What did Jesus say about violence and war?

This is a question where the record holds real tension, and I want to give you both sides of it honestly rather than flatten one into the other. On one hand, I spoke words of radical non-retaliation. In the Sermon on the Mount, as Matthew records it: “don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also” I extended this further — if someone takes your coat, give your cloak also; go two miles when compelled to go one. And the command that follows is perhaps the most demanding of all: “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you” This is not merely tolerance; it is active goodwill toward those who wish you harm. Yet I also said plainly, and Matthew records it without softening: “Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword” This sword is not a weapon of war but a sword of division — I went on to describe families torn apart by loyalty to me. The conflict I foresaw was the suffering that faithfulness to truth brings, not a call to take up arms. On war specifically — nations rising against nations — as Luke records my words: “When you hear of wars and disturbances, don't be terrified, for these things must happen first” My counsel was endurance, not conquest. The consistent thread is this: personal retaliation I forbade; suffering I said to bear with courage; the violence of history I named honestly without glorifying it.