The Prince Of Peace Brought A Sword

Isaiah 9:7, Matthew 10:34, Ephesians 2:14

People believe that the Bible contradicts itself. They will site many passages that seem to conflict with each other. Especially in the four gospels. Instead of seeing the harmony of their accounts, they see it as something to dispute. The reality is that each writer was given a different and divine view of Jesus life and ministry; they bring a unique harmony when you read them, and allow the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and insight to connect all the pieces. Just like a diamond has numerous facets that catch the light and brings it’s beauty to the stone; that is what takes place when the light of God’s word radiates into our lives.

Isaiah’s prophecy that the coming Messiah would have very distinct characteristics that would fulfill all that was foretold of Him, had many facets. One was that He would be the Prince of Peace. In a world filled with turmoil, darkness and confusion; a Prince of Peace would be a welcomed gift….and Jesus was born into a time of great turmoil. Where was the peace? From being born in an animals stall, and His earthly father Joseph being warned to flee because of Herod’s murderous decree….we certainly don’t see a peaceful and serene backdrop surrounding His entrance into this world.

There was not much recorded during His young growing up years, until His family took their yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover…He went missing! That incident was surely absent of peace for His parents as they anxiously went in search of Him, only to find Him in the temple “about His Father’s business.” We don’t hear anything else until He begins His ministry at thirty years old. He lived and learned to not only become a carpenter; but a Rabbi. Very few young men actually earned that coveted status back then; but “the Word made flesh” knew and lived the word. He broke tradition in that He chose His disciples, not the other way around as was the custom. People would search for a Rabbi and then follow if they liked what they heard. Jesus knew whom His Father had chosen, and He went out and invited them to follow Him….as He still does today.

Did those disciples anticipate finding peace? Finding a Rabbi that would end the chaos and political injustice of their day? After all, He was called the Prince of Peace, yet we read in Matthew 10:34, where Jesus tells them, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” Isn’t this a contradiction? It almost sounds like war. What was this sword? Was it a physical sword that they were to wield? No! And the answer is still no. When we read all that Jesus told them in this chapter, we understand what this statement meant. He was sending them out as sheep among the wolves, to “the lost sheep of Israel” There was a wall of partition that had separated the truth from tradition, and it needed to be removed.

Remember what happened to veil in the temple when Jesus was crucified? “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.” Matthew 27:51 There could be no peace until the perfect Lamb of God shed His blood for the sins of mankind. His sacrifice brought perfect peace because He alone is peace. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and had broken down the wall of partition, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” Ephesians 2:14-16

Although His birth announcement tells us that He is the Prince of Peace, He can never be our Peace until we allow Him to use His sword to remove the partition of sin from our lives. Everyone has a wall of sin that separates us from God our Savior, the Prince of Peace. The sword is not a symbol of war, but rather an instrument of a divine surgery that removes the wall of sin that surrounds our hearts and keeps our minds alienated from Him. If you know Him as your Princess of Peace, but have allowed walls of un-forgiveness and bitterness to separate you from the peace in your life; I pray that during this season as we celebrate His birth, that you would allow Him to remove what separates you from having true peace in your life.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7