Series on Luke
IV Imperatives of the Kingdom
B Instruction in Rejection
5 Sons and Fathers
Text: 12:49-53
Introduction
Most of us do not appreciate how shocking these words of Jesus are. If you lived next door to a pyromaniac you would be scared. A number of years back my father was burning some leaves and twigs in the backyard and the brush field next door caught fire. With boundless panic in less than two minutes i had the hoses screwed together attached to the faucet and was spraying water on the fire and before the fire co. arrived it was out. A few weeks ago the grandchildren were playing in the basement and they started yelling fire fire. With the adrenalin pumping i tore down the stairs and fortunately found they were only playing, so they got a breathless lecture about the boy who cried wolf. I remember the horror of those occasions. The words of Jesus here are a fire alarm. Look carefully at verses 49 and 50, I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! The Greek word translated bring or send as in the King James Version is the word from which we get ball, and it means to throw. My friends when the Cy Young award winning pitcher steps to the mound he does not bring or send the ball to home plate, he propels it at speeds approaching 100 miles an hour. Jesus says he has come to hurl the fire. Notice also the word in verse 50, distressed, or straitened in the King James. In the Greek it refers to being held down or compressed, like the ground under our feet, or a person in a dense crowd. It reminds me of a flash fire. There is something very compressed, smoldering, smoking and then all of a sudden the whole place is engulfed in flames. The ideas being conveyed by Jesus demand our attention for he has come to light a conflagration. I want you to observe three things about this conflagration: its character, its creation and its consequences.
I The Character of the Conflagration
The fire of which Jesus speaks in verse 49 is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit, I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! Luke reminds us that John the Baptist predicted that Jesus had come to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Luke also tells us about the Day of Pentecost in Acts 1 when the presence of the Spirit is indicated by what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. We should understand that the disciples believed that the world would end in a fiery event. We should also understand that they believed that when Messiah came this event was at hand. What Jesus teaches is new information. He has already indicated that he will go away and return in His previous discourse, and that return may be long delayed. So in the meanwhile what will happen? There will be a fire but it will be a spiritual fire . The Holy Spirit is that fire. The fire Jesus hurls onto the earth is one that is the great work of the Holy Spirit. Our problem, very simply, is that we don’t see that the world is aflame. We do not sense the decisiveness of the period in which we live. We do not see the part we are to play in this situation. What can I do except to yell fire. People are either being destroyed or rescued. It reminds me of the incident with my grandchildren. Many are likely to come and say there is no fire but there is! And this is exactly Jesus point here. In the face of a fire you move fast and if you move fast you will never be sorry.
II The Creation of the Conflagration
It just boggles my mind that Jesus had such a desire to see the work of God done, and to see our salvation secured, that he says he cannot wait as He says in verse 50, But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! As man in the garden of Gethsamane He prays, Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. As God He says I cannot wait. He wants to avoid the consummation of the cross, and yet he eagerly anticipates the results. He told his disciples in John 16:6-11, Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. In other words unless He goes away which he can only do through the cross and the tomb, the Holy Spirit cannot come. Let’s break it down into the most common understanding. I have made an offer on a house. Unless i pay the cost they will not let me move in. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to move in, but it is Christ’s job to purchase the house. This He did when he gave Himself for you, died in your place, took your sins in His own body on the tree, and endured God’s wrath in your place. This is the baptism of which he speaks. It will light a fire of incredible proportions, a flash fire which will spread across the earth. It is the light of the world. The apostle John says John 3:l9 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. As Luke describes the coming of the Holy Spirit he also echos the same theme in Acts 2:32 and 33, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. The fire cannot be started except through His atoning death and resurrection.
III The Consequences of the Conflagration
The consequences may be stated simply and directly. They are divisions, divisions so deep that they strike at the heart of families, because they are divided over allegiance to the Savior. Jesus tells us in verses 51-53, Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, 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 daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” We are not talking here bout not being able to get along with your mother-in-law. The point here is not that Jesus wants to divide families, but simply that allegiance to Him has this effect. In China sometimes a member of the family will turn you in to the authorities if you are a member of a house church. In India or in Arabia, or other Hindi and Muslim countries you are put out of your home if you profess Jesus Christ as Savior. You can no longer be part of the family. Even in these United States there is such a sharp division between faith and unbelief that normal family relations are not possible. I think this needs to be seen against the Jewish background of those who heard our Savior. Normally they were all of the same mind. Now he says they will be divided. I think people in our own culture want things to go on from one generation to the next. They resist anything that will divide the family or disrupt the family heritage. But Jesus makes a real difference in our lives, so real that those loved ones around us must either change or become alienated. Dearly beloved we must be aware of the temptation to compromise because of our family attachments. There is no compromise when it comes to Jesus and the gospel, but then in a fire what compromise is possible? Either you escape or you get burned!
Conclusion
This text tells us three things. First, you are in a spiritual fire which Jesus desired greatly to start. Secondly, He started this fire by His atoning death and resurrection so that the Holy Spirit might come. Thirdly this fire demands such action, such commitment, such passion that it divides and separates even the most intimate relationships in families. This is a fire I am part of and you are part of as a member of our church. It must spread, it shall spread, and dearly beloved, we must spread it!
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