Gospel of Thomas: “Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflict.”
Gospel of Matthew: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”.
- An idiom (Latin: idioma, “special property”, f. Greek: idi?ma, “special phrasing”, f. Greek: idios, “one’s own”) is an expression, word, or phrase that has figurative meaning — its implication comprehended only through common use; whereas the literal definition of the idiom, itself, does not communicate its meaning as a figurative usage. Wikipedia – Idiom
- You state Jesus said “I come not to send peace but a sword. The word for sword is an Aramaic idiom for Division—a parting. This is truly what Jesus was doing. He was forming a new church out of the old. A parting of ways, a division. Idiom Expression
- When we look at Lamsa’s translation from the Aramaic—the language spoken by Jesus—we find a footnote relating to Matthew 10:34. This footnote states the Aramaic word translated as “sword” is an Aramaic idiom meaning “division.” Read in Jesus’ own language, the verse states: “I have not come to bring peace but division.” Aramiac Idiom
When I was 18 years old – I sat at a kitchen table with my Aunt and Uncle. My Aunt made the following statement to me.
“Watch out Nephew. You Uncle is coming at you with a knife behind his back. You can’t see it but you Auntie can. I can see in his mind too. What is on his mind is to plant that knife in the middle of your back without you knowing it. Don’t worry. You Auntie is standing here with a rolling pin in her hand and I am about to put it to use and put three lumps on your Uncle’s head. Just wait. Your about to see them lumps rise up on your Uncles head right before your very eyes.”
Now – that is one segment of our conversation. Did my Uncle have an actual knife (or sword) in his hand. Was my Uncle a villain with a Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde syndrome? Did my Aunt actually have a rolling pin in her hand? Was there any violence going on to our physical eyes?
If people read that statement and took it literally as a presentation of fact that took place 25 years ago – they might be led to believe I was raised up in the middle of a very violent family.
It was the use of idioms – leading to a metaphorical expression of course.
What was going on at the kitchen table?
The generation gap. My Uncle had old rigorous idea’s based in his religious belief and had been trying for years – to use his seniority in the family for imposing his ‘false beliefs’ on my young mind. We had a rebellion and a conflict. It wasn’t violent and based on this very scripture. Many of my family members watched and witnessed this ongoing conflict for years. My Uncle and I were sworn ‘enemies’ to one another regarding what belong to Caesar and what belonged to God. I would not swear an allegiance to his old rusty ideas about who and what God was in my life. I firmly believed in ‘To Thine Own Heart Be True.” I repeated the same thing to every senior member of my family.
“You are NOT my God. Don’t speak to me on behalf of my God when my God can speak to me in its own tongue without deceit or confusion.”
The peace my family and I reached wasn’t note handed to us on a silver platter. We earned that peace through our conflicts.
The scripture in Matthew actually reads:
Matthew 10:34-41, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.”
- The verse in the Gospel of Thomas reads:
16. Jesus said, “Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there’ll be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone.”
When it comes to youth struggling to find their own path in this world and ‘bear their own personal cross’ for a spiritual path – the very first conflict in that struggle is going to be with members of your own inner family group.
Both translations mention family members. I feel it needs to be read in the context in which it is written and not taken alone.
I was always led to believe the ‘generation gap’ has always existed since ancient times. The old school verses the new school is nothing new.
The Conflicts of Generations in Ancient Greece and Rome.