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Sharpening the Sword
Feb 24, 11:18 AM
“I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34
When Jesus lived on earth in human form, people reacted in different ways to Him. Many wondered if He was for real or just another charlatan preacher. The religious leaders were similarly divided. They were adamant that He could not be from God because He did not keep their religious traditions. Others wondered how a sinner could do such miraculous signs.
Most of those outside Israel could have cared less about Him. After all, who cares what some religious guy does as long as he does not infringe on them. Many in and around Jesus had it in their minds to make Him king. Religious people have always tried to hijack Jesus for their own political ends.
He came to His own but His own failed to recognize Him. For those who received Him and believed in His Name, He gave them the power to become children of God. Most of those happened to be among the poor, the sick, and the powerless whose lives Jesus had miraculously touched and transformed.
The decisive response to Jesus, however, was outright rejection. The world has rejected the centrality of God from the beginning. We will not be ruled. Not only have human beings patently rejected the loving initiatives of God, they have actively sought to rid the world of God’s influence. If we want God at all, it is on our own terms in order that God might ride into town, make everything right, and then ride out again leaving us to our freedom. The babes of Bethlehem were slain in a maniacal attempt to rid the world of Jesus. The crucifixion stands as the ultimate rejection of God’s presence and purpose. They did not simply want him gone, they wanted Him dead.
The American church has gone to great lengths to make Jesus acceptable and His way of life palatable and without cost to the average person. We cannot stand rejection. Our drug of choice is to feel good about ourselves. In so doing, we have dulled the sword and there is no power in us. Those who seek to sharpen the sword on their own do so by substituting a counterfeit, anger-motivated fundamentalism. We have idolized hyper disciplined monk-like dedication as a true manifestation of what it means to follow Jesus when in actuality all He wants is for one of us for one minute to step into a genuine Kingdom way of life.
Jesus challenges our way of living, our prejudices, our self-centered living, our unjust social systems and practices, and our religious self-righteousness. He will not be tamed nor domesticated. In the last analysis, every human soul will be accountable to Him, standing before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of our lives. All nations will bow before Him. Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. The stone which the builders rejected has become the capstone. It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.