Really, the most major thing I wish to profess about Christ first is the balance between action and belief, and the necessity to enact peace and justice, even if it is difficult. My belief in Jesus comes from understanding his quest for goodwill, for mutual tranquility. That's a recurring theme throughout the Bible. Yet where I emphasize the careful path a Christian must walk is in the division, the firmness, and sometimes the harshness that one must do for, with, and of Jesus.

It being well-accepted that Jesus preached peace, I can leave that as a given for now, to return to it in-depth momentarily. What I would like to direct my audience's attention toward, then, is the opposite, and the careful balance. In Matthew 10:34, and in subsequent verses, Jesus tells us that he came to bring "not peace, but a sword." This means to say that we are to fight for righteousness, not only opine about it, especially to those who are unwilling to accept it again and again. Jesus goes in the next verses to tell us he came to set a son at odds with his father, "daughter against mother," and "a man's enemies will be those of his own household." What he means here is that those who are fervently unwilling to accept the Gospel, despite charitable petition after petition, must be turned away. This coincides with a similar saying of Christ where a man wishes to follow him, but must care for his loved one. Jesus tells him to follow him, and to "let the dead bury their dead." Being sharp and harsh to those who spite the Word is at the center here: he means people who are dead in terms of listening.

The full text of Matthew 10:34-38 where Jesus speaks to his disciples, from the NIV Translation, is:

"34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 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—

36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

Matthew 10:34 is often contrasted with what he said later in the same Gospel, where he cautions his disciple against drawing his sword. It is often translated as "Those who draw the sword die by the sword." Yet this is blatantly contradictory at surface level to what he said earlier. The key is in the meaning. The original texts from which the Scripture was translated are very clear. Jesus is not saying that any and all uses of direct hostility are unacceptable. The original texts are more clearly understood as "Those who habitually draw the sword shall die by the sword" or "Those who as a matter of habit or principle draw the sword shall die, equally trivially, by the sword." Some translations today get this right. You are not to use the sword, use violence, at every slight infraction. Indeed, instead, when they do evil against you, turn the other cheek and forgive them. Do not use violence or harshness as a matter of habit or principle, and do everything to avoid it.

Yet at the same time Christ "came to bring...a sword." Do not live by the sword. But keep one, and do your best to keep it sheathed. This coincides closely with one of the Beatitudes, along the lines of "The meek shall inherit the Earth." The word meek in this context does not mean what it means today, and indeed the original texts of this part of Scripture are clear. Meek today usually means submissive, docile, or somewhat tranquil. But the Bible means the word meek in a different or older way. The word meek meant, in the sense it is used here, not someone who is submissive. The closest modern translation is someone who is very strong, who carries a sharp sword and knows how to use it, and knows how to kill; someone who has perhaps killed before. It is someone who is dangerous and lethal, but chooses to keep that within them unless absolutely necessary. The Beatitude becomes: the strong yet tempered shall inherit the Earth, or those who know how to kill a man, but choose to nurture mankind instead, shall inherit the Earth. Christ is not praising docile activity, but instead praising restraint.

That is the essential message that I am conveying here, and that is at the heart of fulfilling the Gospel, both peacefully but also using sharpness or force when apt. It is not okay to offer compassion to those who have spat in your face again and again. You may turn the cheek once, and should. But humanity only has two cheeks. After being slapped on both, or several times, or dozens of times, it is no longer righteous to forgive, Jesus says. That is the sword he spoke of. Careful not to live by it, lest you become evil yourself. But do not keep it sheathed when it must appear.