blog, Jesus had already demonstrated on numerous occasions what peacemaking was all about. When he called the tax collector, Levi (Matthew), to be one of his twelve disciples, along with Simon the Zealot, this message was clear. When he met with the Samaritan woman at the well and engaged her in conversation, he taught his disciples another important lesson. When he touched lepers and a bleeding woman, thereby making himself “unclean,” he made his point. This is what Shalom-making is all about in a broken world.

First by his actions and then by his teaching, Jesus underlines the point that God is the author of peace and reconciliation, so people who want to follow him are called to this task as well. Satan is the author of discord and conflict. It is God who loves peace and who, through citizens of his Kingdom, is committed to seeing peace established on earth through his people, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Peacemaking is a powerful testimony to the world that disciples of Jesus are in the business of bringing healing and reconciliation to a world full of conflict and hatred. This testimony points to the author of peace (God the Father), the Prince of Peace (Jesus Christ) and the enabler of peacemaking (Holy Spirit).

So What?

• It is hard not to be discouraged when you read the Beatitudes because it seems so impossible to actually live a life that reflects these qualities. That’s why most of us try to “spiritualize” the teachings, reducing them to some abstract theological qualities. Read the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3-10). Are these qualities you strive for – to be meek, merciful, and pure in heart? What a powerful antidote to a culture in which cynicism and self-interest are the primary default positions!
• Being a “maker and maintainer of peace” is an exciting calling to me. Do you agree? Rather than bringing more hurt and violence to our world, which we see every night on the evening news, we have a special mandate – to do what we can to make and maintain peace.

Get Out of This House!

How does anger, even righteous anger, fit in the job description of a peacemaker? Can peacemakers express anger without contradicting their role as reconcilers? Jesus gave us the opportunity to work through this tough question by his own example.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the story of Jesus ordering the money changers and merchants to leave the Temple grounds sometime during the week following his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and before his arrest. The Apostle John documents a similar event, but his description places the event earlier. It therefore seems likely that Jesus cleansed the temple twice during his three-year ministry.

In both cases, Jesus drove out the money changers and merchants and turned over their tables. In John’s account, he notes that Jesus made a whip out of cords that he used to drive the animals from the temple area.

Jesus’ righteous anger over how the merchants had turned the “house of prayer,” “my Father’s house,” into a “den of robbers” resulted in these acts of cleansing. Mark and Luke both point out that, although the cleansing of the temple angered Jewish religious leaders, the people were “amazed” at his teaching. It is important to note that Jesus used force in clearing the temple, but there is no record of him striking anyone or using violence to punish the merchants or money changers.

This dramatic confrontation gives us insights into the way in which justice and holiness are linked. Just as God in the Old Testament uses force as an instrument of his judgment against idolatrous and unjust nations, so Jesus uses force to condemn the abuse of the temple. The Prince of Peace was not passive in the face of wrong. Biblical peace is never a camouflage for injustice. Evil requires a response and Jesus’ cleansing action is instructional for us.

Confronting evil is never an easy task, especially when we are often out-numbered. But evil and violence destroy lives and wreak havoc on God’s creation. Peacemakers must be committed to working for justice, not ignoring it, and sometimes this requires direct action, identifying the injustice – naming it and calling into account those who are responsible. That’s what Jesus did!

So What?

• Can you think of examples where you have seen injustice like this? How did you respond?
• Are these issues ever discussed in your church or by you and your friends? What have you been taught about confronting evil and injustice?
• Have you been in churches where there are similarities to the temple courtyard described in these Biblical texts? I have seen some church lobbies that remind me of shopping malls and commercial centers. Is this an accurate parallel?