"I have come to bring fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what anguish I feel until it is finished!" - Luke 12:49-50
(I have come to bring fire. Must we think of fire as referring to something precise such as love, the Gospel or the gift of the Holy Spirit? It is better to stay with the image of fire that purifies, burns all that is old, gives warmth and fosters life; fire of the judgment of GOD destroying all that is not surrendered to its reforming action.
JESUS comes to remake the world and to bring the jewels that will remain for eternity out of the rubble. Those who follow JESUS must participate in this work of salvation directed at a situation combining work, violence, suffering as well as great dreams wise or mad.
I have a baptism to undergo... JESUS is the leader and will be the first one to face death as a means of obtaining resurrection. This step, as 'agonizing' for JESUS as it is for us, is the baptism of fire [see Luke 3:16] that introduces us into a glorious and eternal life. It is the true baptism of which the others, baptisms of water and Spirit, are only a preparation [Romans 6:3-5].)
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