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Blogging the Bible: More on Matthew 10:24-42

Posted June 22, 2008

Last time, I noted that this passage is easy…if you focus on Christ telling us to "not be afraid" and if you accept God’s providence. Why would God overlook us when God already looks out for small sparrows?

This is quite comforting, but Jesus goes on to say some very unsettling things like: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” and “I have come to set man against his father and a daughter against her mother.” These are good examples of why we should not proof-text the bible. We should be careful to not take single sentences out of context. These very specific sentences are not meant to be isolated from the rest of scripture and used to form the basis of policy.

For example, Jesus clearly says, “I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” But that does not give us the right to use weapons to kill people. Instead, it forces upon us the responsibility of asking, “What does Jesus mean by this?” Isn’t this the same Jesus that said, “Blessed are the peacemakers?” Isn’t this the same Jesus who proclaimed the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven, a kingdom where justice reigns and all God’s creation lives in peace to pursue life more abundant? Jesus obviously means something more here than “grab a weapon and start disturbing the peace.”

I remember, a couple year’s back, the newspaper reporting the day before Father’s day that U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony Jones from South Carolina was killed in Iraq. Sgt. Jones was a 25 year old father of two. His wife said, “Anthony was the best family man you can imagine. He was a hunter, and a fisherman and a hopeless romantic.” Anthony Jones was on his third tour of duty in Iraq.

Politicians have been talking around talking about an exit strategy from Iraq since before Sgt. Jones’ death. Clearly, no substantive action has been taken. In fact, we’ve undertaken a “surge” since then. Sgt. Jones probably would not have had an opinion on this. He was a professional soldier and performed his duties to the best of his abilities as ordered.

I am not sure about the specific best way forward. But I do know that there is precious little public discussion in this democracy of ours about how we will resolve our adventures in Iraq. And I know that there are many father-less children because of this war. I know that we started this war with a doctrine of pre-emption. I know that – even though no one says so now – we started this war partly as a retaliation against the sons of Ishmael, the son of Hagar. And I know that God cares for Ishmael and Hagar as much as God cares for anyone.

Jesus Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.

It is not easy to question our nation’s actions in the world. It makes people uncomfortable and causes those who think they are patriots to say nasty things about those who care enough about our troops to want them at home safe with their families.

Maybe that’s the sword Jesus was talking about – the one that makes us feel uncomfortable about standing for what we believe is right. The sword that separates us from loved ones who hold different opinions. Maybe that’s why Jesus told the disciples so many times, “Do not be afraid.” Because their path was not an easy one, but it was the path to the kingdom of God.



Jesus Christ was not threatening eternal damnation of those who failed to do God’s will. He was telling all the world that we are already damned, here and now if we cannot see that all people everywhere are God’s children, even two-cent sparrows.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. That Word is not written down somewhere, it is the living Word of Jesus Christ. And that eternal Word does not recognize a difference between the beginning and the end. The living word of God understands that God’s love at creation – at the beginning of time – is the same as God’s loving desire for the reconciliation of all creation at the end of time. If you are waiting for an apocalypse, you are only standing in the way of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Our God does not seek the suffering and tribulation of anyone! Our God steps in to be the father of the father-less, no matter where they live. Our God is the God of Anthony Jones and his, now father-less, children. Our God is the God of all those father-less children in Iraq. Our God is the father of Isaac AND Ishmael. Our God made all creation and loves all creation, no less today and tomorrow than the moment all this was created in love. It is time to put down our swords of death and pickup our swords of life, the swords of courage that will help us pursue the kingdom of God.