Luke 12:41-59

War and Peace

On the face of it this is a tough passage. The Prince of Peace saying that He did not come to bring peace on the earth, but division? Families divided against each other? Surely something must be wrong here. Indeed, if this were the only passage of scripture we had then it would be fair to draw the conclusion that the kingdom is to be ushered in by a violent war-like struggle.

Well, it is brought in by a violent war-like struggle; however, what do we do with all of the “peace” passages? Jesus tells us to be as innocent as doves. Paul tells us that God has called us to live in peace. The writer of Hebrews tells us to make every effort to live in peace with all men. Which is it; war or peace? Actually, it is war and peace.

The great war that is going on is not a war of flesh and blood. Flesh and blood are sometimes involved but the reality is far more real. The war is a cosmic one often invisible to flesh and blood. Paul tells us that the weapons we fight with are not of the flesh but they are mighty nonetheless.

Jesus makes it clear that we will be opposed. He says in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” This doesn’t mean that we are to hate them back. Far from it! We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We are not to pay back wrong for wrong or evil for evil but bless those who wrong us.

That’s hard I know, but we wage war by waging peace. The One whose coming did not, in one sense, bring peace on the earth did leave us the message of peace. The fact that this message provokes hatred from the enemy is simply part of the battle. The battle is being fought but the war is won.