Prelude
Call to Worship Deuteronomy 11:1
Hymn JBC # 125 All creatures of our God and King
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Supper
Hymn JBC # 33 Lord, the light of Your love is shining
Offering
Scripture Matthew 10:34～39
Prayer
Sermon “Not peace but a sword”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 255 Face to face with Christ, my Saviour
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
In today's Bible passage, Jesus says something remarkable.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’(verse 34～36)
Jesus once went up a mountain and preached to the people from the top of that mountain, as described in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5. It is a famous sermon known as the “Sermon on the Mount.
In that “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Thus, Jesus told people to “make peace” by His own words and teachings.
So did Jesus say something in today's passage that is completely contrary and contradictory to what he once had said?
What did Jesus mean when he said, “I have come to turn each family member against one another” even though he once had taught people to realize peace?
In another part of the Bible, Jesus made a promise to give us peace. In the Gospel of John 14:27, it says
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Jesus clearly stated as much. Therefore, to understand what Jesus said in today's passage, we need to understand what kind of peace He means by “peace” or “my (Christ's) peace.
For us to understand peace through Jesus Christ, we must first know who Jesus Christ is to us.
And we must accept by faith and believe with all our hearts what Jesus Christ has done for us.
And we must accept that as people who believe in what Jesus Christ has done for us and are thankful to Him, Christians are expected to live in an appropriate manner.
We would be able to interpret what Jesus said“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth”is as follows.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace (peace what you think is) on earth.”
What kind of peace did the Israelites desire at that time? First, that is the peace through liberation from the Roman Empire that ruled over them.
The Israelites believed that their deliverance from the Roman Empire would be brought about by a Savior (Messiah) as a strong military leader, and they eagerly awaited the coming of the Messiah.
However, the peace that Jesus sought to bring was not such peace.
Jesus gave us the peace of God by laying down His life on the cross, in a way that seems like utter defeat and failure in the eyes of others.
On the cross, the Son of God laid down His life without any resistance, in a way what appeared as if He had succumbed to the forces of evil.
But in fact, it was precisely by such means that all evil forces were destroyed and our human sins were forgiven.
Jesus told people that true peace cannot be brought about by military power or by force of some kind by forcing the other (the enemy) to do what you say.
Because the Son of God laid down His life, God became a man and brought Himself thoroughly low (humble), so that we might be saved and true peace might be given to us.
Therefore Christians must always remember the humility of Christ, the Son of God, who thoroughly lowered Himself, and who died for our sins on the cross.
And since the Son of God has so lowered Himself to give us true peace, we too desire to be peacemakers by lowering ourselves.
And isn’t another aspect of the peace that the Israelites wanted was the peace of their country (Israel), and their country alone?
It is the peace of the “fellow” Israelis, the peace of “one’s own family” so to speak.
I imagine that they were hoping for the peace by God that can only be given to the Israelites, who are connected by the bond of the same people (the sense of being a specially chosen people by God).
In today's passage, Jesus says something very shocking and difficult for us to understand: “I have come to turn families against each other”.
Family is usually very important existence to us. Families are formed based on something that seems special to us, like blood-relation, and we are usually born as part of one family.
Families exist as those connected by a special bond and as those who are supposed to love each other.
However, Jesus said he would bring a sword into it (the family)in today's scripture passage. What on earth did Jesus mean?
verse 37
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Family is important an existence. One's parents or children are to be loved.
“Honor your father and your mother” is one of the most important commandments as in the Ten Commandments of Moses. “Honor your father and mother” can be thought of as including the meaning of “love your father and mother”.
But Jesus says, “He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And to parents, he says, “He who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
The key phrase here is clearly “more than me (Jesus Christ).” Families must love each other.
But even love for one's own family, if it is stronger than love for the Lord Jesus Christ, then it is not a love worthy of a Christian, he says.
This is very confusing and difficult to understand. It seems as if we are being asked to choose between loving our family or loving God (Jesus), which seems odd.
But when we truly know and believe in “what kind of the person Jesus Christ is” and “what He has done for us”, as I said before, we will love Christ first.
