Question 259: What Is Meant By: “For I Am Come To Set A Man At Variance With His Father?

Answer:

This statement (Matthew 10:35) showed the result of His coming, not the purpose of it Moshiach was warning the people who came to Him of the sufferings they would have to endure, among which was this of the hostility of their near relatives. Many were offering themselves as His disciples who expected that He would become the King of Israel and that they would share His glory and He wished none to come with any such idea. He wanted them to count the cost and He told them of the trials awaiting them if they followed Him. They must be quite sure that they loved Him so well that if their fathers or their brothers cast them off for being believers they would be faithful to Moshiach, even at the cost of losing the love of their relatives.