Today I would like to look at a verse we would normally not focus on at Christmas-time. It’s found in Luke 12:51, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”
You might say, “Wait a minute. Didn’t the angel choir declare in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace”? Yes, but that’s not the whole verse. Read on, “and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
When King Herod found out that a king was born in his realm he immediately set out to kill him. To do so all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under were killed. This is found in Matthew 2:16-18. Jesus birth didn’t bring peace to Bethlehem. The prophet Jeremiah’s words were fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Down through history many have found when they took the step of trusting in Jesus for their personal salvation it created a rift between them and others in their family and community. They experienced inner peace, but outwardly they felt the pain of rejection and opposition.
You might be at the crossroad of deciding to trust in Jesus as your personal Savior. What’s hindering you? Are you afraid of how others close to you might react? If so, let me encourage you to trust in Jesus. He’ll never let you down. He’ll give you peace. And through you many who presently oppose the truth might take that step of faith also.
