The Problem of the Passive Aggressive Jesus

Not Peace, but Division

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

- Luke 12:49-53

In Luke 12, as Jesus gets closer and closer to his impending suffering and death, he shares passionate and even startling words. At the end of this chapter, Christ cautions his disciples and the crowd with the consequences of his coming.

I don’t know about you, but these words aren’t what I would expect from the gentle, meek, patient Jesus we read about throughout scriptures. But our finite minds quickly try to put Jesus in a worldly box. In Luke 12, Jesus shows us that meekness and passion are not mutually exclusive. He shows us that when it comes to salvation, his sacrifice, and his return - he means business.

In verses 49 through 53, Jesus talks of the fire he has brought to earth. Throughout scripture, fire refers to God’s wrath or judgment. He then foreshadows his coming suffering as a baptism, noting that his impending suffering will be like a baptism of God’s wrath. He then says that he comes for division not peace, that even families will be divided as a result of his coming.

Now throughout scripture we see that Jesus brings peace:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

- John 14:27

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

- John 16:33

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

- Matthew 5:9

Certainly our God is one of peace, Jesus isn’t contradicting himself here. Yes he has come to bring peace - but a peace that comes from him.

We seek that divine peace above the shallow definitions of peace that the world gives us.

In Luke 12, Jesus is pointing out that because he has come to give the one way back to salvation through him, everyone has access to peace - but not everyone will accept it.

Therefore, there will be division, not the worldly, hateful kind of division, but a righteous acknowledgment that we won’t water down our faith or gospel to keep a worldly, passive-aggressive kind of peace. Instead, we will preach truth in love because we have the peace of Jesus. We won’t worship the approval of others or comfortability around the dinner table.

All too often we make Jesus palatable to the gospel we want to hear. We turn him into whatever we need him to be to maintain the lifestyle we desire.

In Luke 12, we see the real Jesus. A Savior full of radical love and peace, but love and peace that isn’t afraid of truth. A love and peace that is willing to have the hard conversation, to stand up for what is right, to sit with the outcast, to engage in comfortability for the sake of the gospel.

So today, the Lord is speaking through Luke 12 to you. It might not be the light-hearted pick-me-up that you’re looking for, but it’s the truth of Jesus - the God of peace, but also the God of truth.

Jesus is inviting you to respond to his arrival and his offering of salvation and peace. When you do, that will make you different.

That will, at times, even cause division because you don’t follow the ways of the world. But ultimately, when you seek first his kingdom, as he advises just a few verses earlier, you will experience eternal joy with him.

Our Jesus wasn’t passive-aggressive. His kind of peace didn’t mean holding his tongue when truth needed to be spoken. His kind of peace means that, in love, some behavior, or conversations, or relationships might have to change.

Where is God inviting you to have the kind of passion He did? Where is He inviting you, in love, to challenge the lukewarm nature of our world? Where is He inviting you to be different, maybe even to divide, for the sake of His gospel?

I pray for wisdom for you. Let’s love like Jesus. But let’s also stand up for truth, just as he did for us on the cross.

Cristina Schmitter

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