Breaking the Word

"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. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple — amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns. (Mt 10:34-11:1)

Peace and unity are the pillars on which the kingdom of God is built. Division which is just the opposite of peace and unity is considered the scandal of the kingdom. But here Jesus says that he has come to bring not peace but sword. He seemed to say that he has come to cause division among people. In fact that is what he says as the reading proceeds.

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.' He clearly says that the division in the family comes because of their attitude towards God and Jesus.

Those who are in the kingdom or those who want to belong to the kingdom should have their priorities right. The first and the top most priority is God. That is the primacy of God. After this the members can have any number of relatives and friends. Jesus is not against the family relations or friends. They have their roles and their places. 

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."  The disciples approached him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He said to them in reply, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because 'they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.'  Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: 'You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.' "But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it…(Mt 13:1-23 )

Jesus was by the sea side and naturally one would expect a greater part of the hearers to be fisher folk. Again one would expect Jesus to speak parables that are connected to fishing and sea and so on. Sitting by the sea side Jesus speaks of parables related to sowing and harvesting. Could this be one of the reasons why the hearers did not understand what Jesus was preaching?

Jesus spoke many things in parables. He did not want the people to understand it as it was said. (Hear and hear yet they did not understand).  Mysteries of the kingdom could not be understood by the hearer on its own. It has to be revealed. Human intelligence and effort and seeking could not help a man to reach understanding. Jesus has to reveal it and explain it for the hearers.

Jesus by saying the following: "But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” wants to tell the people that he is the perfect revelation and he is the only revealer of God to the people. That is why the prophets and the righteous longed to see him.