“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” – Luke 2:34-35

The Gentile scholar and investigator, Luke, records the story of Simeon in his Gospel’s Christmas account. The old man had received a word from God that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Savior in the flesh. When seeing the baby Jesus in the temple, he glorified God and then said these ominous words to Jesus’ mother Mary, “A sword will pierce through your own soul.”

These prophetic words spoke to the pain Mary would one day experience – seeing her perfect baby boy, destroyed at the hands of the heartless and cruel people He came to save. Surely, it pierced her heart and soul as deadly as the rhomphaia sword – the sabre used in battle to kill and destroy. In John 10:10a, Jesus says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

But it is not just Mary the enemy’s sword attacks. It is the same sword that is used to stab at the hearts of the parents and hack at our own children. And then the enemy leads the wounded astray to find healing that the world offers, but can never satisfy. The Deceiver offers drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, money, fame, or power, all sprinkled with a heavy dose of confusion. None of these heals, but only deepens the wounds.

Simeon goes on to say that the Christ child came so “that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Our Savior arrived with another sword. In Matthew 10:34, Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

What is Jesus’ sword? It is not the rhomphaia to kill and maim. It is the machairan: a knife used in the crude surgery of the day. Jesus did not come to sprinkle flower petals like some 1960s peacenik. He came to do surgery on our hearts – to expose our corruption and to get to the real heart of the matter. His healing of deep spiritual and emotional wounds may involve the healing pain of surgery, but it is our only real hope for true healing and true peace.

The tragic murder of Rob and Michelle Reiner at the hands of their severely wounded son, Nick, is a terrible but real example of loving parents doing everything the world could offer to try to save their son, but to no avail. Would an introduction to Jesus have made a difference? I know it has for many. I am certain it could have brought the peace that Nick so desperately needed.

In an interview, Rob Reiner acknowledged that many kids are desperately wounded and trying many devices to bring healing. Other than listening more, he did not have an answer as to what that thing might be. In the same interview, Nick admitted that he battled with hearing voices, trying to draw him back into the things that destroy.

Jesus completed his teaching in verse John 10:10b by declaring, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” And in verse 11, He continues, “I am the good shepherd,” saying that those who follow Him “know His voice.” Replacing the voice of the evil one with the voice of the one who gave up His life to save us is the only real hope that anyone has who is so severely damaged by this world.

Do all people who turn to Jesus experience complete healing and peace from mental and emotional damage? I don’t know that to be the case. But so many have walked into Jesus’ loving embrace and been cut to the heart, realizing the supernatural peace and comfort He promises. One cannot say they have tried everything until they’ve turned to Him.

Jesus does not promise that we will be untouched by this corrupt world or by the deception of our own hearts. But in John 16:33, He declares, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Somehow, by His resurrection power, in some supernatural way, He has already defeated the enemy. He stands ready, dressed for surgery, His machairan scalpel in hand, poised to give us a new heart. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

A new heart. What a Christmas Gift!