Let’s start out by reading Matthew 10:34-36 where Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a 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 ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”

This passage SEEMS to contradict Luke 2:13-14 where a multitude of angels praised God when Jesus was born saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN.” How do we reconcile those two? Jesus did come to present Himself as the King of Israel, the “Prince of Peace” (see Isaiah 9:6), yet He knew that He would be “despised and rejected of men.” We read in John 1:11, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” He knew that He would then preach the truth to His people of their sin and their need of salvation from sin, and that this would DIVIDE FAMILIES. He did NOT come to bring about this division, but He knew it would be the result of telling people the truth about a holy God and sinful men. In short, He knew that those who would refuse to believe on Him would “hate Him and His Father” and they would also “hate those who did believe on Him” (see John 15:18-25).

As I stated above, her rejection of Christ would be so strong that she would resent her children who have accepted Christ as their Savior. The Bible says in Romans 8:6-7, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the CARNAL MIND IS ENMITY AGAINST GOD; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” This means the unbeliever is still “spiritually dead” (see Ephesians 2:1) and has enmity (hostility) in their hearts towards God. That same feeling of hostility is also towards believers (as you will see when you read John 15:18-25). We read in Galatians 4:29, “He who was born according to THE FLESH persecuted him who was born according to THE SPIRIT.” This has always been the case, when one has not yet been “born of the Spirit” (see John 3:1-8), they may indeed persecute those who have been born again through faith in Christ. I should point out that women can also lose their “natural affection for their child” (see 2 Timothy 3:3a… King James Version) due to the sinful, selfish heart they were born with, but that is not the subject of the Lord’s words in our portion.

Now let’s read verses 37-39, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” We have seen that an unsaved family member may turn against their saved family member but in verse 37 the Lord is challenging the believer NOT to allow his/her “LOVE for their family” to come between them and the Lord Jesus. In other words, we should love the Lord MORE than our family. If we allow our “love for family” to hinder our fellowship with the Lord and our obedience to Him, we are not worthy of Him. He should be our FIRST LOVE (Revelation 2:4); He deserves PREEMINENCE in all things (Colossians 1:18). Thus, we should “take his cross and follow after Him,” no matter what the cost may be (verse 38). Finally, verse 39 teaches the believer that “our LOVE for ourselves (our LIFE)” may bring us loss. If we live only to gratify SELF (with the world’s pleasures, fame and fortune) we will lose out when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to have our lives evaluated by the Lord. But if we “lose our life” by living for Christ instead of self (see Philippians 1:21a), we will be amply rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ (read 2 Corinthians 5:10 with 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).  (DO)  (716.5)