Dear Luke,
These are indeed tough passages for
someone sitting on the fence, as you describe yourself. Jesus is advocating urgency, and yet you have
promised to fulfill your search with patience, believing that this will give integrity
to it. I agree with you, and yet I, too,
wonder about urgency. The first
disciples felt a greater urgency than we, for they expected Jesus’ return at
any moment, but in the years that have passed the urgency has faded some. We do not know when Jesus will return, but we
believe it is as he said—we are to live as though he may return at any
moment. I cannot say that it will be
today, or tomorrow, or before I perish.
All I can say is that I believe he will return, and I hope to be counted
as ready when he does. Do not delay your
decision any longer than necessary, but do not let pressure force you into a
decision you are not ready to make. You
have heard the warnings from the mouth of Jesus against unprepared
discipleship. Make sure you are ready to
commit all of your life to Jesus before wandering onto this way of life. Anything else would be foolish.
We have discussed at length how
polarizing Jesus can be. At one moment
he is the picture of love, and then in another he is talking in such a way that
those on the fringes of the crowd would depart believing his message to be far
too harsh. Perhaps it is better that
they do, lest they become a half-hearted disciple, but to only hear the
divisive sayings of Jesus is to get an incomplete picture of the man and the
transforming message that he brings. In
this next instance, Jesus tells the crowd that his purpose of coming involves
bringing fire to the earth, and he even expresses an interest in having it
already there. I get the sense that he
is anxious for the fulfillment of his purpose, for he says that he is under
stress for the baptism he will undergo to be completed. We discussed his baptism some time ago, and
so he clearly indicates another event, a far more trying one that will divide
people, for he tells people that he has not come to bring earth peace, but
instead division. It won’t be just
social groups or friends, but families—fathers and sons, mothers and daughters,
extended family, too. They will be
divided, one against each other, on account of Jesus. It’s hard to picture at first, but it’s no
different than what happens in many families today. When some choose to follow Jesus, their
families will turn their backs on them, casting them out, refusing to associate
with them. Some do this out of anger at
one for turning their back against family tradition, while others do it to
protect their family from those who seek to harm Christians. For whatever reasons, families will fall
apart because of Jesus.
Jesus goes on to tell the crowd to
look around and pay attention. They are
so good at knowing that clouds in the west indicate rain, just as a wind from
the south brings heat, but their readings of the earth and sky leave them
short, for they seem to be unable to see and understand everything that is happening
at the present time. Jesus has given
them enough signs for them to understand exactly what’s going on around them,
but many behave as though they cannot see, not because they can’t, but because
they do not want to. They are not
prepared for everything that Jesus is indicating will happen, and while they
may believe that they can ignore it, Jesus indicates otherwise.
Jesus concludes this section with
an interesting teaching about two people going before a judge. Jesus urges the two people to make peace on
the way, lest the judge allow you to be thrown in prison and forced to pay
every penny. I believe this relates back
to the teachings about being ready—we should settle our disputes now, rather
than put them off, believing that we will be vindicated in the end when we
defeat others. I think Jesus is teaching
us that we need to be focused on God rather than petty things.
Luke, I won’t pretend that I would
have understood all of this had I been in these crowds. I can’t say that I understand it all
now. But I believe Jesus to be the Son
of God, and I trust that all of these things I don’t understand will be sorted
out by him in the end. I trust him. Jesus brings some harsh words, but he does so
because the loves the people so deeply that he wants the best for them, and so
often people have a history of ignoring what’s directly before them and living
with hearts filled with willful ignorance, refusing to believe what some part
of them knows to be right. I don’t want
to try and say that I’m superior to you or smarter than you, I have just seen
all the facts, heard all the stories and chosen to believe. When you have heard all that you need to
hear, may your decision be a faithful one, and may it lead you to the abundant
and true life.
Sincerely,
Theophilus
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