On one hand, Jesus says His incarnation wasn’t to bring peace to the earth. Instead, He said He came with a sword (Matthew 10: 34). It’s true. HIs arrival into earthly life and the life He lived upon this earth, certainly didn’t bring the kind of peace that His disciples at first thought was His mission.

The peace they had in mind was the cessation of wars and political turmoil. They at first looked to Jesus to be the reigning monarch who would drive away the enemies from their land.

But Jesus’ statement that He didn’t come to bring peace upon the earth was meant to quash the disciples’ secular expectations. His statement meant, in so many words, that He didn’t come to bring a political nor national peace to the world’s conflicts.

On the contrary, He came to earth to wield a sword. That sword would be the spiritual Word of God (Ephesians 6: 17). Instead of bringing all people together, the mere presence of God’s Word, as we’ve observed, is divisive. It attracts some. It repels others; even within families (Matthew 10: 35, 36).

On the other hand, Jesus also made the statement that He would give and leave peace (John 14: 27). This may sound contradictory to the Matthew statement, but it isn’t. Here, Jesus is saying that upon one receiving the gift of salvation, spiritual peace is given to the individual. The person who accepts God’s Word is given, internally, not a worldly peace, but a godly peace.

Now that doesn’t mean the person won’t have problems in life. What it does mean is that an incomprehensible peace fills the heart and mind as one goes through this world’s trials and tribulations. That kind of peace comes from knowing that in the end, by virtue of being in Jesus, there is victory over this present life’s troubles (John 16: 33).