Luke 12:49 - 53
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. What did Jesus mean that He came to case fire on the earth? What is He burning?
2. What does Jesus mean that He is bringing division instead of peace? Isn't He the Prince of Peace?
https://hartmangroupdevotions.blogspot.com/2015/06/matthew-1032-39-32-whoever-acknowledges.html?zx=d78279565a3b6ce5 says:
ReplyDeleteMy 2 cents on Jesus turning people against their families:
When someone in a family comes to Christ, they choose Jesus over all other things, including their family. The natural reaction of the unsaved family is shock to seeing this kind of new-found devotion to something they don't understand. The rest of the family will demand that the new believer give up their devotion, or they will abandon her/him to their devotion and pull away. Just wait to see what happens when another member of the family follows the original into their lunacy. It will be all out war!
And that's what I think Jesus meant. He was describing this phenomenon here. And when this common occurrence happens to the new believer, Jesus is clearly telling them to keep their devotion completely for Himself, and do not give into the family one bit - which of course, will naturally cause a schism in the "previous" family.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-12-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteStein on cast fire - The judgment that this fire brings can also be viewed in two ways. First, it can refer to the final judgment at the end of history. The preceding passage (Lk 12:35–48) favors this reading. Second, fire can refer to how the coming of God’s kingdom divides people into two camps. The latter interpretation is demanded by the context (Lk 12:51–53).
Fire is a figure of speech so the question arises what does it depict. Fire is associated with judgment (see passages below) but is also associated with the Spirit (cf Lk 3:16), so a few commentaries interpret this as a reference to the Spirit Who would later come with tongues of fire at Pentecost (Acts 2:3).
But I have a baptism to undergo - He has already been baptized by John in the Jordan (Mt 3:13-17), but His crucifixion is the baptism He is describing.
Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth - The baptism Jesus had just described as explained was the Cross, which would separate not only a believing thief on one side from an unbelieving thief on the other side, but ultimately would be the great dividing line between all mankind, in time and throughout eternity!
We see that Jesus brings division as described in John's Gospel
John 7:43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.
John 9:16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.
John 10:19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words.
The natural reaction to the surprising statement would be: "How can this saying be true? Is not Christ 'the Prince of Peace' (Isa. 9:6)? Is he not the One who pronounces a blessing on those who make peace (Matt. 5:9)? If he did not come in order to bring peace how can the following passages be true: Ps. 72:3, 7; Luke 1:79; 2:14; 7:50; 8:48; John 14:27; 16:33; 20:19, 21; Rom. 5:1; 10:15; 14:17; Eph. 2:14; Col. 1:20; Heb. 6:20-7:2? Do not all of them in the strongest terms proclaim Jesus as the Bringer of peace?" We should remember, however, that it is the characteristic of many a mashal to place emphasis on one aspect of the truth rather than on a proposition that is universally valid. So here also. A little reflection will soon convince the earnest student of Scripture that there is a sense in which the coming of Christ into this world not only brought division but was even intended to do so.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-12-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteBut now when it comes to the Gospel of Jesus, because Jesus' coming and crucifixion divides all mankind into those who are going to heaven and those who are going to hell, and the latter naturally detest and hate the belief and teaching of the former. It is as if a "light" of righteousness is always shining straight at them through the life and conduct of their relative and they do not want their sin and their selfish lusts to be exposed. John writes
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world (AND NOW BELIEVERS ARE JESUS' LIGHT and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed - John 3:19-20).
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. What did Jesus mean that He came to cast fire on the earth? What is He burning?
Some people get stuck in their "rapture theology" and look at this verse through that lens. While there may be some echoes referring to Jesus second coming, I think Jesus is referring to Pentecost and the events after it. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon those believers (signified by the tongues of fire above everyone's head), and spread (like a raging fire) across the known world.
The fire is spreading today. We are in the midst of the great (spiritual) war and it's all consuming. The Holy Spirit (the fire inside us) is driving us to spread His gospel to all corners of the earth. There is fierce opposition (both in the spiritual and physical world) to this.
2. What does Jesus mean that He is bringing division instead of peace? Isn't He the Prince of Peace?
Jesus is the Prince of Peace. We were separated from God, and Jesus was sent to bring us back to Him (bringing peace between man and God). However, there are forces in opposition to this. Jesus death, His resurrection, and what He started in motion on Pentecost started an all-consuming world-wide war that has been raging to this day - and we are in the middle of it. At the end, there will be no more opposition and peace will reign.
I concur that the fire is probably not the fire of final judgement, but of Pentecost, based on Jesus' eagerness to have it already kindled. He is ready be get the cross over with and see the church begin to move out.
ReplyDelete