Click here for the Luke 12:49-53 PODCAST
49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They 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.” ~ Luke 12:49-53
Fire has long been known to be a symbol of judgment. And, the Lord Jesus brought judgment upon sin when He willingly went to the cross. He had to do this because mankind had been hurled into the vortex of sin that has been spinning us further and further away from God since the Garden of Eden.
Now, in order to understand and appreciate the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must have an accurate understanding of the bad news. When Adam sinned in the Garden, he rebelled against God. And, since all mankind was born into rebellion against God, we are naturally at odds with God. Then, God gave us His Law which we must allow to do its work in us before we find ourselves desperate enough for the good news.
The good news of the gospel is that the Lord Jesus did not wait until we were loving enough before He loved us. He didn’t even wait till we asked Him to love us before He loved us. He loved us when we were His enemies. The greatest display of love, ever, was when He embraced the Father's plan to go to the cross. This love for us births love in us, which forges love through us to those around us.
In v.49-50 we read, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed."
In Luke 2:14 we see that Luke opened this gospel announcing “peace on earth.” The Lord Jesus brought peace to those who were and are willing to trust Him. Yet, the irony here is this: He is the cause of division, even with those in our own families.
While hanging on that tree, the Lord Jesus purchased the most important type of peace: peace with God. Without having peace with God, there is no knowing the peace of God. And, the Lord knows His peace is precious to those who are rejected by our families.
In v.51 we read, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." After instructing His disciples, the Lord Jesus turned and gave a final warning to the people around Him. The religious leaders had rejected His offer of peace and the people were in the process of forfeiting it, as well. There is no kingdom of peace until salvation comes to the heart, so, before peace comes, division must do its work.
The fire consumes those who reject the Lord Jesus and it purifies those who receive Him. The kindling that started the fire that both consumes and purifies was the Lord Jesus, Himself. But, before He judged anyone, the Lord Jesus had Himself to be judged. He was judged by God as He hung on the cross. God literally judged our sin in His body as He was suspended between heaven and earth. The just for the unjust, was punished for our sin.
At the end of v.49, the Lord Jesus said, "how I wish it were already kindled." That is to say, "I wish it was over." He was anticipating the event that would separate Him from His Father. He was pressed between the suffering and the purpose, between the anticipation of the pain and the plan, between His own will and the Father's will, but He never wavered after He said, "Nevertheless, not My will but yours be done."
In v.52 we read, "From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three." The Lord Jesus causes division in families. The gospel becomes a serious problem to people who reject it, and those who believe it are outcasts in the eyes of those who reject it.
In v.53 we read, "They 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."
It is obvious the Lord Jesus is the great divider. His cross is the great dividing event in all of history. Once we embraced the Lord Jesus, He became to us the Prince of Peace.
Let me add, we make a serious mistake when we reduce the good news to its results, the change that comes into the lives of those who believe it. The changes the Lord renders in our lives must not be confused with the gospel itself. The gospel is not a means to an end, it is an end in itself. And, if we reject it, we will spend an eternity separated from Him and all that is good.
