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Luke 12: 51 “Do you think I came to bring peace on
earth? No, I tell you, but division.” (NIV)
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If you seek peace, prepare for war.* |
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This is surprising news. What was it those
angels said in Jesus’ birth announcement? “Peace to men on whom his favor
rests.” Isn’t Jesus known as the Prince of Peace? His statement here doesn’t
seem to match up with what we think we know about Jesus and peace.
I scanned some commentaries and found a lot
of contrived conclusions. “Christ came to make peace with God for men, and to
give the Gospel of peace, and spiritual and eternal peace to men; but not
external peace.”* Or this one: “The design of the gospel and its proper tendency are to
unite the children of men to one another, to knit them together in holy love,
and, if all would receive it, this would be the effect of it.”* And another: “It was the belief of the Jews that the
Messiah would at once introduce a reign of peace and prosperity. Jesus does not
wish His followers to live in a fool’s paradise.”*
I’m not saying these men are wrong – they are much smarter
than I am. But so often we make things harder than they have to be. The angels
said, “Peace to men on whom his favor rests.” That is not the same thing as
“Peace on earth.” There will never be peace on earth – Satan has made sure of
that!
We picture Jesus as “meek and lowly,” but we forget that he
was an agitator. You can’t have peace until you separate the hostile from the
peaceful. Have you ever heard the saying, “If you want to make an omelet, you
have to break some eggs”? That’s what Jesus did to obtain peace for us – and he
paid for it with his life.
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When necessary Jesus still disturbs the peace today.* |
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