Dearest e-votees-
Rodney King made famous "Can we all just get along?" (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sONfxPCTU0)
Jesus says when he comes it will not bring us all to a peaceful coexistence but rather it will bring about division.
Why does Jesus seem to work towards a different goal than the admirable one lifted up by Rodney?
Peace,
Karl
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49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they 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.”
54 He 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. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
Jesus came to earth to undergo a baptism. He is talking about his death on the cross. By his death the stronghold of sin and death will be broken. Through that death and the subsequent resurrection the powers that be will be dislodged by the powers coming to be. The kingdom of God has irreversibly broken into history through the cross and the empty tomb.
Some will be drawn to the good news of salvation through Jesus on the cross. Others will be repulsed but the cross--because it is foolishness or a stumbling block or too simple or too exclusive or too grotesque or for myriad other reasons. The polar separation will separate families. This has been happening ever since Jesus came onto the scene. Jesus came into this world knowing that his coming would manifest itself in division. He speaks that plainly. He knows how to read the appearances of the time.
Jesus' desire is for reconciliation. That is why he speaks of the prodigal son being received back by his father. That is why he speaks of the shepherd leaving the herd to go after the lost sheep. It is why he laments of Jerusalem the city he wished he could gather like a hen gathers her brood but they were unwilling. Jesus longs for reconciliation with the Father through him but he will not coerce it.
The son had to come to a place of destitution and repentance before the Father could welcome him back home. The hard side of free will is that perhaps we can be persistent enough to fully reject God's grace. But Jesus' heart toward us doesn't change. Jesus wants us to get along. But Jesus knows the difference between unrealized desire and reality. He speaks that plainly. He knows how to read the present time.
God continue to draw us under your protective wings. Give us hearts that long to be reconciled to you. Give us feet and mouths and energies to reach out to others that they might be reconciled to you through the good news of Jesus' baptism on the cross. Amen.
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