The Not So Nice Jesus

[Miles]

.

Matthew 10:34-36
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?



.

[Checkpoint]

.

Matthew 10:34-36
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?
.

On the contrary.

Love of Christ, and commitment to him, will inevitably bring strong reactive opposition from those living a different lifestyle with clashing values.

The assignment Christ had was love of his Father and commitment to Him. It brought the same strong reactive opposition that resulted in what? Trouble, conflict, and division, and his early death.

As Simeon had prophesied when he was a baby, in Luke 2:

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

[1213]

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?

It is unfortunate thing that for some the good message brings misery. I think it is still good to declare the message, even if some people will do bad things because they don’t like the message.

And about the sword, I don’t think Jesus is speaking of earthly sword, but about this:

For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb. 4:12

[Checkpoint]

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?

It is unfortunate thing that for some the good message brings misery. I think it is still good to declare the message, even if some people will do bad things because they don’t like the message.

And about the sword, I don’t think Jesus is speaking of earthly sword, but about this:

For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb. 4:12

Remarkable.

You and I each posted a passage, which clearly send the same message, even though that was not our conscious intention.

The sword is in both scriptures, and so is its result.

Note the similarity of:

" and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart".

"so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed".

Love it!

[Revelations won]

Dear Miles,

One should clearly understand that there will always be opposition to truth. There will always be opposition to good and evil. And I might add that opposition is a necessary component which allows the ultimate exercise of the agency which God has given to man.

If all were to accept and fully embrace what Christ has taught, then peace would supremely reign.

If rejection of the teachings of Christ would bring peace, then, simply examine the results. Have the philosophies of man brought peace to this world ??? Is it not extremely obvious that it has utterly failed?

Kind regards,
RW

[JehovahsWitness]

.

Matthew 10:34-36
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world?
.

Jesus was not suggesting his message would be a source of misery (he called it "good news") but he was being realistic, not everyone would react favorably to what he was teaching. The Watchtower magazine Octobre 15, 2007, puts it this way ...

" Of course, Jesus’ motive was to proclaim God’s message of truth, not to damage relationships. (John 18:37) Still, holding faithfully to Christ’s teachings would be challenging if one’s close friends or family members rejected the truth. ... Jesus included the pain of family opposition as part of the suffering that his followers must be willing to endure. (Matt. 10:38)

Jesus promoted good relations with everyone, including ones unbelieving relatives but he recognised that a division of beliefs, a metaphoric "sword" was an inevitable consequence of not everyone accepting his teachings.



JW




What did Jesus mean by "turn the other cheek"?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 50#p773650

To read more please go to other posts related to POSTS RELATED to ...

RELIGION, CHRISTIANITY and ...JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

[tam]

Peace to you,

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world? Got fed up with The Love of Christ assignment perhaps?

It is unfortunate thing that for some the good message brings misery. I think it is still good to declare the message, even if some people will do bad things because they don’t like the message.

And about the sword, I don’t think Jesus is speaking of earthly sword, but about this:

For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb. 4:12

The Word of God (who is alive and active) is the Truth; is Christ.

The sword is truth - like the sword that comes out of His mouth at Rev 19:15.

Which also goes toward what RW touched upon above, regarding some accepting truth and some rejecting truth. They are divided, turned against one another, at odds.



Peace again to you all!

[Miles]

.

Matthew 10:34-36
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’

So what's going on with Jesus here, coming to bring all this misery upon the world?
.

Jesus was not suggesting his message would be a source of misery (he called it "good news") but he was being realistic, not everyone would react favorably to what he was teaching. The Watchtower magazine Octobre 15, 2007, puts it this way ...

I'm not saying his message would be the source of misery, but what he was about to do:

" 34. . .I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war"). 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’

Now you may not think this would make people miserable, but I certainly do.

" Of course, Jesus’ motive was to proclaim God’s message of truth, not to damage relationships. (John 18:37) Still, holding faithfully to Christ’s teachings would be challenging if one’s close friends or family members rejected the truth. ... Jesus included the pain of family opposition as part of the suffering that his followers must be willing to endure. (Matt. 10:38)

Then obviously proclaiming god's message of truth involved bringing misery upon the world because I believe that's an extremely logical outcome when Jesus brings his sword (also translated as "trouble," "conflict," "division," and "war") and sets out to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 Even members of your own family will be your enemies.



.

[Tcg]

Jesus promoted good relations with everyone, including ones unbelieving relatives but he recognised that a division of beliefs, a metaphoric "sword" was an inevitable consequence of not everyone accepting his teachings.

JW

You've overlooked the Jesus of Matthew 13:

27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’

Tcg

[JehovahsWitness]

You've overlooked the Jesus of Matthew 13:

27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’

Tcg

I didn't see that it was mentioned, but did you have a point to make about the passage?