Luke 12:49-56

Everyone can have a bad day.  The Chicago Cubs, so the old observation goes, have had a bad century.  So we should give Jesus a little space to have a bad eight verses.  These are the verses that seminary preaching professors love to assign to anxious preaching students.  These are the verses that baffle and have us reconsidering this whole Jesus thing.

“Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth?”  Well, yes, in fact I do.  So what gives?  Am I wrong to believe this about Jesus?  Many in our world today delight in this question and practically shout with joy at Jesus’s answer: “No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Before my mind wanders to all the great divisions in our world today I pause with this observation shared by many through the centuries:  Divisions will happen when someone is trying to do something good.  The people who side with violence and division don’t want to have anyone like Jesus mess up their plans and they won’t give in quietly. Not everyone is happy when love abounds.  When we stand up for something we will be a target from such forces.

So we see Jesus a bit perturbed speaking this truth.  And we’re seeing him at a deeper level, without all the niceties that so often smooth the edges of the Christian message.  To be honest, it is good to see Jesus unplugged every once in a while.