Not Peace But Sword

Jesus said to his Apostles: "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."

Mt 10:34—11:1

Frightening indeed are these words especially because they
come from Jesus. What does He mean that he comes not to
bring peace but the sword? It is very difficult to think of Jesus
as someone bringing discord and dissention but the Gospel today says He said so, in no uncertain terms.

When Christ becomes our friend, we also imbibe His values, His
attitudes and His way of looking at things. And remember, Jesus'
way of doing things did not sit well with those in authority: priests, scribes,
some government officials, etc. Jesus was at odds with their worldly values
and vain justifications. He always caught them with their faulty logic and
pretensiousness and self-interests.

If Christ becomes our friend, we too run the risk of earning the ire of those
in "authority" or people whose values run contrary to the Gospels. We
would always be against those who oppress the poor and the innocent, those
who seek to remove people away from God, those who pretend to have the
truth with them and lead people astray. Jesus never ran out of enemies
because many people could not take His teachings. They were threatened
because He spoke the truth and the Truth was (and is) with Him.

If Christ becomes our best friend, we might even go against our own parents,
our friends, our neighbors, even our own children. But in all of these, Christ promises that He will always be with us.