I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
There was a close connection between fire and baptism, about which John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (see Luke 3:16).
We also know that Jesus considered his own impending death to be a sort of baptism, having asked James and John, "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" (see Mark 10:38). There were a way in which the cross was an immersion into the very depths and to which the Holy Spirit and resurrection was, for Jesus, an inevitable response. Just as at his own baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove so at his cross did the Spirit flow out of him as water from his pierced side.
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
It seems that what Jesus was anxious to do was to share this fiery fruit of his resurrected life with those who would believe in him. He knew that this offer would be a cause of deep division even among families. But he had hope that it would eventually give rise to a deeper unity, the unity of the "Holy Spirit in the bond of peace" (see Ephesians 4:3). He knew that his offer of life made division inevitable, but also that it need only be temporary. He was eager to move through the unavoidable difficult times, which he himself did not desire for their own sake, for the good things that awaited.
We see in his mention of division a reference to the prophet Micah:
For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies are the members of his own household (see Micah 7:6).
The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture mentions that this passage comes just before Micah goes on to describe the "regathering and restoration (Mic 7:12–15)" of Israel. It was likely this eventuality for which Jesus hoped with eagerness, and for which he labored in anguish until it was accomplished. We live in an era of already/not yet, the age of the Church in which the Spirit himself has been poured out like fire on all of the faithful. Yet we live in an age when Jesus is still divisive. But we must not avoid divisiveness simply because it is unpleasant. We must take our cue from Jesus pushed through the unavoidable negative for the sake of something better on the far side.
We should seek the fire of the Holy Spirit for ourselves and for others here and now, because it is in this way alone that we can be transformed and perfected before God. If we resist and withstand this offer long enough the only fire that will remain is that of judgment. Jesus himself was so eager to work while it was still time to work precisely to save as many as would come to him. And we are meant to share his heart. Paul did, which we can see from the fact that he was so eager to share what he himself had discovered with those who would hear his words.
For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gadenz, Pablo T.. The Gospel of Luke (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) (p. 248). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. "
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