The Jesus who divides

"Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on, a household of five will be divided: three against two, and two against three; father opposed to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53)

... Jesus doesn't divide because he's divided in himself. He simply shows up the way in which people are torn apart. He reveals that apparently harmonious families only seem to hold together, that their members have conformed to one another not out of love but out of convenience. But a great deal of aggression has accumulated behind this conformity which rips the family apart internally. Jesus speaks in a provocative way so that everyone can decide for him or against him, so that all can decide on the way that God entrusts to them, so that all can come to life on their own authentically personal ways...

But yet another aspect of the Jesus who divides is important to me: many people haven't ever decided what course to take... They do what others expect of them. Jesus challenges us to seek our own way and to discover our own self. That can happen only if we distance ourselves from the wishes of others...
It's only when I stand on my own feet that I can really communicate in freedom with my fellow men and women. Only then can encounter take place. As long as we're entangled with one another and the demarcation lines aren't clear, we can't recognize either the mystery of the other or our own identity. Jesus wants encounters between mature people, independent people. And that first requires division, distancing, detachment. That's the only way to a fruitful relationship.

From "Through the Year with Jesus", by Anselm Grün