I Came Not To Send Peace, But A Sword

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.’ (Matthew 10:34-36)

Jesus is called the Prince of Peace but here in Matthew he's practically promising civil war, what's the deal?

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵² From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53)

How can we reconcile this with 

For unto us a Child is born,Unto us a Son is given;And the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be calledWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

 and

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:27)

This causes come concern, mostly with nonbelievers. "How can you say Jesus is the Prince of Peace when the world is full of strife?" As Christians the answer is obvious to us: "Peace is impossible in a fallen world full of sinners." This world is living in disobedience to God, how can there be peace if Jesus' #1 commandment is ignored and His #2 commandment is so hard to obey?

However let's look at what He 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 did not come to bring peace to this wretched planet, He did not come to change the social structure of this world. True, his teachings did touch the hearts of men, for example many areas of this wretched rock abolished slavery because of Jesus, but even today slavery still exists, it thrives in areas that have rejected Christ. 

The social gospel movement teaches that if you teach people the gospel they will change, unfortunately that idea never took into account the fact that not everyone is going to react favorably to the Gospel. The social gospel fails to take into account man's sinful nature. There can be no peace for us:

“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:22)

Look again at Luke 12:51 -  Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. Like a sword Jesus brings division. This division will divide kingdoms, nations, states and families. Jesus points out that the division in families comes between generations, it's seen in both Matthew and Luke that the division is generational. This shows that the word of Jesus severs even the closest family ties. In a non-christian family its the younger members that eventually turn to Jesus, while in a Christian home it's the younger members that turn away from Christ. I've seen things get pretty ugly when this happens.

So why is Jesus the Prince of Peace? Because along with His being a personal savior, He brings a personal peace. He brings peace to those who come in repentance to the Lord and beg forgiveness for their sins. It is not to the world but to the repentant that Jesus brings peace. It is the peace between you and God, the peace of fellowship between brother Christians that Jesus brings. Every time God mentions through Bible about offering peace to us humans (Luke 2:14; 7:50; 8:48; 10:5-6; Acts 10:36; Ephesians 2:13-17), we have to understand that peace comes only to those who have responded to God’s salvation. And because many do not respond to God's call, the peace that Jesus brings in His first coming to earth cannot be universal.