Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53
“I have come to set the earth on fire.”
In our gospel this weekend Jesus says, “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 baptised, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Friends, these are strong words and I believe we want Jesus as someone who would avoid using such strong and powerful words. We prefer to think of him exclusively as the kind and gentle Good Shepherd. He is that, of course, but he is also this fierce and even ferocious figure who leaps off the pages of the gospel, surprising us, maybe even shocking us a bit. We come across Jesus who is uncompromising, demanding, at times even a little bit frightening.
I see there are three things that emerge from the reading, namely, the fire, the baptism and the division. Firstly, what is this fire that Jesus wants to light on this earth? John the Baptist said, “I baptise you with water but there is one coming after me who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit enters that upper room where the disciples are gathered he manifests himself with the sound of the wind and also in the tongues of fire. Fire is the great New Testament symbol for the Holy Spirit. That’s what Christ has come to light on the earth. The Holy Spirit is the mutual love between the Father and the Son. Jesus of Nazareth is not just an ethical teacher or a moral guru. Not just someone who comes with words of moral wisdom. Rather, Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He comes as a representative from the inner life of God and his mission is to draw all of us into that very divine life. He has come to light the fire of the Holy Spirit on the earth the fire of sanctification and holiness. When we are lit with this fire we can love not just in ordinary sense but we can love with the very love of God even to the extent of loving our enemies.
Secondly, what is this baptism that Jesus has to undergo? What it means in the gospels is the Cross. It is the baptism of pain and suffering that Jesus goes under the waters of death. Jesus came in order to die. This is the baptism that he must undergo. This is the will of the Father that he must fulfil. Only when he undergoes this baptism can the fire be released. Jesus chooses to enter into every sphere of life so that every sphere can be enveloped into divine life. It is because of the Cross that the fire of the love is unleashed. We are able to live this very life of God because Jesus underwent this baptism.
Finally, what’s the result of this division? Jesus says, ‘Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.’ Strange words aren’t they from the loving compassionate Christ? Well, as true disciples of Christ and as bearers of this fire and people who are on fire with the very life of God, so long as we are true to our mission we will be annoying and divisive. One of the authentic signs that we are truly living divine life is that we will become unpopular. If you truly wish to walk the way of love you will become a sign of contradiction. Being a Christian, then, is daring to entrust oneself to this burning fire.