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Luke 12:49-53
Not Peace but Division
49“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
This is a passage I’ve sometimes skipped when it has come up in the lectionary. It seems disturbing to those of us who understand ourselves to be following “the Prince of Peace,” but it’s one that definitely merits a day’s Reflection.
To really appreciate what Jesus has in mind here, we have to stop and think about the context of the passage in the Gospel of Luke, and also the situation in the early church. Once we’ve done that, we can think about what the passage has to say to us in the 21st century.
So, to think about how this passage fits in the flow of Luke: It comes toward the end of a long passage in which Jesus is talking about the coming judgment of God. Some parts of the church put a good deal of focus on the idea of God’s judgment, largely as a way to literally ‘scare the hell out of people’ – to get them to live according to God’s law, to come to church regularly, etc. But it seems to me that Jesus had a somewhat different purpose in mind in talking about the judgment to come. He was holding out the promise that God would eventually overthrow the systems of this world and bring about the fulfillment of his peaceful kingdom. So the focus wasn’t on bringing about fear and dread, but rather reassuring his followers that God will eventually, as N. T. Wright likes to put it, “put everything to rights.”
That had two important things people needed to keep in mind. One was that those who consider themselves Jesus’ followers should live in expectation. We should live in such a way that if Jesus came back as a part of that final judgment, he would find his followers doing what he had commanded them to do. The other was that his return – and God’s judgment of the systems of the world – would be accompanied by some measure of discord. The powers of this world are not inclined to give up their power without a fight. So even though his goal is the fulfillment of a peaceable kingdom, there will be some struggle as it comes to pass.
Our reading for today, is a part of this discussion on the coming judgment. And the original Greek has a more vivid and emphatic tone than our translation, which is “I have come to bring fire on the earth.” It would really be better translated as, “Fire I come to cast on earth!”
So that’s the context of today’s passage in the flow of the Gospel of Luke.
The cultural context is also important. When Jesus walked the earth preaching and teaching, just about all of those who heard him were Jews. And for the first fifty years or so after Jesus ascended to heaven, the majority of those who called themselves Christians were likewise from the Hebrew tradition.
And since Jesus was rejected by the Jewish leadership, that meant that those who followed him were rejected as heretics. Some were violently persecuted or stoned – like Stephen, for instance. Others were just thrown out of their local synagogues, in which case they would be shunned by family and friends. Merchants and craftsmen could find themselves boycotted by their customers. Workers could be thrown out of their jobs and homes. Families were literally torn apart.
Jesus himself came preaching peace, love and reconciliation. And he was arrested, beaten, mocked, tortured and crucified. He warned that those who came after him weren’t likely to be treated any better than he himself was. And, of course, he was right.
Most of us face nothing like the persecution that the first generations of his followers faced. And probably the vast majority of people who read or listen to these Reflections are already known to their families and friends as followers of Jesus. So the chance that we will be persecuted or rejected for our faith is much less.
But in today’s polarized society, anyone who genuinely and forthrightly stands up for your understanding of the ministry and teachings of Jesus has a pretty good chance of finding yourself in conflict with some of your family and friends. The Christian faith has become so highly politicized that some of those who loudly profess their beliefs seem to have bought into a social and political system more than a way of life centered on the life and teachings of Jesus. In these circumstances, conflict seems almost inevitable.
The idea, it seems to me, is to “keep the main thing the main thing” – to stay so firmly focused on Jesus that what we believe and the way we live is firmly grounded in his life and teachings. That won’t avoid all conflict, of course, but it will at least provide some protection against baptizing our own prejudices and preferences and declaring them to be “Christian values.”
And, of course, remembering that Jesus warned that we will face conflict in this world will insulate us a little against being shocked when it happens. Accepting it as a fact of life will help us to shrug it off and continue to do our best to live in imitation of him every day.
Let’s pray. Lord, help us to be faithful in studying your life and teachings, so that we can anchor our own lives in you. And when our discipleship leads to conflict, help us to be gracious and patient with those who oppose us, and to show your love in ways that help to bring about your kingdom of peace and reconciliation “on earth, as it is in heaven.” Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(Our other readings for today are Psalms 5 and 145; Zephaniah 1:7-13; and Revelation 14:1-13. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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