Twentieth
Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) [Lk 12:49-53]
17.08.2025
Jesus’ Message Brings Fire and Causes Division
1. Theme in brief
To be fired with
zeal for God’s Kingdom and its consequences
2.
Focus Statement
Like Jesus, we are called to burn with ardent
desire for God’s Kingdom in our hearts, and be willing to make any sacrifices
including facing division within our own families for its sake.
3. Explanation of
the text
In
today’s gospel Jesus speaks about three aspects of his mission: (1) The purpose
of his coming into the world (his mission) was to bring fire to the earth (12:49). (2)
The means
to achieve this mission was his sacrificial death on the cross which he called a sort ot ‘baptism’
– of course, not by water but by blood (12:50). (3) The consequence of that fire would be a division
within one’s own family (12:51-53).
If taken literally, Jesus’ statement in today’s gospel
that he came to cast fire on the earth and cause division in families rather
than peace and unity is shocking because it contradicts all that he stands for. The
symbolism of fire has various meanings in the Bible, such
as the presence and the glory of God. In the context of today’s gospel text,
probably it signifies the purifying and destructive aspects of Christ’s gospel message.
His message is meant to purify human mind from evil and burn or destroy all the evil
that goes against God’s will and God’s way of thinking. Secondly, it also may
symbolize Jesus’ burning zeal to see to the realization of his Big Dream or
Great Project, that is, to establish God’s Kingdom here on earth. This desire was
burning
like a fire in him and he wished to enkindle the world with its glow (12:49). Finally,
fire also signifies God’s judgement associated with the coming of the
Messiah. Jesus’ saying about casting fire on the earth could also imply that with
his coming, God’s Kingdom had come on earth. He called people to
respond to this message which was also a message of salvation. Thus, basically he came to
save people and not to judge or condemn them. But at the end of time, he would
come to judge those who rejected his salvation.
The burning desire in Jesus to establish God’s Kingdom
on earth motivated him to undergo a ‘baptism’ – literally, a plunge or immersion
in water. But in this context Jesus must be referring to his immersion in blood, that
is, his suffering and crucifixion in obedience to God’s will. In
other words, he was willing to pay the price of his blood through his sacrificial death on the cross
to accomplish his mission of saving humankind. This was his ‘baptism with fire’
about which John the Baptist predicted when he baptized Jesus in
Jesus’ message did create in his
time and continues to do so in our times a division even within the family (12:51-53). Though
he is the greatest messenger of peace, he may become the source of division
even within families – where the union based on blood-relationships and mutual bonds is
so strong – if some in the family profess him ardently and uphold his values
firmly, whereas the rest of the family members reject him and his values. His peace
cannot be achieved by compromising with evil or evildoers. Evil forces
normally do not submit to Jesus or get converted to his values quietly without
posing a challenge to the good forces; hence some sort of unrest or conflict is sure to emerge even
within family relations such as father-son, mother-daughter,
mother-in-law-daughter-in-law, etc. In other words, a struggle can ensue within
one’s own family leading to a division or breaking up of human relations as
members decide either for or against Christ and his values.
Jesus wanted his disciples to
consider loyalty
to him and to the cause of God’s Kingdom above all other loyalties or
relationships, including family or kinship relationships. As the prophet Micah
said long ago, Jesus also insisted, when the question of loyalty to his
teachings came, one’s enemies could be members of one’s own household (Micah 7:6). He
also spoke of a type of polarization that might take place among people of
the same household because of him or his message of the Kingdom. It is not “one
against one,” or “one against four,” but “two against three” and “three against
two” (12:52). This expression seems to suggest that those who would come to
faith in him would find a new bond to join together because of their common faith;
and equally those who would reject him would also join together to oppose those
who would accept him. Their common opposition to Christ would become the basis
of their unity to oppose Christ.
4.
Application to life
Fire, baptism and division are the three main
issues in today’s gospel. Jesus called his vision for a new society the
Today’s
gospel message disturbs us if we live a life without a definite purpose influenced by
Jesus’ vision. If we have a cause or dream to be realized like that of
Jesus, we will do our best or go to any extent to realize it. We may have to
undergo several ‘baptisms’
(that is, trials, suffering and sacrifices) to realize this dream.
Once we have
SOMETHING or SOMEONE to
live for and die for, and are fired with enthusiasm for that cause, we can bear
any hardship. A person without enthusiasm is without any vitality and merely exists
instead of really living. According to
Robin Sharma, such a person dies at twenty and is buried at eighty. He further
says, “The saddest part of life lies not in the act of dying, but in failing to
truly live while we are alive.” He further says: “We
must live our life by choice
rather than by chance.”
As Christians, we must choose to live with a passion for Christ and his
cause. Otherwise where is that fire burning in us? We have to ask ourselves
whether we use our dormant energies for service, reconciliation,
seeking out the lost, showing mercy towards sinners, caring for the poor and
the neglected, etc. The studies conducted by psychologists show that many of us
keep most of our potentialities buried inside us and do not use them to the
fullest extent. Sadly enough, this is true not only of lay people but also of
priests and religious, because of sufficient number of loopholes in their
diocesan and congregational structures and systems that make them less
accountable. Only those who are determined to live their life with a difference
against all institutional odds are able to swim against the general current and
make an impact
on others. This kind of impact naturally builds up God’s Kingdom and is a
contribution to the fulfilment of Jesus’ dream.
