The Brit Chadashah reading for last Shabbat was Matthew 10:21-38, dealing with human (horizontal) relationships, our vertical one-on-one relationship with Yeshua, and the relationship between the horizontal and the vertical.  Yeshua was speaking in this passage, warning His disciples that some of their relationships will lead to persecution and martyrdom, reminding them of their Teacher-disciple, Master-servant relationship with Him and His relationship with anti-Messiah agents (vs. 24-25), exhorting them to fear and obey God rather than man. Then He drew on the commonly known value of sparrows and the rarely known number of hairs on our heads to convince them of God’s omniscient love and omnipotent care for those who would publicly acknowledge Yeshua as the Messiah (vs. 29-32).  All this was part of His instruction to ‘The Twelve’ before sending them out to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom (vs. 7) to the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’.

Yeshua sums up this portion of instruction at verses 34-38 with generalizations applicable beyond the ministry of The Twelve, to the lives of all believers. Let me share with you my meditations on these verses.

Verse 34: “Do not think that I came to bring shalom on the earth; I did not come to bring shalom, but a sword.” What a shocking statement this is, to people who prefer to acknowledge only the goodness, and not the severity of God (Romans 11:22). These are people who regard God as a Santa Claus in the sky who will forever decree “Peace, peace” to everyone in every circumstance. They don’t acknowledge the truth of such verses as Romans 1:18 which says, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

And what sword could Yeshua be saying that He came to bring?  We know from the context of Matthew 10:34-36 that it’s a ‘sword’ which will bring division between believers and non-believers, even across lines of family relationships, potentially pitting “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother” and so on, to the extent that one’s literal enemies may include members of one’s own household.

Two other sayings of Yeshua sprang to mind while I meditated on this. The first was from the incident recorded in Luke 8:19-21, when Yeshua (ministering to a crowd) was told that His mother and brothers had come seeking His attention (apparently before they had become disciples) and Yeshua responded, “My mother and My brothers are these who are hearing the word of God and doing it.”

The second is from the incident recorded in Luke 11:27-28 where a woman raised her voice in the crowd to shout at Yeshua, “Blessed is the womb that carried You and the breasts that nursed You!” To this Yeshua responded, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

From Yeshua’s words on both of these occasions, we can get a clue about the ‘sword’ which would divide between those claiming relationship with Him and those whom He would claim. This dividing factor was their response to the word of God.  Indeed, Ephesians 6:17 says that the ‘sword of the Spirit’ is the word of God, and the Messianic passage Isaiah 49:2 says “He (YHVH) made My (Yeshua’s) mouth like a sharp sword.”  This ‘sword’ would not only separate individuals based on their response to God’s word, but it would even divide between “soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and … judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The sharply pointed words of verse 37 prod us to look into ourselves and judge our own loyalties. “He who loves father and mother more than me isn’t worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.”

When I read this last Shabbat, I remembered and factored in Paul’s prophecy about whom many would love in the end times. “People will be lovers of themselves…” he prophesied, and now we see the fulfillment all around us.

I wondered why Yeshua hadn’t mentioned self-love in Matthew 10:37, but then I looked carefully at verse 38. “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me isn’t worthy of me.” Is it not love of self that He was getting at? I think so. The love of one’s own comfort, will and preferences will prevent cross-carrying every time.

So Father, in Yeshua’s Name I pray, please help us to obey the first and greatest commandment, to love You with ALL of our hearts, soul and strength, and to keep the ‘second commandment’ in its second place – to love our ‘neighbor’ as we love ourselves. Amen.