Yet Another Troubling Statement By Jesus Feb 03 2010

"For I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his own household." - Matthew 10:35

Today's verse is probably very troubling to read. Christ says, "Look, when I come, you're going to see a son set against his father, a daughter become an enemy of her mother, even a daughter-in-law set against her mother-in-law." (It's hard to believe that last one is even possible, isn't it?)

Now is Jesus advocating that someone who becomes a Christian become a troublemaker in the home? No, of course not. What Jesus is telling us is when a person comes to Christ within a family of unbelievers, the unbelievers are probably going to be unhappy - even angry - about that decision. Now if you come to Christ in a family where everyone else is a committed Christian, they're going to be rejoicing; there will actually be greater unity in your family than there's ever been before. But when a person becomes a Christian in a family that is not in Christ, then very often those family members will be angry and reject the new Christian member. Why? Because they feel the new Christian is claiming to have the truth and declaring that everyone else in the family is wrong. So, there will be natural divisions in the family, often including anger and rejection toward the Christian member. But if you are the one in this situation, Jesus wants you to realize that it is not you being rejected, it is Christ Himself. Know that Jesus will help carry the hurt you feel from this misdirected rejection.