20th Sunday: Fire and Water

How does the kingdom of God arrive? Not in peace, but in division and strife. The Prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern because he told the king that God would permit the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem. Their response,

"Jeremiah ought to be put to death; he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such things to them; he is not interested in the welfare of our people, but in their ruin." Jer. 38:4-6

 Jeremiah was interested in the truth. For Jeremiah, it was time for the king to negotiate and save his people. No dice! But in the Gospel today, Jesus is not referring to Jeremiah, but to the Prophet Micah, who himself prophesied the coming of the Messiah. Micah prophesied that division would usher in the Messianic age.

“Put no faith in a friend, do not trust a companion; With her who lies in your embrace watch what you say.  For the son belittles his father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and your enemies are members of your household. But as for me, I will look to the LORD, I will wait for God my savior; my God will hear me! Micah 7:5-12

Jesus is purposefully echoing the Messianic prophecy of Micah. What is the purpose? To point to his coming crucifixion. The irony is that Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, didn’t bring peace, but rather division.
 
Fire and Water: The End of the Age
The Book of Genesis tells the story of Noah and the flood. As the flood waters receded, God hung a rainbow in the sky [i]. In that rainbow, we are supposed to see the weapon of the archer’s bow. God hangs up his weapon, that is, his bow and vows never to destroy the world by flood again. The Early Church believed that the world would be destroyed was by fire [ii]. Jesus is preaching the coming fire today.

“Jesus said to his disciples: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Lk. 12

 The fire Jesus refers to is the Holy Spirit. Remember, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost as tongues of fire. Acts 2:3.  
 
Baptism, fire and water
Jesus wants the fire to be kindled and his baptism to be accomplished. He said,

“There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” Lk. 12

 He refers to his baptism, that is, his crucifixion elsewhere in scripture.

“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish [me] to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”  Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”   They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” Mark 10:38-40

 Baptism is a water metaphor for suffering and death. That is why we Catholics understand the sacrament of baptism as a participation in Christ’ baptism at the crucifixion. St. Paul, one of the earliest Christian preachers wrote in his Letter to the Romans,

“What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not !  How can we who died to sin yet live in it ?  Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death ?  We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of lif e.  For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection .  We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.  Rom. 6:1-6.

 In Luke 3:16, John the Baptist refers to Christ and baptism when he refers to his baptism as baptism for the forgiveness of sins. But the Baptist then says,

“John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Lk. 3:16.

Fire burns away the garbage and the Spirit rebuilds, but on a different foundations than nature can offer [iii].
 
Jesus and Micah
Then, Jesus refers back to the Prophet Micah,

“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."

If you want to make an omelets, you have to break some eggs. Fully conscious that he is fulfilling the Prophet Micah, Jesus teaches there is no salvation without tribulation and division. A choice is required; some will choose other than Christ.  There is no resurrection without a cross, no kingdom without tribulation.