Luke 12: 49 – 53
Light My Fire
49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided 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 her mother-in-law.”
The apostle Matthew personally observed our Lord’s teachings. He was the first one to write down what he saw and heard. Luke around 15 years after Matthew’s Gospel penned, after investigating and interviewing eyewitnesses, his version. So, let us see what information Luke could refer to in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 10:34-39, 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
You will note the similarities of both Gospels yet there are obvious differences. We will incorporate both and describe some wonderful facts.
Our Precious Holy Spirit Is not the author of confusion. Scripture does not conflict with other Scripture. Verse 49 says this.
49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
We know that our Lord received great persecution from the religious people. So, would you then read this verse as saying our Lord was eagerly wanting to wipe out these phonies with fire?
Previously our Lord had dealt with two of His disciples who wanted to call down fire on other people. We find out that His purpose is not to do that. In chapter 9 we read of this incident with James and John.
“51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.”
Please note our Lord’s description of His Ministry – ‘For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” I believe that many people assume because our Lord goes on to teach that He is not going to bring peace but division that they take the position that our Lord Jesus contemplates the thought of the punishments which will be inflicted on the various unfaithful servants. We will cover this information is a bit.
I believe that our Loving Lord is not talking about difficulties but future blessings. Let me ask you to think about this, ‘what does the word ‘kindled’ mean?
According to the dictionary this is what we find out.
1. To light, or set on fire
2. To arouse or inspire [ an emotion or feeling ]
So, what do I believe the mentioning of fire by our Lord means? Let me give you a few Scripture verses and see if you can pick up our Lord’s point.
Acts 2:2-4, 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Romans 12:19-21, 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Proverbs 25, “21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”
As a new Christian believer I thought the verse in Proverbs meant to do something against my enemy. However, I learned that when you ‘heaped coals of fire’ on someone you were helping them be able to ‘kindle’ a fire. You see people carried things on their heads. Look at National Geographic and you will see people from third world countries carry a variety of things on their heads. To help a person start a fire you would bless them by putting some already lighted coals in a pan. They would put a hat or scarf on their heads and carry these hot coals home. Then at their home all they had to do was place these on other coals and their home was ready to cook or keep warm.
I believe our Lord was looking forward to blessing mankind. One such fire that He was anxious to give to us comes to us from the Gospel of Luke in chapter 3, “John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
I think this is our Lord’s teaching because He then changes His thoughts by saying;
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!
Our Lord stops His thought pattern to say that before blessings will come, trouble must first happen. If that fire is to be effective redeeming something extraordinary will be required, the baptism of suffering of our Lord Jesus, that is, the experience for our Precious Holy Lord Jesus of being ‘overwhelmed’ by suffering For alongside the suffering of the world our Precious Holy Lord Jesus Himself must be overwhelmed by suffering, in order that He might redeem out from a suffering world those who are His, those who have been given to Him by His Father
What fire would He cast down? In context it would be a fire that would first consume Him as He bore the sin of the world as told to us in the Gospel of John 1, “28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
So our Lord Jesus Is only too aware that before His fire cast on the earth can be fully effective, it will be necessary for Him to suffer, to die and to rise again (9.22). In the end it is only through the cross that ‘refining’ by means of His word can be offered to men and women. And the result of His fire being cast down and ignited, and of His suffering, will be that the world will be divided between those who respond to Him, and those who reject Him and even hate Him. Note the wonder of what is said. The One Who casts down the fire also came to bear that fire on Himself so that He might deliver His own from eternal fire.
51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided 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 her mother-in-law.”
The fire that He Is talking about would also wind up dividing men and women in their thinking. It would divide families then as it does today - Matthew 10:34-39, 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Yet it was His longing that both would come to a speedy fulfillment, both the fire and the suffering that He must face. He would be glad when they were over.
So our Lord Jesus declares that in order to give us all a ‘wake-up’ call, and in order to try to save them from this final failure, He would ‘cast fire’ on them, a fire which would result in judgment on the majority and blessing on the few. This would partly be by means of His words and their effects. For like Moses, His words would include blessings and cursing. We also see this point in His words, ‘to whoever much is given, from him will be much required’. In one sense His enlightening word would spread like wildfire throughout the world, dividing the world into those who heard it and had their eyes opened and were turned from the power of Satan to God and those who failed to do so and reacted against it, and experienced the fires of judgment. And yet there was a very real sense in which it would also be His powerful word that would bring about the judgments that would follow. The future of all depended on His word, whether of salvation or judgment.
Can you now see why it is so important for us to gather and study His Precious Holy Word. I leave you with this wonderful verse that we should all memorize.
Psalm 12, “6 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.’
