Jesus Divides the World

Intro: Welcome to a gathering of the Church. Remember that church is not something we do on Sunday, but rather that the Church is the group of people who have been rescued by God and made his own through faith in Jesus. The Church is therefore above all things committed to following Christ, understanding the high cost of following him, but also the supreme value that is found in him... and more than worth the cost. If we are to be God’s children, Jesus calls us to lay down our self-centered lives of sin and worldly pursuits and to take up his mission as our purpose in life. But we know it’s worth it because through faith in Jesus we gain restoration to God, and we know that we will remain in right relationship to him forever. And that is the Gospel, the good news that we hold out before a world that behaves as if it doesn’t need him. But we continue to live and love like Jesus, proclaiming his death and resurrection as saving power for those who believe, because God is still drawing people out of this world, and sin, and self, and to HIMself. And so we continue on our mission, because Christ has already come once to inaugurate his kingdom on earth, and he is coming again to bring it to completion.

Even so, last time in our study of Luke we heard Jesus instructing his followers that his true servants must live in such a way as to demonstrate that they are Ready for their Master’s Return (12:35-48). Now, as he continues, Jesus shifts attention back onto the impact of his present ministry. He pictures the way that his present mission impacts the judgment and how people’s responses to him causes division between them. Finally, he warns people to seize the present opportunity to settle accounts with God by responding rightly to his coming.

[In Luke chapter 12, verse 49, Jesus says…]

Luke 12:49–59 ESV

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five 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 say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ 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? “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

Jesus pictures the way that his present mission impacts the judgment and how people’s responses to him causes division between them. Then he tells the crowds that they ought to see the obvious signs that he is in fact the promised Messiah, and he warns them to seize the present opportunity to settle accounts with God by responding rightly to his coming.

Jesus Divides Humanity

… as people decide whether or not to follow him.

First Jesus describes how the very mission of his coming divides people based on their responses to what he came to accomplish.

I came to cast fire on the earth:

This Fire Pictures Judgment (v. 49)

Fire can be good/great. And fire can be bad, very destructive.

God’s wrath poured out against sin

Such fire will either consume or purify: consume those who blindly go on loving their sin, and purify those who have been justified by grace through faith in Jesus.

… the cross kindled the fire, as we shall see next:

This Baptism Pictures the Cross (v. 50)

… where Jesus bore our sin upon himself.

Jesus would be baptized, inundated with the judgment of God, which Jesus bore for the sins of others - Also described elsewhere as the cup which Jesus had to drink (again I believe as this baptism, a reference to God’s righteous judgment upon sin, which Jesus willingly bore for the sake of others) (Mk. 10:38)

...“distress” until it is accomplished… knowing, anticipating) - And yet Jesus sought to fulfill the divine plan.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 3:26 ESV

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Jesus can therefore desire the cross to come in the same way that a pregnant woman might look forward to her labor, not because it is pleasant and enjoyable, but because of the result of that labor.

Jesus’ life and death and resurrection would be the basis for judging Israel… and all who reject him (as the only means of restoration to God).

Responses to Jesus Divides Households (vv. 51-53)

… so that disciples won’t be surprised or dismayed by growing opposition. This is to be expected. As a follower of Jesus, the disciple might or in some cases is even likely to be misunderstood even by his or her own family.

Can we think of examples of divisions in our time? Do you have divisions in your own relationships because of Christ?

Not only one against one, but also groups unifying either by identity with Christ or opposition to him.

So, even as Jesus warned his disciples, we must be prepared for that inevitability: that those who reject him will reject us, sometimes siding with one another against God’s people.

In spite of the costliness of following him, that one might find herself at odds with her own family, Jesus as always describes the importance of seeing the evidence of who he is and responding rightly, and in this case quickly, while they still have opportunity.

Respond Promptly to Jesus

Be quick about joining Jesus.

In these next two brief paragraphs, Jesus explains how many of them are missing the obvious signs that the Messiah has indeed coming and that they should be putting their faith in him to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Messiah. But instead, by and large, Israel as a whole will mostly reject Jesus

Understand the Time (vv. 54-56)

A dark cloud rising in the west, the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, would signal impending rain.

Or wind from the south would be bringing hot air up from the Sinai desert.

“Such weather predictors (12:54–55) were obvious; Jesus says that the truth of his message is equally obvious.” -Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 12:56–57.

Because of their blind hypocrisy, they were not good at understanding the spiritual signs. “They should discern what was going on right in their midst—He was offering the kingdom and they were not responding properly to His offer.” -John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 239.

Settle with God ASAP (vv. 57-59)

Divorces have become incredibly common in modern society: Bill & Melinda Gates (high-profile divorce), settling between their lawyers without messy court-cases.

Jesus uses the illustration of debt imprisonment.

...Illustration to explain Christ’s payment on our behalf

Conclusion: Jesus Divides the World (all of Humanity) into two camps - Those who by grace through faith in Jesus becomes children of God, and those who remain enemies of God (by their choice to remain entrenched in sin) and thereby objects of his wrath. “When he finally condemns anyone the penalty will be inflicted to the uttermost (copper = lepton, the smallest coin in use).” -Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 238.

How do you respond, how do you live when you know the judgment fire of God’s wrath against sin is coming? And even more when you know that the God-Man has entered the world, died for sin and rose again, to offer a way for your sin to be justly paid but for you to be declared right with God because of his payment on your behalf? - The point of this passage today is that Jesus’ coming and ushering in the kingdom through the cross means that all people will either side with him or remain against him. Knowing this is the case, we ought to be quick to join with Jesus and let him settle our account with God!

1. If you have not responded to Jesus, consider the following illustration - Soldier recruits were being trained in preparation for making their first parachute jump. After the Sergeant described using the reserve chute if the main chute didn’t open, one private asked nervously, How much time to pull the backup/reserve parachute if the main chute doesn’t open. Answer: The rest of your life, soldier.

2. Christians, how do we handle that some so close to us continue to refuse Jesus, keep rejecting his offer of salvation? - It’s a hard thing to swallow for the people we hold most dear.

We continue to daily live out our newness of life in Christ, and graciously present to them the beauty and authority of Jesus. Most of all, we continue to pray for God to transform their hearts: to cause them to see the waywardness of their sin, to break them of their self-trust, and to cause them to turn in faith to Jesus alone to rescue and restore them to God. Finally, we trust in the sovereign goodness of God.

3. Finally, even or especially if you have no one else, let the Church of Christ to be your family in this life. ***