Context for Matthew 10:24-42
Jesus’ commission to His disciples and to us today is a hard challenge. Jesus lays out the life of a Christian in the world in plain, unflattering terms. The challenge is to endure in faith in spite of these things to receive the promised reward of Heaven.
Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword. How can this be, if Jesus is the Prince of Peace promised through Isaiah? What is this sword that Jesus brings to us through His coming?
Jesus is the Word made flesh, and that Word is also the sword that divides men. It divides men because of the Gospel, a stumbling block to all except by the gift of faith through grace. This division exists because so many reject the Gospel, making them enemies of God and causing them to oppose those who have faith.
It is this division of faith versus rejection that will determine each person’s place on the last day. For those who received faith and acted according to it, the promise of Heaven and the peace of eternity will be realized. For those who rejected that faith, the promise of hell is just as sure.
That is why our mission as Christians is so important. Through our example of faith by our lives and our words, we preach the Gospel that has the power to save men. It is through that Gospel that all receive peace through God’s promise of Heaven as the great reward for faith in His Gospel.
