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Book of Matthew page NOT on original site
Related Scripture Luke 12: 49 - 53
What Jesus said in . . .
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Matthew 10: 34 - 35 ( King James Version )
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Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to end peace, but a sword.
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| v. 35 > For I am come to set a man at variance against is father; and the daughter against her mother; and the daughter-in-law against her mother in law. |
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| Text Quoted in Spirit of Prophecy |
How, then, can the gospel be called a message of peace? When Isaiah foretold the birth of the Messiah, he ascribed to Him the title, “Prince of Peace.” When angels announced to the shepherds that Christ was born, they sang above the plains of Bethlehem: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14. There is a seeming contradiction between these prophetic declarations and the words of Christ: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34. But, rightly understood, the two are in perfect harmony. The gospel is a message of peace. Christianity is a system which, received and obeyed, would spread peace, harmony, and happiness throughout the earth. The religion of Christ will unite in close brotherhood all who accept its teachings. It was the mission of Jesus to reconcile men to God, and thus to one another. But the world at large are under the control of Satan, Christ’s bitterest foe. The gospel presents to them principles of life which are wholly at variance with their habits and desires, and they rise in rebellion against it. They hate the purity which reveals and condemns their sins, and they persecute and destroy those who would urge upon them its just and holy claims. It is in this sense — because the exalted truths it brings occasion hatred and strife — that the gospel is called a sword. { GC 46.3} Read entire Chapter 2 |
| Christ said of Himself, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34. The Prince of Peace, He was yet the cause of division. He who came to proclaim glad tidings and to create hope and joy in the hearts of the children of men, opened a controversy that burns deep and arouses intense passion in the human heart. And He warns His followers, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” “They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.” “Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.” John 16:33; Luke 21:12, 16. { AA 84.2} Read entire Chapter 8
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| Christ said of Himself, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34. The Prince of Peace, He was yet the cause of division. He who came to proclaim glad tidings opened a controversy that burns deep and arouses intense passion in the human heart. And He warns His followers, “Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.” Luke 21:16. { TT 45.5 }
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Bible Commentary on Matthew, Chapter 10, verse 34
34 (Luke 12:51). No Peace Because of Rejected Messages.-- Christ declared, "I came not to send peace, but a sword." Why? Because men would not receive the word of life. Because they warred against the message sent them to bring them joy and hope and life. {5BC 1089.4}
We look upon the Jews as inexcusable because they rejected and crucified Christ. But today the messages that the Lord sends are often received in a manner similar to the way in which the Jews received Christ's message. If the instruction of the Lord does not harmonize with the opinions of men, anger takes control of reason, and men play into the enemy's hands by opposing the message that God sends. Satan uses them as sharp instruments to oppose the progress of truth (MS 31, 1889). {5BC 1089.5}
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| The Saviour bade His disciples not to hope that the world’s enmity to the gospel would be overcome, and that after a time its opposition would cease. He said, “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” ( Matthew 10: 34 ) This creating of strife is not the effect of the gospel, but the result of opposition to it. Of all persecution the hardest to bear is variance in the home, the estrangement of dearest earthly friends. But Jesus declares, “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.” { DA 357.3} Read entire Chapter 37 |
| In the work of the ministry there are battles to fight and victories to gain. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth,” said Christ; “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” [Matthew 10:34.] The opening labors of the Christian church were attended with hardships and bitter griefs, and the successors of the early apostles find that they must meet with trials similar to theirs; privations, calumny, and every species of opposition meet them in their labors. They must be men of stanch moral courage and of spiritual muscle. { GW92 71.3 }
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| Though he bore the title of Prince of Peace, Christ said of Himself, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34.... The Prince of Peace, He was yet the cause of division. { OHC 328.3}
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| But light and darkness cannot harmonize. Between truth and error there is an irrepressible conflict. To uphold and defend the one is to attack and overthrow the other. Our Saviour Himself declared: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34. Said Luther, a few years after the opening of the Reformation: “God does not guide me, He pushes me forward. He carries me away. I am not master of myself. I desire to live in repose; but I am thrown into the midst of tumults and revolutions.”—D’Aubigne, b. 5, ch. 2. He was now about to be urged into the contest. { GC 126.3} Read entire Chapter 7 also { 4SP 101.2 }
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| There is a seeming contradiction between these prophetic declarations and the words of Christ: “I came not to send peace, but a sword” ( Matthew 10:34). But, rightly understood, the two are in perfect harmony. The gospel is a message of peace. Christianity is a system which, received and obeyed, would spread peace, harmony, and happiness throughout the earth. The religion of Christ will unite in close brotherhood all who accept its teachings. It was the mission of Jesus to reconcile men to God, and thus to one another.— Great Controversy, 46, 47. { RC 38.8}
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| No Peace at Any Price, July 25 -- Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34. { UL 220.1}
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| Obedience to the will of God will involve a cross. Christ says: “Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth.” “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34. And we find that the truth for this age, if lived out, will “set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Verses 35, 36. { 3MR 78.2 }
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