Division in the Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples: “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.” (Luke (NAB) 12:49-51)
Jesus taught about forgiving others and loving our enemies, so why did Jesus say that He has come to establish division on earth?
Jesus’ words make sense when we come to understand that division, even within the family, results from following Christ and putting God above everything else.
In the same token, Jesus said to the multitude that was following Him:
- “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew (RSV) 10:37)
- “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke (RSV) 14:26)
What are followers of Christ faced against? They are faced against the world. In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John (RSV) 17:16-18)
The world that decided a mother’s womb is no longer a safe place for the unborn child; it decided that Jesus’ teaching against adultery no longer matters (Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12); it decided that the bible’s condemnation against disordered sexual behavior is outdated (Genesis 18, 19; Leviticus 18:22, 20:13; Judges 19; 1 Kings 14, 15; Isaiah 1:10; 3:8-9; Romans 1:25-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:19; Colossians 3:5; 2 Peter 2:6-10; Jude 1:7).
Many have decided that it is better to leave people be and avoid controversial issues in order to keep peace. But this silence has misled others to believe that God is “okay” with sinful behavior. If you think that God has changed his commandments in order to suit man’s taste, then ask this question: When did man become the Master and God his servant?
How should we understand what Jesus said to Peter: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew (RSV) 16:19) When a Master gives keys to someone, he is appointing that someone to be a steward of his property. The steward is responsible for maintaining the Master’s household and in enforcing the Master’s rules. Therefore, one thing we can be sure of, Peter and his successors were not meant to change the precepts of Christ or the Gospel. Rather, the binding and loosing is connected with Jesus imparting to his apostles the power to forgive sins; Jesus said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John (RSV) 20:23). More than anything else, the binding and loosing has to do with the apostolic authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. (CCC1444)
Those who follow Christ and speak the truth have a price to pay. They are ridiculed as being behind the times, labeled as being judgmental, holier than thou, even labeled as haters and bigots. But their consolation is Christ Himself. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18).