For we have been forgiven of our sins by Christ and are thus permitted to live like this. Those who believe that he or she is made alive through Christ must first love Christ.
We all have people we care about, whether they are family members, or friends, or loved ones. It is wonderful to love and cherish others. But the heart to love and cherish others in that way is also something that God gives to us.
Only when we truly believe in Jesus Christ and love Him will we be able to love our own families as well.
And when we believe in Christ and love Him more than anyone (or anything), we will be able to truly love our own family, and His love will cause us to love others beyond our own family as well.
In today's passage, when Jesus said that “families will be hostile to one another (turn against one another),” He meant the discord that can arise within families because of faith in Christ.
I believe that some of you who are the only Christian in your family may experience difficulty in keeping the faith on your own within your family, if not discord or hostility.
I am thankful that you all come to worship and are connected to the church in spite of such your difficulties, and I would like to pray for those of you.
But we can trust through Christ that in the end, in the end, Christ’s love, our faith in Jesus Christ, will overwhelm any such conflict, or difficulty, and will help us overcome that difficulty.
Through each of you sincerely believing in Christ and worshipping God, Christ's love will surely spread to your family and those around you.
I will read the last verse of today, verse 39.
39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
These words also seem to say something contradictory at first glance. Why is it that he who seeks to gain his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for Christ's sake will gain it?
We are created by God. We are creatures made by God, and God is our Creator.
Therefore, we can only live true life when we are constantly connected to our Creator God. Specifically, we can only continue to live true life if we continue to be nourished by the living Word of God.
The Word of God does not come naturally from within us. The Word of God is always given to us as grace from outside of us, through the words of the Bible, through prayer, and through worship.
If we try to live only by our own experiences and our own abilities, without receiving the Word of God given as grace from outside us, we will lose our spiritual life.
We cannot live true life if we cling to who we are in that way. We cannot live true life if we hold on to our natural sins.
When we renounce our old, sinful selves, and then receive the life of Jesus Christ, which is true life (when we receive Christ into our hearts), we can truly live.
Let us always put Jesus Christ first, and let us desire to love Christ with all our hearts, and live our lives in that way.
Let us be people who remember and pray for peace (peace through Christ) in our own families, in our society beyond our family and friends, in our country, and in our world, cherishing the thoughts and love for others that we can receive because of our love for Christ.
In that “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Thus, Jesus told people to “make peace” by His own words and teachings.
So did Jesus say something in today's passage that is completely contrary and contradictory to what he once had said?
What did Jesus mean when he said, “I have come to turn each family member against one another” even though he once had taught people to realize peace?
In another part of the Bible, Jesus made a promise to give us peace. In the Gospel of John 14:27, it says
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Jesus clearly stated as much. Therefore, to understand what Jesus said in today's passage, we need to understand what kind of peace He means by “peace” or “my (Christ's) peace.
For us to understand peace through Jesus Christ, we must first know who Jesus Christ is to us.
And we must accept by faith and believe with all our hearts what Jesus Christ has done for us.
And we must accept that as people who believe in what Jesus Christ has done for us and are thankful to Him, Christians are expected to live in an appropriate manner.
We would be able to interpret what Jesus said“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth”is as follows.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace (peace what you think is) on earth.”
What kind of peace did the Israelites desire at that time? First, that is the peace through liberation from the Roman Empire that ruled over them.
The Israelites believed that their deliverance from the Roman Empire would be brought about by a Savior (Messiah) as a strong military leader, and they eagerly awaited the coming of the Messiah.
However, the peace that Jesus sought to bring was not such peace.
Jesus gave us the peace of God by laying down His life on the cross, in a way that seems like utter defeat and failure in the eyes of others.
On the cross, the Son of God laid down His life without any resistance, in a way what appeared as if He had succumbed to the forces of evil.
But in fact, it was precisely by such means that all evil forces were destroyed and our human sins were forgiven.
Jesus told people that true peace cannot be brought about by military power or by force of some kind by forcing the other (the enemy) to do what you say.
Because the Son of God laid down His life, God became a man and brought Himself thoroughly low (humble), so that we might be saved and true peace might be given to us.
