Matthew 10:34 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Matthew 10:34

Comments

What has Jesus Christ come to earth for, and what will be the effect of his coming? ‘Think not that I am come to bring peace on earth.’ The purpose of his coming is not to transform the earth into a place of peace. He has not come to bring wars to an end, to stop all strife between human beings, to spread the influence of heaven throughout the whole world. What? Has ‘The Prince of Peace’ not come to bring peace? No, not to all, not universally on earth. How can that be? Does he lack the power to subdue man to his will? No. ‘At the name of Jesus every knee [shall] bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹ And that every tongue [shall] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:10-11). But that will not take place until the world is ended, and all further opportunity for repentance is gone. Then the righteous will rejoice at his coming and at the universal influence of his kingdom, but the wicked will hide from his presence. Christ will indeed subdue the rebellious in hell forever with a fearful submission. They will tremble before him and be forced to come out from the dens and rocks of the mountains to face judgment. Until then however, the world will continue to rebel, and the kingdom of this world ruled by Satan will continue to coexist with the kingdom of heaven, each having jurisdiction over different individuals, and implacably opposed to each other. Why doesn’t Christ transform the wicked into those who love him and have his law written on their hearts? He does do exactly that, but not to all. ‘He [hath] mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth’ (Romans 9:18). In his wisdom he chooses to demonstrate the severity of his judgment on the wicked, and the goodness of his grace to the elect. The Spirit of God causes individuals to be born again, and works in one and not in another, even in the same family. It is the purpose of God that the age long war between light and darkness should continue while the world remains, and that his people should play their part in that war. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, but primarily between those who are justified and their Father in heaven. Similarly, ‘peace on earth, good will towards men’ does not mean that there will be peace between the nations, for until the end there will be ‘wars and rumours of wars’ (Matthew 24:6). In fact, Christ has come not to send peace but a sword. That is perhaps even more shocking. There will be an enmity between believer and unbeliever which will cause the sort of family division which he has already spoken of (verse 21). This enmity should never be on the part of the believer, however. He or she should do everything in their power to live at peace with all men, but they will not always be successful; they will not always be able to overcome the hostility of unbelief.Why must the disciples not think this? Because they must understand his purposes. If they do not, then they will be confused and discouraged at what happens; they will aim at the wrong thing. They will think they are cooperating with his purpose, when they are working against it. They must see that peace comes only through the gospel.Why would any make this mistake? Because they do not understand man’s fallen nature, and how grace works. All men and women come into the world as those who are alienated from God, ‘strangers and foreigners’, and not ‘fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God’ (Ephesians 2:19). The great principle behind these verses is that God deals with individuals, not nations, not families. Yes he puts his people in churches, but they come into the kingdom of heaven one by one. The kingdom of heaven does not align with any nation, nor with any family, or tribe, or tongue. Why not? Because salvation is a matter of individual repentance and faith. Nations cannot repent, because the individuals who make up those nations each have their own different and individual relationship with God. One believes and another does not.

Application

Christian people will always have enemies. The world will always be against us in some form. Why has the world at times been ready to protect the church and pay for it? Only in order to take it over, to keep it under control, to get it to do its bidding. In any nation there are always bound to be vast numbers of unbelievers. There is no such thing as a Christian nation. If the world tried to create such a thing, it would be a disaster, and at certain points in history it has been. ‘My kingdom is not of this world’, says the Lord; it cannot be done. That is why the crusades were so absurd. Only the Roman Catholic mind would think of such a thing.

‘Oh, but if you saw what God had done for this great nation! There must have been special providences for Great Britain. Yes, great things have been done in this country, but not done for the sake of Great Britain. They were done for Zion – the spiritual nation which is not of this world and which is the church. It is for his people he does it. The nation of Great Britain benefits, yes, but it was for the sake of Zion. Zion is the only nation of God. If you like – it is because of us that this country has been protected at times. ‘Therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life’, (Isaiah 43:3-4). Fortunately for Britain, God had at one time elected an unusually large number of people in this land, but there are no special people other than Zion.

Questions

Does God deal with nations? Yes, but not in a way we can plot. He does not deal in grace with any except individuals and his church; not with nations, tribes, families. It may be God will send a catastrophe on a nation for sin. Does it mean other nations doing the same thing get the same judgement? No. You cannot plot it. God does sufficient to demonstrate he is the God of judgement. You can’t say because a public figure has said this, therefore judgement will follow. In Revelation 8 and the following chapters we read of token judgements. God won’t have it that there are no warnings, no tragedies. Imagine if there were none at all and then the Day of Judgement came. The people would say, ‘We never understood what punishment is, what justice is.’ So God in kindness gives token judgements. In the Book of Revelation they are poured out on a quarter or a third of the world, picture language showing God is always pouring out his judgements. This is according to God’s secret will, therefore we mustn’t be fickle in our thinking. This is age of apparently random judgements. It is judgement for some, and warning for others. Finally however, every sin will be punished. But when it comes to grace, you can predict things. Every time a sinner repents, they are forgiven.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Matthew 10:34 Commentary and Bible Study