Slices
Prepare
Think about the stories in the news headlines today. Some will undoubtedly speak of division and discord. Then turn your eyes to the God who made the world and is above it all.
Bible passage
Not peace but division
49 ‘I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
Interpreting the times
54 He said to the crowd: ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, “It’s going to rain,” and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, “It’s going to be hot,” and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
57 ‘Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.’
Explore
We live in a world that is divided, often unbearably so, and riven with tension, war and conflict – with examples like those which Jesus speaks of in verses 52 and 53. And it might surprise us, but Jesus’ response is not necessarily one of peace (vs 49–51).
Instead, his words point us to a world that is divided between those who follow God and those who don’t. Jesus has come to save people and connect them with God (the ‘baptism’ referred to in verse 50 probably refers to his own suffering and death).
So, the question for us is: do we follow Jesus as our Saviour (see Romans 3:23– 25) in spite of how others judge us? And what does that look like in our divided world? In verses 54,55 and verses 57–59, Jesus gives two examples of people operating with wisdom in their daily interactions. So, too, may we understand Jesus’ words here and know what he is saying to us (v 56). How should we be interpreting our own times?
Respond
Ours is not a world which routinely follows God, and many have not turned to Jesus. Consider how you might share your story of faith in Jesus with someone who doesn’t know him (see https://twowaystolive.com as an example)
Deeper Bible study
‘God of grace and God of glory, / on your people pour your power … Grant us wisdom, / grant us courage / for the facing of this hour.’1
How tragic that the gospel of peace should not bring peace but conflict. Inexorably, Jesus’ final journey takes him to Jerusalem. He knows well the ‘baptism’ (v 50) that awaits him: he will be plunged into torture and pain that will engulf him until death. He knows, too, that his followers will soon face their own baptisms of fire. Their choice to follow him will bring persecution, torture and martyrdom; dividing family, community and nation. Jesus wishes that the fire were already kindled. As a man, contemplating the agony ahead, he wants it over with. He also wants the Christian struggle in the world to begin, so that it too can finally end. That long struggle still continues two thousand years later. Somewhere today, Christians will die for their faith. Somewhere today, a church will be torched. Jesus was indeed born that there might be peace on earth, but it will not happen until he returns to establish the new world order. That we must still await, not sleeping but watching, eager for it but wise about the times we face.
Not yet at Jerusalem, Jesus speaks to a rural crowd, seemingly critical, as if addressing religious leaders. Those leaders will face judgement, but ordinary believers cannot afford complacency. Rural communities could predict the weather but the people, even though they had come to hear him, had not discerned the signs of ‘this present time’ (v 56). Perhaps they had not cared enough about the corruption of their religious leaders. Perhaps they had not discerned that the old religion needed to be renewed from within. Most seriously of all, they had not interpreted Jesus’ signs and words that he was the foretold Messiah and that God’s new kingdom was at hand. Today, church leaders can still err, but that does not excuse other Christians from complacency nor from the struggle to live the values of the kingdom.
Lord of history, help us read these difficult times, to discern right from wrong and to demonstrate the life of your kingdom to a desperate and suffering world.
1 Harry Emerson Fosdick, 1878–1969, ‘God of Grace and God of Glory’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Daniel 1–3; Psalms 132–134
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Claire Baines who has recently taken on the role of Marketing Officer. Pray that she will settle in quickly and will soon be able to make improvements to the ways we promote SU’s resources and events, ensuring even more children and young people can benefit from what SU has to offer.
