I Have a Hard Time with Luke 12:49-53.

When I think of Jesus, I don’t typically think of division.  Sure, there are divisions within Christianity and between Christianity and other religions.  But I don’t think of Jesus as someone who would want that.  So, the passage Rev. Dr. Randall R. Warren preached on last Sunday at St. Luke’s surprised me.  According to Luke, Jesus said,

“Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division!  From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they 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 her mother-in-law.”

What?!  Why would Jesus want such a thing?

Is That What Jesus Really Said?

One thing Rev. Randall pointed out in his homily was that this anecdote was recorded and circulated when the people who had known Jesus were dying off and when the Christian church was splitting from the synagogue.  So it might have been comforting at that time to recall Jesus saying that he came to bring division.

What I wonder is this: if the people who were with Jesus were writing down their memories so long after he died, how do we know that they were remembering Jesus’s sayings accurately?  Couldn’t someone be misrepresenting what Jesus actually said?

If He Said It: What Did He Mean?

Rev. Randall made a good point in his sermon.  When we make a change, like devoting ourselves to God, it can create division with those closest to us because they want us to change back.  Jesus didn’t necessarily mean division is good.  He could have meant division is a fact of life.

Jesus: Under Stress

But what if Jesus did mean division was good or necessary.  In what way could it be?

Before we can understand that, we need to understand something else.

One of the other things Jesus said in Luke 12 was that “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!  I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”

Rev. Randall explained that the word Jesus used when he said he was under stress until his baptism meant “compressed, imprisoned, tight, drawn taut.”  By baptism, Jesus probably meant his crucifixion.  He was under stress until he could release his tension into God, in death.

So, What?

We are compressed and tight in our own way, Rev. Randall suggested.  We have tight-knit cliques of people.  We need division within these cliques to open ourselves to the world around us, he added.

Four of My Thoughts

Maybe division could be good under other circumstances as well.

• Perhaps a God who brings division is a God who separates people who follow him from those who would do them harm.
• Perhaps a God who brings division wants us to stand up for ourselves and others when someone else is in the wrong, even if that means going against people we are close to and love.
• Perhaps this passage is about putting principles, like justice and integrity, before the pressures family, friends, and society put on us to conform.
• Maybe a God who brings division wants us to be at peace with the conflict and messiness change sometimes brings. When there’s external division, we need inner peace.

Why Does This Matter?

How can I apply this to my life?  What’s the message of this passage for me?

I don’t have a lot of division in my life.  But I do want to change.  And part of that change is writing this blog.  And that means being honest about what I think about the things that inspire me, particularly the Bible.  That’s scary.

I’m not the most traditional Christian.  I don’t read the Bible literally.  And I believe all the major religions are paths to the same God.  My views may make people uncomfortable, including family and friends.

Fire

When Jesus speaks of bringing fire to the earth, couldn’t he be saying that he wants us to be on fire, to be passionate?  Spirituality is one of my passions, however non-traditional my views.  And I long to experience union with God.

To me, this passage is saying, follow your passion, no matter what the cost.

How About You?

How do you understand this passage?  How would you apply it to your life?  Share in the comments.