v. 49-53 Jesus said "I have come to bring fire on earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 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."
He knew what He had to do on the cross and it sounds like He was ready for that part to be over with. The physical pain He knew would be great, but I think what was even worse was the spirit separation from God. Jesus said that He had a baptism to undergo which He was already baptized by John in the river earlier. It almost sounds like that we undergo a second baptism when we die to go be with Jesus since His second baptism was Him dying. We will undergo a massive change leaving here. Maybe I'm wrong, but I never really thought about that before. I love reading the bible because even if I have read something many times before I am amazed how things jump off the page for what I am dealing with in the present moment. It's as if it was hidden before and has now been unlocked for me to see.
I did not go to church much growing up, but I never heard that Jesus was hear for anything else other than peace. Jesus said He came for division. I believe since this is so huge that it will divide people across the world and even in their own homes. The battle lines are drawn we just have to figure out which side we are on. Jesus expects a decision to be made for each person so that will cause conflict if all in one family do not believe in the same thing. There is no middle ground. In our world it is pushed to think that there is no one right way for anything. Lukewarm equals acceptable. God's economy is different from ours. Are you willing to risk family and friends approval in order to follow God? Many have been separated from everyone they know, but now they have a new eternal family that is a comfort. Every person who follows Jesus is part of one big family. It does not matter what you look like or where you are. You are not alone in this world. When you are a world outcast then you might be doing something right in the Kingdom. There are many that pray daily for all believers. So just think, somewhere in the world someone is praying for you today! It's that wonderful?
Did you ladies realize at the end of those verses the uneven amount of women against women compared to the guys? Not only mothers and daughters against each other, but MIL and DIL against each other. Jesus expects division based on our ability to choose whether we will follow Him. The enemy creates division to keep anyone from choosing Jesus. He knows that is we keep busy fighting we will never really grow in God.
v. 54-59 Jesus told the people that they were good at forecasting the weather, but failed at interpreting the present time. "Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."
For the longest time most of the world's occupation had been farmers. They knew to keep an eye on the weather because their job depended on it. Yet, they could not see the most important thing in all of history. Today we have all this knowledge and yet many do not choose to follow God. There are an insane amount of law suits that could be avoided if people chose a different path. Don't get me wrong, there are real reasons for some lawsuits. Although some seem completely out of control. The amount of anger in society is scary. The world seems to be ok with it, it will only get worse the closer we get to the second coming of Jesus. The act of forgiving is as if it were in a fairy tale. Something people did long ago. It is the key to open the door to healing.
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