An Interesting Juxtoposition

As I was reading in Luke this morning I came across this verse.

Luke 9:56(NKJV)

56£For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

That made me think of this verse in Matthew.

Matthew 10:34-39(NKJV)

34“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 

35For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 

36and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ £ 

37He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 

38And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 

39He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

These are both quotes from Jesus.  Are they contradictory?  What does this mean?  Here's my take on it.

As I've written about in the past, I try to focus on what I call everyday Christianity.  How following God can have very practical, everyday applications that improve our lives. 

Today will be a little different. 

I think that when you look at what Jesus said in Luke 9 you see Jesus' main goal.  He came to save the world.  The Bible tells us that someday every knee shall bow.  Jesus' desire is that every person have the opportunity to be saved.  Notice I said "opportunity to be saved".  That is way different from "everybody will be saved". 

You see, we still have free will.  I don't see anywhere in the NT where Jesus suggests that free will be over ridden.  That means that there will always be people that just flat our reject Jesus.  I believe that is where the verses from Matthew come in. 

He's letting us know that he didn't come to bring peace on earth.  He doesn't expect everyone to sit around holding hands and sing cumbaya.  He's letting us know that we have to chose sides and that there are real consequences to choosing the wrong side.  He's letting us know that there is a spiritual battle going on in the world and His sword will rightly divine the teams. 

But what about the "every knee shall bow" thing.  Doesn't that mean that in the end, all will be saved?  I don't believe so.  I think that it simply means that in the end, in Christ's moment of victory, all will end up recognizing that His claim was true.  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  In that sense I think, every knee shall bow but that doesn't mean all will be saved.  Only those that have chosen to call on Jesus will be saved.

If you haven't chosen Jesus to be the Lord of your life yet, what are you waiting for?