Luke 12:49-56 (NRSV)
Read Luke 12:49-56 on biblegateway.com
Verse 49"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! Verse 50I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Verse 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! Verse 52From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; Verse 53they 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 mother-in-law."
Verse 54He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. Verse 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. Verse 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Devotion
The previous scripture readings this week have noted the difficult task given to those called to be prophets, so it should come as no surprise that this week's gospel reading from Luke 12 addresses this same difficulty. Jesus contradicts our idyllic pictures of peace by stating that he has come not to bring peace, but to bring division: division in households, division within families. Jesus says he has come to bring fire, and a baptism he himself is feeling the pressure of.
When taken with our other readings this week, Jesus' words are clear: there can be no peace as long as there is injustice in the world. Jesus is not going to be the one who claims peace while people are still suffering at the hands of the powerful. He is the embodiment of what is imagined in Jeremiah 23 and Psalm 82. We are called to follow in his footsteps, and can do so in courage because he goes ahead of us and with us.
Prayer
Give us eyes to see the world as you see it, and the courage to stand up against injustice, that we might seek true peace. Amen.