Therefore Christians must always remember the humility of Christ, the Son of God, who thoroughly lowered Himself, and who died for our sins on the cross.
And since the Son of God has so lowered Himself to give us true peace, we too desire to be peacemakers by lowering ourselves.
And isn’t another aspect of the peace that the Israelites wanted was the peace of their country (Israel), and their country alone?
It is the peace of the “fellow” Israelis, the peace of “one’s own family” so to speak.
I imagine that they were hoping for the peace by God that can only be given to the Israelites, who are connected by the bond of the same people (the sense of being a specially chosen people by God).
In today's passage, Jesus says something very shocking and difficult for us to understand: “I have come to turn families against each other”.
Family is usually very important existence to us. Families are formed based on something that seems special to us, like blood-relation, and we are usually born as part of one family.
Families exist as those connected by a special bond and as those who are supposed to love each other.
However, Jesus said he would bring a sword into it (the family)in today's scripture passage. What on earth did Jesus mean?
verse 37
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Family is important an existence. One's parents or children are to be loved.
“Honor your father and your mother” is one of the most important commandments as in the Ten Commandments of Moses. “Honor your father and mother” can be thought of as including the meaning of “love your father and mother”.
But Jesus says, “He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And to parents, he says, “He who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
The key phrase here is clearly “more than me (Jesus Christ).” Families must love each other.
But even love for one's own family, if it is stronger than love for the Lord Jesus Christ, then it is not a love worthy of a Christian, he says.
This is very confusing and difficult to understand. It seems as if we are being asked to choose between loving our family or loving God (Jesus), which seems odd.
But when we truly know and believe in “what kind of the person Jesus Christ is” and “what He has done for us”, as I said before, we will love Christ first.
For we have been forgiven of our sins by Christ and are thus permitted to live like this. Those who believe that he or she is made alive through Christ must first love Christ.
We all have people we care about, whether they are family members, or friends, or loved ones. It is wonderful to love and cherish others. But the heart to love and cherish others in that way is also something that God gives to us.
Only when we truly believe in Jesus Christ and love Him will we be able to love our own families as well.
And when we believe in Christ and love Him more than anyone (or anything), we will be able to truly love our own family, and His love will cause us to love others beyond our own family as well.
In today's passage, when Jesus said that “families will be hostile to one another (turn against one another),” He meant the discord that can arise within families because of faith in Christ.
I believe that some of you who are the only Christian in your family may experience difficulty in keeping the faith on your own within your family, if not discord or hostility.
I am thankful that you all come to worship and are connected to the church in spite of such your difficulties, and I would like to pray for those of you.
But we can trust through Christ that in the end, in the end, Christ’s love, our faith in Jesus Christ, will overwhelm any such conflict, or difficulty, and will help us overcome that difficulty.
Through each of you sincerely believing in Christ and worshipping God, Christ's love will surely spread to your family and those around you.
I will read the last verse of today, verse 39.
39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
These words also seem to say something contradictory at first glance. Why is it that he who seeks to gain his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for Christ's sake will gain it?
We are created by God. We are creatures made by God, and God is our Creator.
Therefore, we can only live true life when we are constantly connected to our Creator God. Specifically, we can only continue to live true life if we continue to be nourished by the living Word of God.
The Word of God does not come naturally from within us. The Word of God is always given to us as grace from outside of us, through the words of the Bible, through prayer, and through worship.
If we try to live only by our own experiences and our own abilities, without receiving the Word of God given as grace from outside us, we will lose our spiritual life.
We cannot live true life if we cling to who we are in that way. We cannot live true life if we hold on to our natural sins.
When we renounce our old, sinful selves, and then receive the life of Jesus Christ, which is true life (when we receive Christ into our hearts), we can truly live.
Let us always put Jesus Christ first, and let us desire to love Christ with all our hearts, and live our lives in that way.
Let us be people who remember and pray for peace (peace through Christ) in our own families, in our society beyond our family and friends, in our country, and in our world, cherishing the thoughts and love for others that we can receive because of our love for Christ.
