XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 12:49-53
In his gospel, Luke presents the birth of Jesus as the birth of the Prince of peace, so that even the angels came to sing: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.” (Lk 2:14). But this Sunday’s gospel speaks of strife and division, of distress and of judgement.
We may be surprised at hearing Jesus say that he does not bring peace, but division (or the sword, according to Matthew 10:34). Is Jesus a violent prophet like Muhammad, who conquered by the sword? Is Jesus giving permission or opening the way to justify violence and war in his name? Far from it. When Peter used the sword, he scolded him, saying: “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Mt 26:52). Jesus did not preach violence; instead he himself was going to be baptised in suffering. When he said: “I have a baptism with which to be baptised, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” (Lk 12:50), Jesus was speaking about the baptism of his passion and death. On one hand, he approached it in great distress,; on the other, he desired to see it through, thus carrying out his mission.
According to John the Baptist, the Messiah would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and “the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”, while gathering “his wheat into the granary” (Mt 3:11-12). Jesus came to bring the fire of judgement, but this fire is not yet kindled, because the time for judgement has not arrived yet. And before it arrives, Jesus has to go through his passion and he himself will become a cause of division, because before him people will have to decide and choose the way of light and life or the way of darkness and death.
When Jesus was presented in the Temple, Simeon came and pronounced this prophetic words:
“This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35).
Jesus suffered opposition even from his own relatives, who thought that he was mad (Mk 3:21), but he was opposed mainly by the religious leadership, who had him crucified. When and where Jesus’ message is proclaimed, it will be met either with opposition or with acceptance and belief. By following of Jesus, his disciples will be set apart, and they may be excluded, persecuted and killed. At the name of Jesus, many fall, while many others rise, and the inner thoughts of people are revealed.
In this modern (or postmodern) society in which we live, the politically correct is to exclude Jesus Christ from the public life. For many, it is anathema to show publicly any sign of belief, and so they have taken away the crosses from the schools and forbid any show of Christian practice in public places. On the other side, in the name of tolerance and of freedom of expression, Muslims are allowed all that Christians are forbidden.
Before Jesus, we have to choose, but the choices that we make are going to divide us, and that may happen even within our family. For instance, if one muslim converts to Christianity, he will be considered an outcast in his community and he may be killed by his own family.
The letter to the Hebrews advises us not to loose sight of Jesus, because he is the one who leads us and brings us to perfection. We must remain steadfast in our decision to follow him, “running steadily in the race we have started”. And for that, we must be ready to “throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily” to us ((Heb 12:1-2). Jesus is our role model, and following behind him, we must imitate him in carrying the cross that leads us to resurrection and life.
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