Lk 12:49-53
v. 49.
I have come to set the earth on fire.
Recall Lk 3:16. The mention of baptizing
with the holy Spirit and with fire may point to the Pentecost event when the
Holy Spirit came down upon the community in the form of tongues of fire. In
this case, the power of fire and thus, the power of the Holy Spirit may be the
one being referred to. However, from the context of the preaching of John the
Baptist, he probably was thinking of the purifying and refining characteristics
of fire.
Fire is mentioned in the Bible several
times to mean other things.
Fire represented the presence of God as in
the burning bush (Ex 3:1-4) and the pillar of fire that guided Israel at night
(Ex 13:21).
Fire also represented divine punishment. We
see this is in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 1(:23-24). John the
Baptist used the fire imagery for divine punishment (Lk 3:9). In the Sermon on
the Mount Jesus used the expression fiery Gehenna for punishment (Mt 5:22).
Purification as symbolized by fire may be a
painful process. But in the end the experience of liberation may make the pain
worth it.
v. 50. There is a baptism with which I must
be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished.
In the early church baptism was carried out
by means of total immersion. Jesus speaks of his death on the cross as being immersed
in suffering.
v. 51. Do you think that I have come to
establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
This declaration of
Jesus is alarming. It seems to contradict many things in the NT.
The title of Prince
of Peace (Is 9:6) was applied to Jesus. The angels greeted his birth by
proclaiming peace (Lk 2:14). In the Beatitudes Jesus declared peacemakers as
blessed (Mt 5:9). St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians asserted that Christ
brought us peace (Eph 2:14). But especially at the last Supper before his
passion and death Jesus gave to his disciples his peace, a peace that the world
cannot give (Jn 14:27). And when he appeared to them for the first time after his
resurrection, he first word was one of peace (Jn 20:19).
And yet at the
beginning of his life we already see signs of division as seen in the violence
and opposition that Jesus seemed to provoke. Herod tried to kill him (Mt
2:13-14). And Simeon under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit prophesied
opposition to Jesus (Lk 2:34). Right at the beginning of his public ministry,
he was rejected by his own townspeople. They even tried to kill him (Lk 4:28-30).
If that wasn’t enough the Pharisees and Herodians conspired to put him to death,
too (Mk 3:6). He warned his own disciples that they, too, should expect the
same treatment (Jn 15: 20-21). In the end the forces of evil seemed to have succeeded
in their violent opposition to Jesus (Mk15:12-15).
How do we reconcile
the claim that Jesus is the bringer of peace with the division, opposition and
violence that he seems to provoke?
The problem I believe is not in Jesus but in
the response of people to him. Those who accept Jesus and his message find
peace. Those who reject Jesus and his message will find themselves in a
position opposed to him and to those who accept Jesus and his message. And with
the existence of opposing sides, division and conflict are inevitable.
But peace is still
possible. If not outside, then inside at least. Peace of mind. Peace of soul. And
Jesus can bring us this inner peace. That is why this assertion is true.
Know Jesus. Know
peace.
No Jesus. No peace.
