Wrath

[Jesus said:] "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
   father against son
     and son against father,
   mother against daughter
     and daughter against mother,
   mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
     and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

Luke 12:49-56

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834

TURNER, J. M. W. (Joseph Mallord William)

1834-1835

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

United States

Turner witnessed the fire that burnt down most of the Palace of Westminster on 16 October 1834. He made a watercolour sketch at the time, which he then used as the basis of several larger paintings. As well as this one, he also painted a more distant view with the same title (now at the Cleveland Museum of Art) and The Burning of the Houses of Parliament (Tate Gallery).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Turner-The_Burning_of_the_Houses_of_Lords_and_Commons.jpg

http://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/580/flashcards/1131580/png/burning_the_houses_of_lords_and_commons1332281143232.png

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" How Jesus' words in the twelfth chapter of Luke disturb us -- and the Jeremiad accompanying these words deepen the strength of God's wrath. The Psalmist follows with further reminders: "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

In this painting by JMW Turner, it is not fruit orchards or grape vines laid to waste, but an urban structure that was the seat of power in 19th century London. The fire began as a result of the disposal of older, worm-eaten logs of wood, stuffed into the furnaces that fed the heated comfort enjoyed by the Parliamentarians. Rather than give the less desirable wood to the indigent, underpaid workers and their families who lived in the recesses of the London streets, the employees at Parliament were told to dispose of it otherwise, for fear that Parliament would be criticized for their own extravagant use of fuel. The disposal resulted in an overheating of the Parliament systems, the resulting firestorm burning not only the Houses of Parliament but the very sections of the city that gave quarter to the poor.

The words of scripture for this week represent the prophetic call to right ourselves, to be alert, to understand what really matters and act upon it.

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20130815146942138&code=ACT&RC=54219&Row=1