Have you been puzzled by the paradoxical nature in Christology? Like Jesus being peace-bringer and division-bringer? Wondering how these two character can co-exist in one being.
If we try to understand Jesus with the paradigm of dualism, we will get stuck in the paradox, left in confusion.
That was the case with the Gospel reading for the 20th Sunday (Cycle C): Luke 12:49-53.
On the other hand, if we try to understand Jesus with the focus on the meaning of his mission as revealed toward the eschaton, we will rather appreciate Christological paradox.
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As I teach the Scriptures, I have noticed that many found the Gospel narrative of Luke 12:49-53 (20th Sunday, Cycle C) very difficult to understand. Even they attended Mass and listened to homilies on this Gospel narrative, many are still feeling unsettled with the fact that Jesus will divide us. It is mainly because Jesus explicitly declares that he has come to bring divisions among us, not to establish peace on earth, in the Gospel narrative.
If we try to understand Jesus with the paradigm of dualism, we will get stuck in the paradox, left in confusion.
That was the case with the Gospel reading for the 20th Sunday (Cycle C): Luke 12:49-53.
On the other hand, if we try to understand Jesus with the focus on the meaning of his mission as revealed toward the eschaton, we will rather appreciate Christological paradox.
******
As I teach the Scriptures, I have noticed that many found the Gospel narrative of Luke 12:49-53 (20th Sunday, Cycle C) very difficult to understand. Even they attended Mass and listened to homilies on this Gospel narrative, many are still feeling unsettled with the fact that Jesus will divide us. It is mainly because Jesus explicitly declares that he has come to bring divisions among us, not to establish peace on earth, in the Gospel narrative.
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.
The above words of Jesus from Luke 12:51-53 sound contrary
to our Christological image as the Prince of Peace, as prophesized more than
600 years prior to his birth (Isaiah 6:9). Then, when Jesus was born, a company
of heavenly host with the angel announced, “On
earth peace to those on whom Christ’s favor rests” (Luke 2:14).
Furthermore, it was Jesus himself to offer peace, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”, during the Last
Supper (John 14:27), and again, on the evening of his Resurrection, Jesus
offered peace to his disciples twice to turn their fear into joy (John
20:19.21).
So how can we reconcile Jesus as Prince of Peace and
Jesus as a cause of division to really understand what Jesus meant by bringing
division?
Of course, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not a prince of division. However, as we also acknowledge that Christ will come to bring the judgement at the eschaton in professing both in the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. This truth is also found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (678-682) and is ultimately envisioned in Revelation 20:11-15.
Of course, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not a prince of division. However, as we also acknowledge that Christ will come to bring the judgement at the eschaton in professing both in the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. This truth is also found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (678-682) and is ultimately envisioned in Revelation 20:11-15.
In fact, elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus calls our
attention to possible divisions that his truth may cause, signaling the final
judgement at the eschaton that he
will bring. For example, in Matthew 13: 24-30, Jesus spoke of the separate the
wheat and the weeds in the harvest time. In fact, before Jesus began his public
ministry, it was John the Baptist indicating that Jesus as the dividing judge,
saying:
He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his
hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but
the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:11-12
And Jesus himself says of himself in regard to the
final judgement:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:31-34
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:31-34
In this, Jesus makes it clear that he as the Good
Shepherd will separate sheep from goats, taking only his sheep with him. It
means that Jesus takes only those who follow him to the Kingdom when he returns
to judge at the end of time.
Yes, Jesus gives us peace as the Prince of Peace.
However, he also divides and separates as the Judge. It is because he wants to
assure peace in the Kingdom. For this, he has to make sure that those who are
not in peace with him will be separated from those who are in peace with him.
For this separation, Jesus must come to divide.
Perhaps, it is easier to see this seemingly
paradoxical peace-and-division character of Jesus with a metaphor of bag of
apples.
When you see rotting ones among apples in a bag, what will you do? I am sure you will take the rotting ones out of the bag and throw them away. You will do this separation, dividing edible apples and rotting apples. What if you did not divide and separate? The rotting apples would spoil all apples in the bag in a matter of time.
When you see rotting ones among apples in a bag, what will you do? I am sure you will take the rotting ones out of the bag and throw them away. You will do this separation, dividing edible apples and rotting apples. What if you did not divide and separate? The rotting apples would spoil all apples in the bag in a matter of time.
Think of the Kingdom as a bag of apples.
No rotten apple will be allowed.
Jesus must come to divide us in order to separate the
faithful from the unfaithful because the latter do not belong to his Kingdom –
just as rotting apples should not be in a bag of apples. This way, Jesus can
ensure peace and purity in the Kingdom.
The peace that Jesus brings will be secured in heaven’s
purity as reflected in the below Psalm verses:
Glorify
the Lord, Jerusalem; Zion, offer praise to your God, who has strengthened the
bars of your gates, blessed your children within you, brought peace to your
borders, and filled you with finest wheat (Psalm 147:12-14).
For those who believe in Jesus the Christ, “Jerusalem” in Psalms rather means the heavenly Jerusalem, namely, the Kingdom to come, the Kingdom that the faithful will be. In this Kingdom, there is peace through purity, because only those who are spiritually clean and pure (i.e. Revelation 3:5), according to the truth in his teaching, are allowed. And their names are found in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15, 21:27, 22:19).
Yes, Jesus offers us his peace as the Prince of Peace. To assure his peace to us, he must also be the Judge to divide good and evil, pure and impure. In his Kingdom, these cannot co-exist, unlike in this world. Jesus must be the Judge in order to be the Prince of Peace.
For those who believe in Jesus the Christ, “Jerusalem” in Psalms rather means the heavenly Jerusalem, namely, the Kingdom to come, the Kingdom that the faithful will be. In this Kingdom, there is peace through purity, because only those who are spiritually clean and pure (i.e. Revelation 3:5), according to the truth in his teaching, are allowed. And their names are found in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15, 21:27, 22:19).
Yes, Jesus offers us his peace as the Prince of Peace. To assure his peace to us, he must also be the Judge to divide good and evil, pure and impure. In his Kingdom, these cannot co-exist, unlike in this world. Jesus must be the Judge in order to be the Prince of Peace.
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