SUMMARY
JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity More describes his purpose to bring judgment to the earth. He calls for a commitment that is so deep and defining that it can create divisions even within families.
ANALYSIS
Conflict and division result from Jesus’ ministry throughout Luke’s Gospel. In these verses Jesus acknowledges that all this controversy is no accident. With images of fire and baptismJesus was baptized (literally, "dipped") in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer, at which time he was acclaimed from heaven as God's Son, the Beloved. Much later baptism became one of the sacraments of the Church, the action by which a person is incorporated... More he announces that his role is to bring judgment to the earth. The kind of commitment that Jesus calls for creates divisions among people, even turning family members against one another. This is dangerous language, for Jesus claims that he will fracture households, which were foundational pieces of the social world of the first century. At the same time, what he says also indicates that Jesus calls for a commitment to him that is so foundational that it makes identification with him more primary than identification with one’s own family unit.
