Jesus
the Cause of Division
49 ‘I came to bring fire to
the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I
have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it
is completed! 51Do
you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but
rather division! 52From
now on, five in one household will be divided, 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 her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
father 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 mother-in-law.’
Interpreting
the Time
54 He also said to the
crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is
going to rain”; and so it happens. 55And
when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”;
and it happens. 56You
hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why
do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Settling
with Your Opponent
57 ‘And why do you not
judge for yourselves what is right? 58Thus,
when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to
settle the case,* or you may be
dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the
officer throw you in prison. 59I
tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.’
This lesson, like the incident of the fig tree
and the cleansing of the temple, is one of those awkward passages that many
people deal with in a variety of unsatisfactory ways. Some say that it is so
uncharacteristic of the behaviour and message of Jesus and that it must be a
mistake. Others decide that they do not understand this so they just ignore it
and move on and just read further. But we have learnt that one often needs to
ponder, even struggle with what we read, and out of that process we always
receive rich and wonderful blessing from God's word. We need to remember that
through the Scriptures, God speaks to
his people. But in this process, the people have to listen. Those of you who are parents will identify with an
experience I often had as a teacher, where I would speak and some children
would physically hear what I said but would not listen. We too can often hear
the word of God physically, but not be listening for what he is saying to us.
Eugene Peterson explains what he thinks God
requires of his people in this way:
... apart from the act of listening and responding, [words] ... cannot
function according to the intent of the speaker. For language in its origin and
at its best is the means by which one
person draws another person into a participating
relationship. ... The intent of revelation [in Scripture] is not to tell us about God but to involve us in God.[1]
One of the reasons why Jesus was always
challenging the Scribes and the Pharisees was that '... they knew the words of
scripture well but heard the voice of God not
at all'.[2]
When we use the Scriptures as our means by which we listen to God, and not just a book
that we use for whatever other reason, then we often have to stop and think,
sometimes even struggle until we find what God is saying to us.
All this reminds us that words do not often mean
what they might appear to mean on the surface, and before we jump to
conclusions, we need to stop, listen clearly to the words and think. But all
too often this does not happen. The rule is rather that people hear words,
don't really even listen to make sure that they understand, decide for
themselves what they mean and then react. Few people ever bother to find out
what the truth is and what the words mean - they just react.
Jesus' audience had this problem. Few people took
the time to listen to each other, let alone listen to God. People make up their
minds for themselves without really listening and so strife and conflict is the
order of the day. Often in a situation of conflict, the one party is
formulating what their response is going to be and is therefore only hearing
with a fraction of their concentration what the other person has to say. No
wonder the divorce rate is so high, no wonder conflict and violence ravishes
our land. Often throughout his ministry, Jesus was on the receiving end of such
treatment. In John 7:12 we are told:
There was much whispering about him
in the crowd. "He is a good man," some people said. "No,"
others said, "he is misleading the people." But no one talked about him openly ... (TEV)
No one talked about Jesus openly. People love to spread
rumours about people, but few will take the time and trouble to find out the
truth. Few will actually take the time to listen and think and ask and receive
more information before they do anything. The result - conflict, division,
hatred, violence.
In our study of Luke's Gospel, we have seen that
one cannot be neutral with Jesus. He warned that we are either for him or we
are against him. When a person belongs to Christ division often results because
Christ's standards are in conflict with those of the world. The world loves
sin. Christians have to stand out against sin and because of their opposition
to sin they are persecuted. This was Jesus' experience and he knew that it
would be the experience of all those who were faithful to him. This was nothing
new. Life is never fair and never will be fair because sin reigns. So how do we
deal with this? Jesus had earlier told the people that what ultimately matters
is hearing and doing God's word.[3] Remember Luke 8:21 where Jesus said:
"My mother and my brothers are
those who hear the word of God and do it." (NRSV)
And again in Luke 11:27-28:
While he was saying this, a women in
the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore
you and the breasts that nursed you!" But he said, "Blessed rather
are those who hear the word of God and obey it!" (NRSV)
The fire Jesus speaks about in verse 49 refers to
judgement and testing. There is no doubt that our Lord's coming brought with it
judgement. John the Baptist had prophesied that Jesus would baptise with fire.
