Too blessed to be stressed – Thursday, 29^th Week in ordinary time – Lk 12:49-53

This one knocked me off my feet; the Lord no less is stressed! And he seems really stressed for he exclaims, “What stress I am under”. It seems like the challenges of the modern age also resonated two thousand years ago. So what got our good Jesus so wound up?

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem and we were given an insight into his disposition. At the end of his Galilean ministry, Luke tells us that Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51). For Jesus there is no looking back on his calling to the cross. He is resolute in his decision.

Scripture tells us that Jesus was like us in all things but sin so quite clearly he was not exempted from stress, which he so readily admits to. The Greek word for stress mentioned in this text is ‘synecho’ which translates as a distress or a feeling of being squeezed or pressed in. Jesus understands fully the consequences of this resolute march to Jerusalem which he must complete.

However it is not only the Lord who walks resolutely to Jerusalem but even the disciples will have to make this long march. Following Jesus is no walk in the park. The disciple will have to make a clear choice for Jesus who is bound to set them against their own family and friends.