What did Jesus mean when He said "For I am come to set a man at variance against his Father..."?

[Elena321]

Could someone help me with the correct way to interpret the bible passage:

“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”

On the surface it sound like causing division in family.
At the same time though Jesus said to honour your mother and father and clearly honoured His:shrug:

Thanks

 

[Stephen_says]

Could someone help me with the correct way to interpret the bible passage:

“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”

On the surface it sound like causing division in family.
At the same time though Jesus said to honour your mother and father and clearly honoured His:shrug:

Thanks

Coming from a family with members who have fallen away from faith in Christ, I can tell you he has caused much variance between us but that does not mean we do not love each other. You can have both at the same time, but if you are going to choose to follow Christ, you’re going to have opposition from the world, and sometimes that means your own family.

Peace

 

[Mattapoisett64]

It means that Jesus came to bring us the Truth - and that Truth has a way of dividing people, those who accept it and follow Christ’s path, from those who reject Christ and follow the world’s ways. Sadly, such divisions can and often do manifest themselves within a family.

 

[MT1926]

Could someone help me with the correct way to interpret the bible passage:

“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”

On the surface it sound like causing division in family.
At the same time though Jesus said to honour your mother and father and clearly honoured His:shrug:

Thanks

I have seen some miss use of this verse so I think first we need to remember that Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience here. In a nut shell he is letting it be know that not everyone in a family is going to automatically become Christian. So he is letting it be known that in the first century be prepared for a lot of conflict in the family. And in deed we know there was a lot of tension in those times. Even to the extent of family members turning their sibling converts over to the authorities. He is basically saying don’t expect everything to all of the sudden become perfect now that you have become a Christian. My pastor had a great homily on this Sunday in which he went into detail of the customs of the time and how a son accepting Jesus didn’t just cause tension in the family it could actually lead to the son being disowned by the father.

As for the misuse of this verse I mentioned earlier, I think an incorrect interpretation I have come across is when anti-Catholics use this verse against the church to prove that Christ foretold a division in Christianity. In this verse Christ is specifically speaking of family division occurring because of conversion to Christianity, not because of disputes over Christian doctrine within Christianity.

 

[Elena321]

Coming from a family with members who have fallen away from faith in Christ, I can tell you he has caused much variance between us but that does not mean we do not love each other. You can have both at the same time, but if you are going to choose to follow Christ, you’re going to have opposition from the world, and sometimes that means your own family.

Peace

I’m which way has it cause variance (if you don’t mind the question)?

 

[brad90956]

Originally Posted by Stephen
Coming from a family with members who have fallen away from faith in Christ, I can tell you he has caused much variance between us but that does not mean we do not love each other. You can have both at the same time, but if you are going to choose to follow Christ, you’re going to have opposition from the world, and sometimes that means your own family.

Peace

It has caused variance in my family as well. Specifically, in regards to my mother and sister. It pertains to a couple Church teachings regarding receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin and a marriage not taking place in a Catholic Church. It has strained their relationship severely. They still love each other but their relationship is not the same as it was before.

 

[Elena321]

It has caused variance in my family as well. Specifically, in regards to my mother and sister. It pertains to a couple Church teachings regarding receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin and a marriage not taking place in a Catholic Church. It has strained their relationship severely. They still love each other but their relationship is not the same as it was before.

That’s a heartbreaking situation.
It might sound weird but you just reminded me of that when I used to go to Church with my parents before I would feel uncomfortable as they didn’t understand about not receiving the Eucharist in state of mortal sin.
In their understanding it simply a “ritual” where the priest gives out a bit of bread and everyone goes up and “gets some”.
Even though they are baptised and raised in Catholic country they don’t understand that it’s a spiritual thing/has spiritual meaning.

 

[brad90956]

That’s a heartbreaking situation.
It might sound weird but you just reminded me of that when I used to go to Church with my parents before I would feel uncomfortable as they didn’t understand about not receiving the Eucharist in state of mortal sin.
In their understanding it simply a “ritual” where the priest gives out a bit of bread and everyone goes up and “gets some”.
Even though they are baptised and raised in Catholic country they don’t understand that it’s a spiritual thing/has spiritual meaning.

I remember when my entire family would attend Church together. We would all go up to receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin (not attending Mass every Sunday, not going to confession to confess mortal sins). Only my mother was in a state of grace. My mother approached us individually and explained why we could not receive the Eucharist. We were all baptized and raised Catholic but we had fallen away from the Church and became ignorant. I must admit, I too was upset with my mother for telling me I could not go up and receive the Eucharist until I started doing research and refreshing my knowledge of Church teachings. This helped me become more knowledgeable and pushed me back to the Church. At first, I started attending Church every Sunday but did not go up to receive. Then I finally summoned the courage to examine my conscience and go to confession so I could receive in a state of grace. Sadly, my siblings have not done this. I pray that they return to the Church and even invite them to Mass with me and my mother. I still love them all but it makes me very sad that they have not returned to the Church.

 

[Elena321]

I remember when my entire family would attend Church together. We would all go up to receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin (not attending Mass every Sunday, not going to confession to confess mortal sins). Only my mother was in a state of grace. My mother approached us individually and explained why we could not receive the Eucharist. We were all baptized and raised Catholic but we had fallen away from the Church and became ignorant. I must admit, I too was upset with my mother for telling me I could not go up and receive the Eucharist until I started doing research and refreshing my knowledge of Church teachings. This helped me become more knowledgeable and pushed me back to the Church. At first, I started attending Church every Sunday but did not go up to receive. Then I finally summoned the courage to examine my conscience and go to confession so I could receive in a state of grace. Sadly, my siblings have not done this. I pray that they return to the Church and even invite them to Mass with me and my mother. I still love them all but it makes me very sad that they have not returned to the Church.

It can be hard sometimes to make families understand.
I am Baptised but without communion(through my own doing, not parents fault) and once when I was younger,my parents “strenuously” encouraged me to go up and receive the Holy Communion.I didn’t want to but at the same time knew if I didn’t my parents would have mis-perceived this as me being disobeying towards them and would be mad so I went…only to be given a no & stern look from the priest as he knew I didn’t yet done Holy Communion.
My parents were so upset at the priest after that,not understanding how the priest could reject me for that “measly piece of bread” (they didn’t get the spiritual meaning behind it)…
My parents grew up in poverty too where food was scarce,so maybe that caused them to put a more “earthly” spin on it too(?)