Matthew 10:34-38
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Mark 13:12-13
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Luke 12:51-53
“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
In Matthew this passage occurs as part of the sending out of the Twelve. Jesus has already warned his disciples that when persecution starts, family relationships will fall apart and ‘brother will betray brother to death’.
The key to understanding this passage is to remember that each believer is now a member of two different households: the kin household and the surrogate household of God. Within the kin household, all the normal factors of embedded identity and authority structures continue; within the surrogate household of God there are no blood ties and no structures of authority except obedience to God the Father and Jesus as elder son.
Problems only arise when a believer’s obligations within the surrogate household of God conflict with obligations within the kin household. In this case, Jesus makes clear that the surrogate household of God must take first place even if this means not carrying out obligations to one’s blood or surrogate father.
Here it is important to take note of a phenomenon that has largely escaped the attention of historians of the early church. Christianity became the first religion to allow conversions by individuals rather than by households. All the pagan cults regarded the household as the social unit, which resulted in the god being the god of a household not just of the head. Should the head of a household decide to convert to another god, then the whole household, willingly or otherwise, must convert as well. Similarly, an individual member of a household could not convert to another god without first persuading the head of the household to convert. If a junior member of a household converts, he (no female members would be allowed or accepted) would be exiled from his household.
The same is largely true of Judaism. If a Gentile male head of a household converts to Judaism, then his whole house must convert. If an individual male converts, then he will be excluded from his household. Women as individuals, of course, could not convert to Judaism.
From the beginning, however, Jesus calls non-household heads like brother Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, to follow him. There are several household conversions recorded, like those of Cornelius (Acts 10), Aquila (Acts 18) and Stephanas (1 Corinthians 16), but the vast majority are of individual conversions. One reason why early Christianity was so hated was that it appeared to defy the household conventions and created thousands of rootless members with no households to provide them with secure status and identity. This was probably behind the naming of these rootless religious people by the Romans as ‘Christians’: belonging to the household of Christ.
In choosing individual disciples rather than whole households Jesus was sowing seeds of dissension. Here is a younger son who becomes a follower of Jesus. He is sent out as a missionary to another village or city. Normally, he could go only with the permission of his father, and would then have to stay within a blood-related household in that village or find a surrogate household that would accept him. His father is not likely to give him permission, especially if the family is Jewish. He will then be expelled from his household and will not be allowed to enter any blood-related household anywhere in the empire.
Here is a young woman who becomes a Christian and wants to marry a Christian man from another household. Not only are both households divided but they will certainly not combine to organise this marriage. Any number of difficult situations can be imagined which would result from individual conversions within a society where the household is the basic unit of identity and social status.
Jesus’ words in Matthew are there to draw attention to the inevitable consequence of calling disciples as individuals in their own light and not as members of households. Contemporary Judaism was looking for freedom from the domination of Rome and worldwide peace that was to result from the Messiah taking over as king of Jerusalem and dominating all other nations. Jesus was, on the other hand, drawing attention to the fact that, because he was calling individuals to be members of the surrogate household of God, social peace would not be possible because households would become divided. It is interesting to note the sets of divisions Jesus describes: man against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. There are no sons-in-law because sons stay in their father’s household and bring their wives with them; and there is no brother against sister nor husband against wife since only the father as head of the household has authority over the female members of the household.
Jesus was not and is not anti-family. But he did signal that the prevailing social unit of the household would need modification if peace was to prevail during the establishment of his kingdom.
Next – Being Committed To The Surrogate Household of God
Previous – The Kingdom As Household
Jesus and the Surrogate Family of God – Indexes
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This page is an extract from Jesus and the Surrogate Family of God, Paper S89 delivered to the Zadok Institute for Christianity and Society, Winter 1997 by Ross Saunders. Used with permission.
Ross was an Anglican Minister and having studied cultural anthropology, he interpreted the parables and sayings of the Lord Jesus from the viewpoint of those who heard him in first century Israel.
Ross published two books through Acorn Press:
Outrageous Women Outrageous God is a study of women in the first two generations of Christianity,
From Head to Toe is a study of men and their roles in the first two generations of Christianity.
For more details, please click here Lambros Books.
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The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
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God’s Plan of Redemption
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The Holy Spirit and the Person of the Lord Jesus
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John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture verses are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, Thompson Chain Reference Anglicised Edition, published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited, ©1984.
Jesus: Messiah, Redeemer and Healer 