"Conflict" is a dirty word in most churches. As Christians, we seek to avoid it at all costs and do so in the name of Christian love. We call it, "seeking the peace, unity and purity" of the church.

And then Jesus comes along and says, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34)," or as Luke has it, "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" The words send us scurrying for explanations to reduce their caustic effect.

But who is this whose words intrude into our quiet worship, disturbing our Sabbath rest?

It is Jesus the outlaw! A law breaker! A radical and a revolutionary!

If we take off the rose colored glasses of traditional piety, Jesus stands before us in the gospel narratives as one who, when someone needed to be healed, ignored the Sabb…