Luke 12:49-53
⁴⁹”I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!
⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
⁵¹Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵²for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.
⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
In other words:
Jesus said I have come to bring fire to earth how I would like the fire to burn already!
I will have to suffer terribly. And how I wish it had already happened!
Do you think I came to bring peace to the earth? No, I don’t bring peace at all. Because of me people become enemies of each other. From now on, there will be arguments in every family.
Fathers and sons will argue with each other.
Mothers and daughters will argue with each other.
And mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law also will argue with each other.
Peace on earth? This does not look like it.
Forget it, because of Jesus people become enemies of each other.
Does Jesus then cause arguements? Is Jesus then a brawler?
No, absolutely not, but He knew that people who do not want anything to do with Him were going to behave hostile, against people who belong to Him, even within their own family.
That is what Jesus said here. (What do you experience of this in your own life?)
Jesus knew that His message, His conduct, and His influence would cause controversy.
In a world that has established and implemented its own rules and plans without the Lord, people clash with Him, and with those who follow Him.
He therefore calls the effect of His preaching and His life practice a fire that he brought to world (Luke 12:49).
We must first and foremost view this fire as an indication of the judgment of the Lord. A consuming fire.
Jesus’ coming divides. And those who willfully and willingly refuse to repent will be consumed by this fire (Compare Acts 5:1-11).
But the thought of purification and a purifying fire also plays a role in these words (See also Luke 3: 15-17).
This is how it purifies the lives of us Christians (Psalms 66:10, 1 Peter 1: 6-7, See also 2 Corinthians 7.1)
Belief in the sacrifice of Jesus will cleanse us from all half-heartedness, doubt, unbelief, and everything else that hinders our fertility before God.
Living out of faith is a life of surrendering and cleansing!
The specialty in it is that Jesus Himself not only brings judgment, but also undergoes it Himself.
He calls it a baptism, a picture of his suffering and dying.
As the judge, He himself goes under the blaze of judgment for us (Luke 12:50, Isaiah 53:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Evidently there was an expectation among the disciples that Jesus would establish the messianic kingdom of peace at His first coming. Jesus contradicts that expectation here.
His arrival does not immediately bring a situation of salvation and peace to the world.
Peace comes through struggle and suffering.
The ways of people divide with Jesus. We see that even within families (Luke 12:51-53). And anyone who has chosen to follow Jesus knows that the choice for God is a profound and radical event in a person’s life (Compare Joshua 24:15), and that not everyone is happy with the choice you made.
Of course we are called to continue to love those who are against us because we are Christians.
After all, the Lord loved us even when we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8-11)
Also, for those who do not love us, because we confess Jesus as our savior, let us be like instruments in God’s hand.
Prayer suggestion:
▪︎ Ask God to make you a blessing in all your relationships.
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