Light and darkness never sit comfortably in the same room. This is why Jesus makes a strong, shocking statement: “Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51). Oppositions and divisions are common within families and in communities. Naturally, when we embrace a new set of values, we come across people whose values are opposed to ours. Consequently, there is a clash of values leading to division and opposition. Should we be worried when we face all kinds of opposition for the sake of truth? No. We should rather be more worried and disturbed if everyone sings our praises. Jesus is not contradicting the fact that he is the Prince of peace; rather, he is warning that true peace comes with the price of truth. His message is bound to bring division between what is true and false, honesty from hypocrisy, light from darkness. Put simply, his good news is a disturber of false peace. He unsettles the comfortable and comforts the unsettled. Families may argue, not over football teams or who ate the last piece of suya, but over loyalty to him. Jesus is like a spiritual electrician; he came not to keep everything dim and cosy, but to rewire our lives so that the light switch is either ON or OFF. No room for half-current Christianity! So yes, Jesus brings division, but not the petty kind. His “division” is the holy line between living a life of compromise and standing ready, lamp in hand, when the Master knocks. In the light of Jesus’ unsettling message, where in my own life do I need to stop settling for ‘half-current Christianity’ and make a decisive choice for the truth? _________________ Luke 12:49-53; Thursday, 29th Week