Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. The peace that Jesus does not bring and the sword he does bring: the social disruption and family division of verses 21–22 are named with the startling sword image. The peace that Jesus brings ultimately (John 14:27 — my peace I give to you) is first preceded by the disruption that his claims produce. Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus the Prince of Peace, and that peace is the final reality — but the road to that peace passes through the divisions that his call to decision creates. Luke 12:51 has division rather than sword — both capture the separating function of Jesus' arrival.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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