It never occurred to anyone that Jesus would be the first one to pass through
the fire of judgement. Jesus goes through the fire beginning with the
opposition he faces to his beliefs and values and finally culminates in his
death on the cross.
Jesus did not relish the prospect of his
suffering nor the suffering his disciples would have to go through. As one
commentator writes:
We glimpse here something of the
strain and anguish of soul which our Lord was suffering at this time.[4]
The literature of the intertestamental period is
full of predictions that the Messiah would have to suffer terribly before the
establishment of the Kingdom of God. Jesus knew that he was the one to
experience these terrible things, and in his humanity longed for it all to be
over. Verses 49-50 read:
I came to bring fire to the earth,
and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be
baptised, and what stress I am under until it is completed. (NRSV)
The divisions and conflicts, even among families
were and are an evil which would precede the coming of the end of this age and
the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Many years before, the prophet Micah
had written:
... the son treats the father with
contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law; your enemies are members of your own household. But as for
me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait
for the God of my salvation; my God will
hear me.[5]
Jesus is not happy about this, but the fact of
the matter is that division happens. Jesus does not cause it - the sin of
people causes it. There is division because of Jesus only because people do not
want to give up their sin. In these situations people should be patient - they
should wait, they should pray and they should listen.
Jesus elaborates by using two parables.
In the first, Jesus
calls for discernment. The people Jesus was speaking to, were largely of
farming stock. They would have known how to read the signs of the weather. The
people were full of knowledge, but had no wisdom. The people, under the
guidance of their religious leaders should have been able to see that Jesus was
the long awaited Messiah. Everything that had been prophesied about the Messiah
was completely and utterly fulfilled in Jesus.
When people can see the coming of a storm they
can make preparation for it. When people know that any natural disaster is
coming, they do what they can to save themselves. The Scriptures speak clearly
of the coming judgement of Christ being preceded by dissension and anguish -
all the things that are happening in the world today. But with all the
knowledge, there are few who take heed of the spiritual wisdom that is in the
word of God. There are many who might make a passing reference to Scripture,
but there are few who really take the time to listen closely, to hear and to
put into practice what it is saying. As a commentator writes:
As James adds:
Beloved, do not grumble against one
another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the
doors![7]
When the second coming of Jesus will take place
is not the issue. The issue is that he is going to come and all the signs
prophesied have been fulfilled, just as they had been before Jesus went to the
cross. So it could even be today.
Jesus illustrates this point further in his last
parable. If a person was guilty before the law, they would do everything in
their power to settle out of court, but the sadness is that few people do
anything to stay out of hell. Before God, there is not a single human being who
has a good case. So, '... if he is wise, he will make his peace with God while
there is still time'.[8]
The reality of God's judgement comes when we
least expect it - like a thief in the night. The reality of the judgement does
not wait until Jesus comes again - it becomes real for us at the moment of
death. There is no chance after death to make our peace with God. Are we all
ready? How do we know?
Paul tells us that we have peace with God through
our faith in Jesus Christ.[9] But how do we know that we have this faith.
Listen carefully to the word of God:
Is'nt is obvious that faith and
works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works
are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the
Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with
God," includes his action. ... Is it not evident that a person is made
right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works.[10]
Don't fool yourself into thinking
that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one
ear and out the other. Act on what
you hear![11]
Agree with each other, love each
other, be deep spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't
sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.
Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long
enough to lend a helping hand.[12]
God is love. When we take up
permanent residence in a life of love we live in God and God lives in us. This
way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that
we're free of worry on Judgement Day - our standing in the world is identical
with Christ's ... If a person boasts, "I love God," and goes right on
hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't
love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command
we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to
love both.[13]
Where do we stand? Are we at peace with God? Is
it clear for all to see that we are at peace with God because we are filled
with the fruits of His Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
gentleness and self control? Are we really those who really listen to his word
and act in obedience to what it says?
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