Not peace, but a sword

Haven't looked up the Luke, but at least in Matthew the specific reference is entirely to intergenerational conflict, not random (e.g. between sibling or cousins) conflict, and it is clearly Jesus acting to cause the conflict, not its "natural" occurrence: "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." (v. 35 KJV)

Haruo

 

It is crystal clear that Jesus is warning his disciples that following Him will result in conflict within their own families. That they will actually be hated, dispised, and even led to the slaughter. It is not possible that Jesus is saying that this is His intended goal. Can you imagine a son giving the plan of salvation to his father and the father accepting Christ as his Savior and Jesus being disappointed that His goal of "setting at variance" these family members was not met? Read the context of the many warnings and instructions on what to expect that are in these chapters. Consider the character of Jesus. He is saying the opposite of what people say nowadays. They say that it, "can't be right for Christians to say and do things that upset so many people, there must be something wrong with them, they are so insensitive." It is not the goal, but, it is also not a deal breaker in deciding whether or not to speak the truth.