In a lengthy discourse to his disciples, Jesus tells those closest to him that he has not come into the world to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). He goes on to say that he has come to divide the people within households against each other - e.g., father against son, mother against daughter, and so forth. He provides some clarity towards the end of this statement by establishing his precedence over every living creature, that we must love him over all other relationships, even our own lives. But it still begs the question of why would the God-man - prophesied by Isaiah to be the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), whose reign the Psalmist says will be days when the righteous flourish and peace abounds (Ps. 72:7), and who Paul says has become our peace and broken down the wall of hostility created by our own sin (Eph. 2:14) - bring a sword that causes division?
The imagery of the sword is not a new one that Jesus speaks to the disciples. It is a symbol used many times throughout Scripture to describe the primary "weapon" used by the Messiah to defend the weak and kill the wicked. For example, see Deuteronomy 32:41, where the Lord speaks of readying his sword to judge and take vengeance on his adversaries. Interestingly, Isaiah records the Lord prophesying that the Assyrians will fall by a sword "not of man," speaking of his own divine weapon of judgment and deliverance (Isa. 31:8).
The NT sees the authors using more vivid imagery and clarity to God's sword. Look, for example, at Hebrews 4:12, where the author says that it is the word of God that is living and active, like a two-edged sword, that pierces deep into the division of heart and soul, bone and marrow, and discerns the intentions of men's hearts. A Person is identified with the sword in Revelation, where John records that out of Christ's mouth comes a sword that will search hearts and judge rebels (Rev. 1:16) and again, that the Rider on the white horse, whose name is the Word of God, brandishes a sword to strike down the nations (Rev. 19:15).
The sword is used by the Lord to accomplish his purposes - it is his mighty word that goes forth from his mouth and succeeds in the very thing for which he sent it (Isa. 55:11). It is his message to redeem this fallen world and defeat the authorities, dominions, and principalities that establish their rule through sin's sway (Col. 2:15). It is his gospel of reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor. 5:19), that he might be over all, through all, and in all (Eph. 4:6). This word of truth undoubtedly will cause divisions in the harvest field of wheat and chaff (Matt. 3:12).
To carry this thought a little further, however, it is easy to gloss over some of the imagery used to describe Christians as image-bearers of our God, resembling his character and embattled by the same mission to accomplish his same purposes. See in Isaiah 49:2, where Isaiah says that the Lord made his mouth into a sword that he might speak as a prophet to God's wayward people. This image is used again by Paul in his "armor of God" description in Ephesians 6:17, where he tells us to take the sword of the Spirit, "which is the word of God," as we boldly go out in our commission to the ends of the earth. It is worth noting that this is the only offensive weapon in the Christian's arsenal - the word of our Lord - to wield against the great Enemy.
SDG
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