“I came to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish that it was already ablaze! I have a baptism I must experience. How I am distressed until it’s completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I have come instead to bring division. From now on, a household of five will be divided—three against two and two against three. Father will square off against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud forming in the west, you immediately say, ‘It’s going to rain.’ And indeed it does. And when a south wind blows, you say, ‘A heat wave is coming.’ And it does. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret conditions on earth and in the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:49-56, CEB)
Jesus, according to what He says here, did not come to bring peace, but fire and division.
He came to put family member against family member. I take this to mean that people who follow Jesus will be at odds with those who think following God means something different and do not see their family member as actually following Jesus.
I had a conversation with a friend who wanted to talk about my understanding of LGBTQIA+2S people in the bible, because their family still thought that was a sin and needed to be dealt with. This is what Jesus means, to me, family member against family member. And here there is no peace, as my friend is part of the LGBTQIA+2S community. They are loved by their family, but there is still tension.
Oh, for Jesus to reign fire and bring the kingdom, but we do not all see face to face yet. We do not all get it.
aSacredRebel 