"Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man 'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household.' "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it… (Mt 10:34-11:1)
It is a strange and difficult passage to understand and to follow. Has Jesus come to cause division among us? Has he come to destroy peace that is in the family? Is not the family that builds up the society? New testament also speaks a lot about caring for one another in the family.
Jesus does not say that his followers will find themselves splitting the family. He is talking about priorities. He is making remarkable and quite drastic claims. He is not saying that following him mattered more than the family union rather he says that allegiance to him should become the top priority. Allegiance to him was itself very difficult for his disciples (Peter denied, Judas betrayed).
It may be worth reading Micah 7:6. This speaks of the terrible divisions that will take place when God does something new. Jesus came to establish a new way of being God’s people. Allegiance to Jesus was the top priority for this new group of people. To be with Jesus is to be with God. Anyone who acknowledges Jesus accepts Jesus is acknowledged and accepted by Jesus in front of the Father.