In
another sense, Jesus’ message is like a fire which can destroy evil (sin) by a change
of heart, and can cause division between good and evil, godly and ungodly
ways, truth and untruth, love and selfishness. Like Jesus, if we want to bring
about reform,
renewal and transformation in society, we have to condemn
evil and unjust social structures. If we do so, we are sure to cause divisions
and conflict.
Some will support, some will oppose us. As described above, normally those who
are opposed to Christ and his values will club together because of the common enemy
they find in us. Thus, living a life of faith may disturb the status quo, vested
interests and may go against the prevailing social current and customs or
traditions. When we are confronted with values that conflict with the gospel,
then all come to know who or what is our first choice from the sides we take.
These sides are sharp: either for Christ and his gospel-values or against him
and his values. There is nothing in between.
This conflict or disturbance takes
place in several areas: first of all in our hearts, families, society and
nation. In this struggle, we take sides. Since Jesus highlights the division
within our own families in today’s gospel, let us take it first. Though
strange, it is true: the Gospel of Christ can divide
men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children. Even within the
same family father takes the side of truth and the son takes the side of untruth or vice versa; mother-in-law takes
the side of good and daughter-in-law takes the side of evil or vice versa. Truth
often causes division even within four walls of the family! For instance, take
the case of a young girl who gets pregnant before marriage and wants to abort
the foetus in her womb to save her honour in her society (as is the case in
traditional societies in many parts of the world). But her mother wants to save
the foetus because she believes that destroying a life in the womb is a grave
sin. Naturally this causes a rift or
division between mother and daughter, and other members of the family also may
take one of the sides. If the father supports his daughter and favours an abortion,
and two more daughters support their mother, it will be exactly “two against
three,” as Jesus said. In another case, if a father tells his son to attend
church on Sundays but the son thinks that God is in his heart and not in the
church alone, both father and son will be divided against each other. Today
Jesus tells us that loyalty to him and his values or an ardent
following of him must take precedence over loyalty even to family ties.
Even our service to the poor and the downtrodden
may create a division in society. When our social services are not beneficial
to the rich and the powerful but only empower the poor and the weaker sections
of our society, the former may turn against us. We notice that within our
families, neighbourhood and village communities also there are divisions between
those who live by Christ’s values and those who do not; those who practice
their faith fervently and those who do not. Though religious or consecrated
life in the Church is a way of living the gospel in a radical manner, even among the
religious, there can be conflicts among those who really live the gospel
radically and those who would like to dilute their religious consecration by aping
the secular
values. It is natural that tensions and conflict can take place in
such cases even within the family – all because of Christ!
The division mentioned by Jesus takes place not only in
the line of blood-relationships, but also in the line of authority of parents over their
children and mother-in-law over her daughter-in-law. Normally, Christians are
supposed to obey
all legitimate authority, especially of their parents. But, if parents/
religious superiors command anything that goes against the values of the gospel
or moral principles, then allegiance to Christ should take a precedence
over these authorities. Again this decision may lead to a division in the
family or religious community. Actually speaking, in biblical sense, to give prominence
to anybody or anything higher than God or above God is a form of idolatry.
In today’s gospel Jesus challenges us to examine who we love, and who we are
loyal to above everything else – God, or our family and kinship
relationships. As disciples, Jesus invites us to give a higher loyalty to
him than our own family or kith and kin. In the bargain, we may incur the wrath
of our own family members. We should not knowingly offend our family members by
our bad and unacceptable behaviour. If our family members are offended by the values
of the gospel we want to practice, then we must be prepared to face opposition
or hostility
from those family members who do not care about those values.
5.
Response to God's Word
Are we fired with the same zeal and enthusiasm of Jesus
for service and transformation of our society? What is our passion and
commitment for eradication of social evils and transformation of human society?
Are there sparks of Jesus’ passion for his vision and mission or His fire in
our behaviour and actions? Are we ready and willing to face a division and
conflict even within our families and friendship circles for upholding the
gospel-values and moral principles such as respect for the sacredness of life, honesty
in private and public life, upholding the integrity of God’s creation, or allow
the fire of the Gospel to extinguish? Do we purposely try to extinguish this
fire since it disturbs us so much? Does loyalty to family ties take precedence
over loyalty to Christ in our behaviour?
6.
A Prayer
Jesus, you were fired with zeal and a burning desire for
the realization of your vision of God’s Kingdom. You were longing to undergo a
baptism of blood to realize it. May your love consume us and transform our
lives that we may truly desire you and your gospel-values more than anything or
anybody. We are so sorry for allowing the fire for your love to
extinguish in our behaviour and actions. We repent for the times we allowed
loyalty to our family ties to take precedence over loyalty to you and your
values. Fill us with the fire of your Spirit so that we may show the same zeal
and enthusiasm for service and transformation of our society, and be willing to
make sacrifices for your cause. Amen.
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