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!

 

 "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 two 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 yourselves, 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, least 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 til 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 whom 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 in 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!  But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!"  My study Bible comments here that fire is a reference to the proclamation of the gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This fire both enlivens the faithful and judges the faithless; it purifies virtue and destroys sin (see Luke 3:16; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).  Baptism is a reference to Christ's Passion (Matthew 20:22).   

 

"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 two against three."   My study Bible explains that there are two kinds of peace.  There is a false peace -- to which Christ is referring here -- which is a shallow harmony resulting from ignoring issues of truth.  Genuine peace, it says, is reconciliation to God through faith in Christ and surrender to truth.  Genuine peace has division as a byproduct because not everyone wants truth.  In the fallen world, divisions are necessary for truth to be manifest (see 1 Corinthians 11:18-19). 

 

"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."  Here Jesus speaks of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah 7:6.   In addition to the literal meaning, which my study Bible says has been experienced in the Church since the time of Christ, the older generation being divided from the younger generation also symbolizes, first, the rejection of the new covenant by followers of the old covenant, and second, the spiritual struggle between our old, sinful state and our renewal 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 Christ's time of the Incarnation -- the revelation of the Kingdom of God in the first coming of Jesus Christ. 

"Yes, and why, even of yourselves, 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, least 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 til you have paid the very last mite."  My study bible explains that just as a guilty person would attempt to reconcile with an opponent before facing an earthly judge, even more so should one be reconciled to God in Christ before facing God's judgment.  In our reading from Thursday of last week, at the beginning of chapter 12, Jesus taught, "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has  killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!"

 

Jesus speaks of truth as something that will cause division.  Specifically, His truth -- the spiritual truth of the reality of the kingdom of God -- will work to divide people between those who accept it and those who do not.  He says, "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!"  This fire, my study Bible says, is the proclamation of the gospel, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Both are linked to the presence of the kingdom of God, within which we may dwell and participate even in this world, and which also dwells in us (see Luke 17:20-21).  We may also look at images of fire found in Scripture and consider what they indicate to us.  There is the burning bush out of which Moses heard the voice of God -- a bush that was aflame with a fire that didn't consume the bush, didn't burn it (Exodus 3).  This sense of division or split can also be understood in the effects of that fire, and how people respond to it.  Fire is also representative of energy.  But the same fire of the Holy Spirit is the one that "burns" those who will experience hell, and it is the flame that also purifies.  This understanding is part of why it is so important to accept the power of repentance.  To change our minds about clinging to the things that burn in that purifying fire is to repent, to change who we are in an important spiritual sense, just as to evolve and grow turns us into quite different persons than we were once upon a time.  The fire of God is the same one that both vivifies and gives life, and also purifies and burns away what cannot stand in its energies -- and this is the fire of the truth of Christ, who also said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  In this sense, Christ's gospel of the Kingdom becomes the fire that will cause division -- and His baptism the baptism of the Cross, scandalizing some and for others the door to eternal life and salvation.  So frequently we seem to be given the message that it's our job as Christians to embrace everyone.  After all, Christ tells us to love our enemies.  But we need to consider what it means to love; love does not mean denying the truth of Christ and the gospel.  In St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in his unforgettable passage on love, St. Paul writes, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).  For our purposes in today's commentary, we pay specific attention to St. Paul's word that "love . . . does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth."  To love others, then, does not preclude division in terms of our respect for and love of truth, neither does it ask for a false peace such as my study Bible describes.  Christ's fire is also the fire of the love of God, and we should not and must not forget that.  He has come into the world not to do something just to make us all feel good, but to do something monumental to the point that it will transform and transfigure all of creation, taking our suffering, our sin, our struggle with all the elements of evil that can afflict this world -- and make even that transfigured into an outcome of the good.  This is not simple or easy, but rather His own tremendous sacrifice (His "baptism" on the Cross), and the fire of the gospel that will (and did) transform the world.  That transformation and transfiguration is ongoing, even as we also may join in with Him, repenting within the effect of that fire, seeing and embracing the truth He brings of His redemption for us, and letting go of the things that will burn in the great fire of His love.    For nothing is had without sacrifice, but all is gain in the love of the Lord.