Bringing the Fire

 Hey!

With this post I will be completing my exegesis of Chapter 12 in Luke.  Today we will examine verses 49-59.  he is my translation: 

49 I have come to bring fire on the Earth, and how I wish the fire was already kindled. 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and I am distressed until its completion. 51 Do you think that I came to bring peace on the Earth? No, I am telling you, I am bringing division.  52 Because it will now be a house of 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. 
54 Then Jesus, speaking also to the crowd, said “When you see the clouds rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and then it comes. And when a south wind blows, you say, “It’s about to get really hot, and that happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. So how are you so unable to interpret this present time?

57 Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going before a judge with your adversary, make an effort to settle your differences, so that he may not drag you before the judge, to be handed over to the court officer and thrown into jail. 59 I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have repaid every last penny. 

Jesus makes a somewhat surprising statement here.  We always connect Jesus to bringing ‘peace on Earth,’ but here he seems to say the opposite.  This doesn’t contradict that Jesus brings peace, but he is saying something completely different.  He will also bring separation.  Some will accept the ‘peace’ that Jesus brings, while others reject it.  This will lead to separation and in many cases, divided households.  

Jesus says that households will be divided because of him, three against two. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters will come out on different sides, some with Jesus and others against him.  Jesus shows that the animosity will, at times, go in both directions.  ‘Father against son,’ and ‘Son against father.’  At times it will be the father who is obedient to Jesus and sometimes it will be the son. Either way, the fires that come, divide households. 

With this, Jesus says that he is bringing fire.  It seems that fire is part of this separation, and he says that he wished that the fire were already kindled.  At this point in his ministry, Jesus is ready to fulfill the program that is tied to his coming and is under distress until it happens. However, there are things that must happen first, like the baptism that he must be baptized with, likely, a reference to his upcoming death. 

Now, speaking to the crowd, Jesus tells them that they are good at reading the signs of the weather.  They can recognize when the signs indicate that it is going to rain or it is going to get really hot, yet they are completely unable to recognize the signs of God’s arrival on the Earth. Jesus has provided a lot of evidence of who he was, and yet many refused to see it.  God is working right in front of them, providing signs for the very thing they are looking for, and yet they miss it completely. Jesus calls them ‘hypocrites,’ as they seem unwilling to see what is obvious. 

Jesus encourages his listeners to make peace with their adversaries and settle their differences. They are to make a settlement before going to court, so that they are not carted off to jail. This assumes that they are going to lose the court case. Within the context, since losing is assumed, Jesus may be telling them that they should make peace with  God before it is too late? Certainly, when God is bringing the case against you, you will lose.  Better to make peace beforehand. Jesus makes the point that the one that loses the case will remain in prison until every last penny is repaid.  How does one repay a debt from prison? It seems that there is little chance that one could ever get out of a debtor’s prison without some kind of outside help.

So, Jesus closes out chapter 12 with a warning to his imperceptive audience. Jesus would bring fire and division.  Every household has its 'fires,' and these 'fires' have the ability to divide the house.  Jesus tells us this will happen. What does this mean for us?  We need to make that we trust Jesus enough to make sure that we come out on the right side of that fire. 

Tom