What Did Jesus Mean In Matthew 10:34-36?

[bazera]

Hey guys, 

So I was reading the Bible and this part confused me a bit.

Matthew 10:34-36

"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."

What do you think he meant by saying this? If we think of him as an enlightened master...

[Toby]

That he wants to destroy the world (made up by the mind) that people live in and deliver them into the truth?

[Consept]

Just my view but i would say hes saying hes bringing a certain truth that has the potential to turn families against each other. If you think about it in modern times its the same, those that get into spirtuality a lot of times get into conflict with members of their family over it. 

[Prabhaker]

26 minutes ago, bazera said:

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Jesus is very paradoxical, but meaningfully so. To take in the meaning many things have to be understood. First, peace is possible if everybody is almost dead. There will be no war, no conflict, but there will be no life either. That would be the silence of the graveyard. But that is not worth anything; then even war is better because in war you are alive and vital.

Another type of peace – a totally different dimension of peace – exists when you are vital, alive, but centered in your being: when self-knowledge has happened, when you have become enlightened, when the flame is lit and you are not in darkness. Then there will be more life, more silence, but the silence will belong to life, not to death. It will not be the silence of the graveyard.

Jesus would not like that type of peace. That type of peace is useless; then this world, with war, would be better. But many have been endeavoring, and their attitude is just negative. They think, ”If war stops, everything will be okay.” It is not so easy. And this is not only the ordinary man’s conception – even very great philosophers like Bertrand Russell think that if war is finished everything will be okay. This is negative – because war is not the problem, the problem is man. And the war is not outside, the war is within. If you have not fought the war within, you will fight it without. If you have fought the war within and have become victorious, then the war without will cease. That is the only way.

 He is saying that through conflict growth is achieved; through struggle centering happens; through war peace flowers. But don’t take him literally; whatsoever he is saying is a parable. Christianity took it literally and missed the point. Then Christians took the sword in their hands, and they have killed millions unnecessarily, because that was not the meaning of Jesus. Then the church, Jesus’ church, became a warring church, it became a crusade. Christians have been fighting Mohammedans, Hindus, Buddhists – they have been fighting everywhere. But they missed the point. Jesus was talking of something else. He was not talking of the swords of this world; he brought a sword of a different world. What is this sword? It is a symbol. You have to be cut into two, because in you two things meet: this world – the earth – and heaven; they meet in you. One part of you belongs to the mud, to the dirt; one part of you belongs to the divine. You are a meeting point, and Jesus brought a sword to cut you asunder, so the earth falls to the earth and the divine enters into the divine.

26 minutes ago, bazera said:

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."

The family is related to the body: your father is your father because of your body. If you think you are the body, then you are related to your father. But if you come to know that you are not the body, who is the father? How are you related to him? The mother has given birth to your body, not to you. You are so identified with the body that you think the mother has given birth to you.

When you are not identified, the identification is broken, then who is the mother? She has not given birth to you but only to this body which is going to die. So the mother has not given you life; rather, on the contrary, the mother has given you one more death. The father has not given you life, he has given you one more possibility to die. Once you are not identified with the body you have broken from the family, you are uprooted.

The family is the basic unit of society. When you go beyond society you have to go beyond the family, but this does not mean that you should hate it – that is not the point; nor that you should go against it – that is not the point either. That is going to happen anyway. Once you start to find yourself, all that has been before will be disrupted, there is going to be chaos. So what should you do? They will pull you back, they will try to bring you back, they will make every effort to do so. What should be done?
There are two ways: one is the old way which is to escape from them, not to give them any opportunity – but I think that is no longer applicable. The other is to be with them, but as an actor: don’t give them the opportunity to know that you are moving beyond them. Move! Let that be your inner journey, but outwardly fulfill all formalities: touch the feet of your father and your mother and be a good actor.

By being a good actor I mean that you are not related at all, but you go on fulfilling the formalities. Deep down you are uprooted, but you don’t even give a hint that you are uprooted. And what is the use of giving a hint? – because then they will start trying to change you. Don’t give them any chance. Let this be an inner journey and outwardly be completely formal. They will be happy then because they live in formalities. They live on the outside, they don’t need your inner worship. They don’t need your inner love – just the show is enough.

Edited March 18, 2017 by Prabhaker

[Hsinav]

2 hours ago, bazera said:

What do you think he meant by saying this? If we think of him as an enlightened master...

We can´t be sure that this was the exact words of Jesus. A lot of the texts in the bible are very poor translated.

[Hsinav]

2 hours ago, bazera said:

A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household."

Everything is one, so you are too even with your enemy.

[Hsinav]

2 hours ago, bazera said:

"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.

Realize your true being won´t be a peaceful process.

[Martin123]

2 hours ago, bazera said:

Hey guys, 

So I was reading the Bible and this part confused me a bit.

Matthew 10:34-36

"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."

What do you think he meant by saying this? If we think of him as an enlightened master...

Easy peasy. Transcend your family conditioning.

done

[Galyna]

@bazera Imho, when you getting closer to the Truth, it will create conflicts with your surroundings, because they will try to force you to return back to the sleeping state of your being. 

[Bronsoval]

He was uprooting traditional Jewish ways.  It was a nod to the success of his new religion, Christianity.

[Loreena]

Maybe he was trying to challenge the traditional belief systems that were deeply rooted in family conditioning. But he wanted people to live in truth and love and those that will find love and peace will see the uselessness of everything around them, their goals would be in conflict with the goals of their families thus leading to struggle and fights. But the man who is in search of the truth will have to endure this struggle as a part of his spiritual journey to create love and peace in the world so it won't be easy because the chimpery of the world wouldn't allow it. By conflict he referred to the politics that revolves within a family as well as society that cannot allow for true love and peace to become a reality. Ultimately all the chimpery and politics was the thing that lead to his crucifixion.