Luke 12:49-52
I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in a family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
This is one of Jesus' "hard" sayings. It seems to go against the healthy relationships other scriptures call us to. Jesus seems to be saying that even our closest, most stable relationships are affected, not always positively, by his coming.
The fire Jesus is referring to is the kingdom of God. Jesus was convinced that in his own person and mission a new phase in God's plan for the world was beginning. The kingdom of God was coming.
In view of this, Jesus doesn't diminish the importance of the family but instead points to the primacy of following Jesus. Even our most valued attachment's take a secondary place to the call of God on our lives. Jesus wasn't promoting strained relationships; he was saying that sometimes divisions are inevitable for disciples.
So Jesus came to bring fire. Where is the fire in you, that fire of purpose that launches you outside yourself and your piddly needs to a larger, more meaningful existence in God's kingdom? The fire of calling. The fire of following that call. Has the fire been smothered by other concerns? Time to consider anew God's destiny for us.
I see the “family divisions” as a metaphor for the respective spiritual paths that our church family experiences. We certainly know of fiery discussions about religion. Rather than involving the ego to prove the “rightness” of my position, I seek to understand that each of us has a unique spiritual journey. I can provide bread for others while they are on the path. However, adding anger to my comments does not nourish them as they seek answers.
ReplyDeleteLuke 12:49-52 is echoed in Matthew 10:34-35.
ReplyDelete“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; “
According to Marcus Borg, in this verse Jesus could be saying how people were so “embedded” into their families that their passion for God is diminished. These family conventions were a “constricting institution” and got in the way of their ability to center in God and God's passion. It is not that we should not love our families, but our focus should be on our relationship in God.