True to the Gospel
In our Gospel reading for this Sunday (Luke 12:49-53), Jesus shows His desire that people’s hearts would be changed: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” Then, with that same zeal, Jesus speaks words that are unsettling: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Is this the same person who spoke about love of enemies and forgiving seventy-seven times? As many commentaries on Scriptures point out, Jesus is not about having peace at any cost. I can imagine Him also saying, “Do you think I have come to make you feel comfortable or complacent? Do you think I have come so that you would never be put to the trouble of having to make a choice between me and the world?” It is much like what we hear in our first reading from Jeremiah (38:4-6, 8-10). The princes in Jerusalem tell the king that Jeremiah ought to be put to death. They don’t like what he has to say! They say to the king, “He is not interested in the welfare of our people, but in their ruin.” And the king, apparently helpless to do anything else, puts Jeremiah into their hands, and they drop Jeremiah into an empty cistern to die.
I look at our divided times, and, as it seemed to have been in the time of Jeremiah, and at the time of Jesus, I see people who profess the same faith come to very different conclusions about the choices their faith leads them to take. And so I thought, what could be an indication that we are authentically following Jesus? The answer that comes to me is the Cross. If someone preaches, in the name of Jesus, that we conquer, destroy, condemn, demean, or consider “them” unworthy of consideration, then they are ignoring what Jesus said and did on the Cross (“Father, forgive them… Today you will be with me in paradise…Woman, behold your son…Behold, your mother). If they preach about how we need to keep things only for ourselves, and not about being willing to give of ourselves for others, as Jesus did for us on the Cross, then they are preaching a false gospel. As many people have said throughout the years, only when we work for justice are we able to have real peace.
In our second reading from Hebrews (12:1-4), the author writes, “For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.” May Jesus not endure opposition from us! May we know His love for us from the Cross, and not grow weary of truly following Him.
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ,
Phil, CP
