Readings:
- Jeremiah 38.4-6, 8-10
Psalm 40.2. 3. 4. 18 Response: “Lord, Come to my aid!” - Hebrews 12.1-4
- Luke 12.49-53
Reflections on the Gospel Reading
This is one of those gospel passages that are just plain difficult to understand. Even the great Joseph A. Fitzmyer begins his commentary by saying: “These words are not easy to interpret.” (1985, 996) Some of the difficulty comes from our lack of acquaintance with customs and vocabulary at the time of Jesus. Other difficulties stem from Jesus’ practice of uttering provocative statements that raised questions without necessarily telegraphing the answers – either for his generation or for ours. With this in mind we gingerly approach three sayings attributed to the Lord concerning fire, baptism, and division.
Fire
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” (NAB)“I came to bring fire to the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!” (NRSV)
Jesus himself very likely uttered these enigmatic words or something very similar. Just what he meant by them is unclear. They seem to reflect a certain disappointment that the hoped for fire is not already blazing. Perhaps, the underlying metaphor was a smelter’s fire that separates metal from dross. In that case Jesus would have been referring to the impending divine judgment that would separate the good from the evil and reveal the justice of God’s ways. Jesus would be expressing his longing for that judgment and his disappointment in its seeming delay.
On the other hand, the underlying metaphor might be a synonym for the spirit of God, also anticipated in the last days. The Prophet Joel declares: “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2.28-29 NRSV is 3.1-2 in the Hebrew text NAB) Earlier in Luke’s gospel John the Baptist denies that he is the Messiah who will “baptize you with the holy spirit and fire.” (Lk 3.17) In the Acts of the Apostles the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples in the upper room in the form of tongues of fire. (Acts 2.1-4)
If Jesus understood his mission as kindling the fire of the Holy Spirit, the saying would also have indicated a certain impatience for the coming of the end times.
Scholars of the social science school of biblical interpretation have offered a third interpretation of this fire. The Aramaic word for “earth” can also be translated “earth oven,” the communal stove of mud or clay found in Mediterranean villages that burned dried dung salted to catalyze its combustion. (See Pilch 1997, 124.) The women of the village would knead dough in the evening, rise early, and go to the communal earth oven to bake their bread for the day. “‘To bring fire to the earth’ refers to lighting an outdoor oven . . . It is an idiom for getting things started, or, as the U.S. idiom has it, ‘start things cooking.’” (Malina & Rohrbaugh 2003, 279)
If this is the metaphor behind Jesus’ saying, he would have been expressing his own enthusiasm for the coming of God’s Kingdom and, perhaps, his disappointment with his inability to “fire up” his followers.
Baptism
“There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” (NAB)“I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” (NRSV)
In this saying the reference to “baptism” seems to be a reference to Jesus’ own suffering and death. It is very close in tone to the question Jesus puts to James and John in Mark’s Gospel after the Sons of Zebedee ask for seats on the right and left in Jesus’ glory: “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Mark 10.38 NAB)
Most likely, Luke, influenced by the developing liturgical traditions of his community, placed this saying in the mouth of Jesus as an amplification and interpretation of the first “fire” saying. “The Church’s additional ‘I saying,’ with its explicit reference to Jesus’ death, will mean that after Easter Jesus’ eschatological message was replaced by the Church’s kerygma [proclamation] of the cross.” (Fuller 1984, 497)
Division
“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (NAB)“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! (NRSV)
The first two sayings reflect Jesus’ own interior feelings. This saying refers to division rather than peace as a consequence of the acceptance of his message. As it stands it seems to contradict other references to peace in Luke’s Gospel. In the infancy narrative Zechariah speaks of the “tender mercy of our God” that will “guide our feet in the way of peace.” (Lk 1.79), and the angels proclaim “peace on earth.” (Lk 2.14) Jesus tells the woman healed of a flow of blood: “Go in peace.” (Lk 8.48), and, according to most manuscripts, the risen Jesus greets his startled disciples with “Peace to you.” (Lk 24.36 See Metzger 1994, 160.)
In this third saying Jesus seems to indicate that the peace he comes to bring is not the peace of easy tranquility but the deeper peace that anchors the soul in the midst of the inevitable conflict that arises from embracing the gospel message. Acceptance of the Kingdom had consequences. It often meant separation from one’s extended family and all the security that institution provided in the ancient world. It meant becoming a member of a community made up of unrelated people from many different social orders. This flew in the face of social custom, and it seems to have provoked rage and retaliation against members of the early Christian community.
This is illustrated by the conflict in an extended family made up of a mother, father, unmarried daughter, married son and his wife living under one roof. The younger generation (three) rebels against the older generation (two). This seems to be an allusion to Micah 7.6. If so, it is an awkward adaptation. In Micah this intergenerational conflict is a sign of the social breakdown and disorder that precedes the coming of the Lord to liberate the People of Israel. The violation of the fourth commandment is part of the darkness before dawn, an illustration that “[t]he faithful have disappeared from the land, and there is no one left who is upright . . . .” (Micah 7.2) In Luke’s hands this saying illustrates the inevitable consequences of choosing to be a member of the Christian community.
Luke’s Message
What is Luke saying by combining these three somewhat disparate sayings and the illustration of the third saying? The whole passage has a sense of urgency. Looking back on the Lord’s inevitable encounter with suffering and death, Luke is encouraging his readers to embrace the suffering that comes with Christian commitment with the same enthusiasm that Jesus had for the coming of God’s Kingdom. It is not a message of redemptive suffering. Rather, it is an illustration of God’s way: No cross, no crown!
The Message for Us
If we come to this gospel reading looking for specific directions or moral guidance, we will be very disappointed. The risen Lord present in the community at prayer challenges us to reflect on whether or not we have embraced the theology of the cross. Is our Christianity too comfortable? Can we even imagine a Christianity that is countercultural? Have we avoided faith decisions that would have had painful consequences? Have we been reluctant to go against the grain of our culture’s consumerism and militarism? Is our worshipping community inclusive?
The risen Lord alive in the worshipping community does not predetermine the answers to such questions, but he certainly urges us to ask them.
In preparing these reflections, in addition to the biblical texts, I consulted the following works:
Fitzmyer 1985 – Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV : Introduction, Translation, and Notes. Anchor Bible Volume 28A. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1985), pp. 993-997.
Fuller 1984 – Reginald H. Fuller, Preaching the Lectionary. The Word of God for the Church Today (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1984), pp. 496-498.
Funk et al. 1993 – Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993), pp. 342-343.
Johnson 1991 – Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke , Sacra Pagina Series Volume 3, A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1991), pp. 207-209.
LaVerdiere 1990 – Eugene, LaVerdiere, S.S.S., Luke. New Testament Message, Volume 5. A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1990), pp. 178-179.
Malina & Rohrbaugh 2003 – Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, Second Edition (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), pp. 279-280.
Metzger 1994 – Bruce M. Metzger, A textual Commentary on the Greek New Testiment, Second Edition (Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1994), p. 160.
NAB = NAB 1990 – Donald Senior, General Editor, The Catholic Study Bible/New American Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990 and Washington: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 1969, 1970, 1986, and 1991)
NRSV = NRSV 1994 – New Revised Standard Version – Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, Editors, The New Oxford Annotated Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. New Revised Standard Version (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)
Pilch 1997 – John J. Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday, Cycle C. A Liturgical Press Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1997), pp. 124-126.