I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!  Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division.  For from now on five in one house will be divided:  three against two, and to against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is.  Hypocrites!  You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

"Yes, and why, even of yourself, do you not judge what is right?  When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."

- Luke 12:49-59

 On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught:  "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants who the master, when he comes, will find watching.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come into the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"  And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.  And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"  My study bible tells us that fire references the proclamation of the gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3).  This is a fire that enlivens the faithful and at the same time judges the faithless; my study bible also says that it purifies virtue and destroys sin (see 3:16; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).  

"But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!"  Baptism refers to Christ's Passion; baptism itself is a sacrament of death and rebirth.   

"Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division."  My study bible tells us that there are two kinds of peace.  There is a false peace, to which Christ refers here.  That is a shallow harmony that results from ignoring issues of truth.  True peace is reconciliation to God through faith in Christ and surrender to truth.  A genuine peace has division as a byproduct, as not everyone wants truth.   In the fallen world, my study bible notes, divisions are necessary for truth to be manifest (see 1 Corinthians 11:18-19). 

"For from now on five in one house will be divided:  three against two, and to against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."  This is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah 7:6 .  (Jesus quotes from Micah in Matthew 10:36.)  In addition to the literal meaning, which my study bible says has been experienced in the Church since the time of Christ, this division between the older and younger generation also symbolizes the rejection of the new covenant by followers of the old, in addition to our personal spiritual struggle between our old sinful state and the renewal possible in Christ (see Ephesians 4:20-24). 

Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is.  Hypocrites!  You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?"   This time is the revelation of the Kingdom of God in the first coming of Christ, His Incarnation and public ministry.

"Yes, and why, even of yourself, do you not judge what is right?  When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."  My study bible says that just as a guilty person would attempt to reconcile with an opponent before facing an earthly judge, even more so should a person seek to be reconciled to God in Christ before facing judgment.

Jesus speaks of spreading a fire on the earth.  This is the fire of the Gospel and the truth of the mission of the divine Son in the world, His ministry to all of us.  This fire is a living presence also of the Holy Spirit.  In John's Gospel, Jesus makes reference to the Spirit of truth who will be sent to those who follow Him.    This truth is like a fire.  The energies of God burn like a fire, which embraces that which is compatible with God's love and truth, and burns that which is not.  This is how we should think of hell fire, not as something separate from God and God's works, but the same fire of God's love that burns away that which cannot stand in its energy.  Jesus gives us another understanding about truth that is not very popular in contemporary culture, a truth that divides rather than sorts itself out in varying degrees of acceptance.  This is a kind of truth that exists as spiritual truth.  Was Jesus divinely sent?  Are His words truthful?  Are His teachings truthful?  In real time, is God present to us in the form of the Spirit, this fire that has been sent to the earth?  Is there a truth in a particular circumstance, a truth of justice and righteousness, one which calls us toward its recognition?  Or is everything a question of semantics, or shades of perspective?  At some point, there must be a call to truth.  Jesus tells us that this truth is one that will cause division, even within the closest relationships we have.  It is not a question of being truthful because everyone accepts it, but rather of a spiritual reality that not everyone can accept.  In light of this, what should we think when we attempt to share the Gospel with others?  Do we expect that all will accept it?  And even among nominal Christians, there is a process of repentance that is ongoing in our experience of our faith.  We must accept that all of us are, in some way and another, adjusting within this process of God's call to us to repentance or "change of mind" as the word literally means in the Greek.  If we stand in the fire of God the Holy Spirit, in the fire of the words of truth that Christ gives us, which the Spirit will recall to our hearts and minds, are we not also called to a division and reconciliation which is ongoing and recurring throughout our lives?  We should explore and understand Christ's words about fire.  This is a fire which He says He came to send upon the earth, a very deliberate expression of mission.  It is a fire He vehemently says He wishes were already kindled!  He even tells us how eager He is for the Baptism that is to come; He says He is distressed until it is accomplished.  It is this fire, this division, that is the aim and thrust of mission.  It is this fire that is in our hearts if we accept Him and His truth; it is this fire with which we live and which inflames our own lives and choices.  Let us consider that it is not up to us whether all should accept; rather what is up to us is to live in the spirit of that fire, to allow it to shape us and inflame our own lives.  Let us not forget that, as St. Paul reminds us, God makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:7).  This is the mission He calls us to accept and enter into with Him, and the fire is the great gift He leaves us from His own Baptism into which He will enter.