49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other!52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.
53 ‘Father will be divided against son
and son against father;
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”
54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.
57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 When you are on the way to court with your accuser, try to settle the matter before you get there. Otherwise, your accuser may drag you before the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, who will throw you into prison. 59 And if that happens, you won’t be free again until you have paid the very last penny.”
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Two things Jesus says in this passage that strike me:
1. “I have come to divide people against each other.”
2. We must know how to interpret the times.
Together, these simply say to me that we can be lazy regarding our faith. if we really take our faith seriously, it could be divisive, even in our family. I don’t think it relates to doctrinal differences. It’s more seeking to understand the issues of our day, i.e., for one thing, the threat of Islam, and for another, the culturalization of the church. We are simply asked to interpret our times, not just in reference to Christ’s return, but mostly to see where and how God is at work in our world.