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“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Matthew 10:34, LSB.

Since the Fall, all humanity has been engaged in a spiritual war. At the time of Jesus’ coming, many were complacent and comfortable in their worship. This happens as humans become settled in the patterns and ways of thinking that give a sense of comfort. When Jesus entered the scene, He entered not to affirm the complacent idolatry that had crept into God’s chosen people. His calling was to enter into the battle and cut away from the man-made practices and rituals that had become central to the faith. He came to challenge God’s chosen first and then to bring all false faith onto its head and bring salvation to all. This is the war in which we are still embroiled. Our Lord is at war with our sinful nature and our desires that still wreak havoc in us by revealing our sins and bringing us to repentance. The Gospel is meant to cut us to the quick as we are broken under the full weight of the Law and cry out for salvation. As we cry out to our Lord for mercy, we find the healing hand come upon us and bring us out of the mire of sin that seeks to envelop us. The Words of peace that ring from His lips are only felt after much of the battle within us has been won and we are in complete submission to Him and His mercy. It is in this reality of the battle raging in humanity that all may come to know Christ’s peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.