Jesus has turned his face to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), with his disciples following behind. On the way he speaks with prophetic bluntness to his disciples, potential followers and the crowds he draws as he travels. He also instructs his disciples they must travel without the usual belongings — purse, extra tunic and sandals. They will have to trust there will be hospitable people who will welcome their message and take them in.
To those who approached him and asked to join his company he demanded a total and immediate response — no time to return to family responsibilities, not even to say “goodbye,” (“But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:60). He is on the road to Jerusalem and to all who wish to be his disciples, he demands they must pick up their cross and follow him: his way of loving, forgiving and sacrificing for others. All this before the midway point of Luke’s gospel! Jesus is not wasting time communicating what being his disciple entails.
He hardly softens his message today. “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing!” Fire is a rich symbol in the Scriptures — could be good, could be bad! We can’t accuse Jesus of being a bland, or a wishy-washy prophet. From the way he speaks it is not hard to tell the Jesus was passionately consumed by what he was on his way to Jerusalem to do. He knew that tragic results awaited him and his disciples, but that his fire would ignite a blaze in the hearts of those who heard and accepted his message. It might be worth pausing at this moment to ask ourselves: “Is my faith a fire burning within me?” If not, what can I do about it?
In the beginning of his gospel Luke gives us the story of Jesus’ birth, with the warming scene of the angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those whom God favors.” It is clear from today’s passage that the peace Jesus brings to his followers is not the peace of comfort and the well-being the world desires. Following him will not be a life of calm and tranquility.
Jesus continues the prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures, hence our first reading. Jeremiah suffered for being faithful to God’s word. He has a reputation as a bitter complainer, asking why God had given him the calling to proclaim the message of destruction to the people. But he was faithful to his mission and suffered the consequences. He was thrown into a cistern and left to die. It was the voice of an outsider, an Ethiopian foreigner in the court, who urged the King to pull the prophet out of the cistern. But soon after Jeremiah will have to flee to Egypt as an exile and there he will die.
Jeremiah was a gentle soul who was given a difficult mission by God. Luke has depicted Jesus in a similar way. Jesus, the kind and merciful, has some demanding and not-too-gentle words for his followers today. He anticipated that they would face opposition and be a cause of division, not only in their societies, but even amid their own families.
Jesus wasn’t just speaking to a few special, courageous disciples. The reference to the baptism he anticipates for himself, also hints to us later readers that he is addressing all who have been baptized. In our baptismal ritual each of us has been anointed to be “priest, prophet and royalty.” Jeremiah and Jesus are examples reminding us that living God’s Word has its price and will make disciples unwelcome in the world. The reign of God will be embraced by some and violently opposed by others.
Luke was not talking about some possible, future clash between Jesus’ followers and the world in which they lived. He was depicting the situation the church met from its beginnings: the first Jewish converts were expelled from their synagogues. It must have given the early church comfort to know Jesus anticipated the rejection they met. “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
The disciples need to be ready to meet opposition because of their faith in Jesus. They are to have no illusions that they will enjoy popularity and an accepting embrace. Jesus had defined his mission when he first preached in the synagogue in Capernaum. He had come, he said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “to bring glad tidings to the poor… to proclaim liberty to captives…and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (4: 18 -19). If his disciples preached and acted according to Jesus’ way, they would surely meet opposition from the entrenched, wealthy and powerful. Just as he did. Preaching and acting on behalf of the under-served and neglected and critiquing those who hold power, wealth and cling to traditional ways of acting, would bring division, just as Jesus anticipated.
I have a friend who is a grandmother and celebrates holidays and birthdays with her children and grandchildren. She says about such occasions, “When we sit around the table I just want my kids to get along.” A wish of many parents and grandparents, I’m sure. Today’s passage will not be so comforting to parents who, like my friend, just want their kids “to get along.” Because of the faith of some family members there will be things some won’t be able to discuss at the table, or summer barbecue, without the temperature around the table rising.
In her “Magnificat,” Mary announced what Jesus was now fulfilling, “God has shown might with his arm dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. God has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly” (1:51-52). Those who hold power do not want the equality Jesus brings. They gain from keeping the poor and helpless in their place.
On a larger scale we have seen Jesus’ words come true. For example, during the civil rights movement. John Lewis and freedom marchers were attacked on March 1, 1965 as they peacefully marched for civil rights. As they approached the Edmund Pettis Bridge, in Selma, Alabama, they were attacked by police mounted on horseback with tear gas and clubs. Society did not want to hear about fairness for all people. Many of the freedom marchers were often sustained by preachers like Martin Luther King, Jr, who, in his unique way, preached what Jesus came to proclaim: that God was raising up the lowly. The protesters carried the gospel in their hearts as they marched and experienced the division Jesus predicted. Proving once again that Jesus’ message is good news for the oppressed and distressing news for the comfortable.
Time for some questions. Have we ever had to suffer because of our faith in Jesus? Have we ever experienced conflicts in our relationships with coworkers and even family members? Have our beliefs gotten us rejection, isolation, alienation, or just smirks? Was it because we took a stance on behalf of the poor, immigrants, newcomers, people of other faiths and races? Has a criticism of our society made us outsiders to the mainstream attitudes of those around us? Or, have we just avoided such conflict by not speaking up and acting when we should?
We were anointed as prophets at our baptism. How have we fulfilled that baptismal commission?