The Type of Division Jesus Came to Sew

Aside from His teaching on His Eucharistic flesh, these words of Jesus must be among the most difficult to comprehend—and most misunderstood—in all the Gospels. Is not Our Lord known to us as the “Prince of Peace”? How can He contradict His very essence by now proclaiming to “establish division” on earth? Furthermore, why would He do such a thing? Jesus’ words are also often misunderstood because for those of us who disagree with others on matters of faith and religion, we can be tempted to take His teaching as license to argue, cut ties with, or, most egregious of all, persecute the ones who do not accept the Faith.

Of course, we know that Jesus does not intend for us to mistreat our neighbor. His primary command is that we love. In fact, if we were to define our religion by a single word, “love” is precisely the one that would sum it all up. We obey for love, we serve for love, we live for love, we die for love . . .  all so that we can be with Love, eternally in heaven. Everything else about our Faith is wrapped up within this single defining word: every joy, every suffering, every sorrow, every sacrifice, every act of mercy, every act of forgiveness, every act of gratitude—all of it falls under the umbrella of love. So, if this is the case, how does division fit into Christ’s concept of love? 

We understand that if we want to place ourselves in a disposition to receive the grace of God’s peace, then the “surest, quickest” way is to simply offer Christ’s peace to others. In fact, this is precisely what Jesus tells His disciples to do first, before even speaking to others about Christianity as the one, true Faith.

So we must understand that the kind of division Jesus describes within the members of one’s own household is not the kind that occurs, for example, between two people who cannot see eye to eye at the Thanksgiving dinner table when it comes to politics. We do not “divide” with others in the sense of getting up and leaving in an impassioned fury, vowing to rid ourselves of those who exasperate us. Did Jesus ever behave this way? It is true, He called a spade a spade when necessary—even daring to point out to the religious leaders their own hypocrisy. But as much as they were against Jesus, Jesus Himself was not against them. He loved them, just as surely as He loved His followers.

So, when Jesus tells us that from now on our households will be divided, He is not suggesting we cut ties with our family altogether and hang around only the people whom we like better instead. Of course, it could seem to us that many of Jesus’ disciples did just this when they left their families behind in favor of the life of community with each other. But the truth is, they did not leave their families because they were angry, or because they were exasperated and could not stand them anymore, or because they stopped speaking to them as a result of grudge-holding resentment. They left their families for the vocation to which they were called: that of love. We can imagine that it would have pained the disciples to leave the family members who chose not to join them. Nothing could have caused them greater suffering than to witness the ones they loved reject Love itself. 

So for what purpose does Jesus warn the disciples of divided households, if not to prepare them for a fight? Well, the kind of “fight” Jesus is preparing them for is one that would not be “against” the people they love. It would be a fight for them and their souls! They were to be soldiers fighting for the kingdom of God. And in this kind of battle, they would not be using earthly weapons of persecution and the sword; their weapons would be prayer, sacrifice, and greater love.

What does fighting “for” love look like in a divided household? For a heart that is open, it honestly does not take much to bring peace to such a soul. All it takes is for us to offer it. So before we imagine scenarios in which they will “never” listen . . . can we at least try? This is what Jesus advises, and, of course, we can trust that He knows best.

The hard truth is that some people will not wake up to the reality of their sinfulness, despite our efforts to offer peace. Some people—even in our own households—will reject peace itself. It is this division of which Christ speaks. In cases such as these, what would Jesus have us do?

Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. (Mt. 10:14)

For those who will not accept the peace of Christ that we offer, Jesus would have us . . . leave. This is the “division” that Jesus came to establish. But it is not a division of hatred and anger. It is indeed a division that elicits sorrow in our hearts.

But it is here that Jesus is brilliant. Why? Because the sorrow which we experience in letting our loved ones go is intended to be the very offering—united to the Cross—that has the power to redeem them! Our division from others, then, is a call for us to stop nagging, cajoling, debating, or convincing, but to surrender these relationships to the Lord with all the trust that we can muster! Just as it was the faith of the friends that procured the miracle which healed and saved the paralytic (Mk. 2:5), so too by our trust and our love, Jesus can heal and save our divided families as well.

Let us, then, remove ourselves from fruitless arguments about religion. If others do not want anything from us right now—including the peace that we have to offer—then let us simply offer our sorrow to the Lord instead, in the silence of our hearts. And let us remember, sorrow is not synonymous with anxiety or anger. Jesus promises that if our sorrow over the division in our families is the result of separating ourselves from angry, unloving disputes, then His peace will always return to our hearts. 

Author’s Note: Excerpt from: The Safe Haven: Scriptural Reflections for the Heart and Home (Ordinary Time Weeks 15-21). To purchase, visit Amazon or The Catholic Company, where all other volumes currently in print are also available. 

Image from Wikimedia Commons