"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 baptized, 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. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." (Lk 12:49-53)
Jesus the prince of peace and who came into the world to bring peace throws into the mind of the people a crisis situation. He presents himself as the prince of division. The message of Jesus is going to split families. The warning about division in the family seems a quotation from Micah 7:6.(For the son dishonors his father, the daughter rises up against her mother, The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies are those of his household.) The imminent crisis proposes ‘complete trust in God’ as the only way out.
The crisis which Jesus is talking about, and that which is fast approaching, is going to challenge him personally. Jesus himself will have to face it. He will be the centre of that crisis. That is the baptism with which he has to be baptized. Jesus wants to go towards this challenge and he is ready to face it himself.
The division that is happening at this time is due to the crisis that is round the corner. People are challenged with a decision. A decision which that have to make. Choice is left to them. They have to be like Jesus and be ready to face the crisis or succumb to it. At this the families get divided and people become groups. Choice is whether they are for the kingdom of God or for the world.
