One description that many people like about Jesus is that of a peaceful Man. They like to picture Him as Someone peaceful, perhaps as a Shepherd cradling a little lamb in His arms, or perhaps sitting with little children gathered around Him. We like to picture Him in peaceful terms, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, that would not be a complete picture of the Lord Jesus. In today’s Scripture passage we see a facet of Jesus that many people might not know about, or one that they might like to ignore, or even perhaps eliminate. Let’s see what this could be.
As we look into today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke we see Jesus say a statement that might surprise, shock, or even disturb some people, and that is His statement that He came not to give peace on earth, but rather division (vs. 51). Also that Jesus said that He came to “send fire on the earth” (vs. 49). This is quite different from the calm, placid, peace-loving Jesus that most people likes to see!
Jesus declared that He came to bring fire (vs. 49). This fire is symbolic of divine judgment and purification. The Old Testament prophet Malachi spoke of this as a refiner’s fire and an oven burning up stubble (Malachi 3:2-3, 4:1). A refiner uses fire to heat up precious metals in order to separate the good from the bad, thus making the gold or silver pure. Jesus will come again, and when He does this time, it will be with judgment, with a righteous and holy fire to confront sin and call for repentance. This will not be a gentle or placid Jesus.
The baptism that Jesus spoke about in verse 50 was not a water baptism, like what He had with John the Baptist. Instead, He was referring to His coming crucifixion, which was a baptism, an immersion into suffering and death. His immense suffering and cruel death shows us just what the cost of our redemption was. Jesus’ suffering was necessary to satisfy God’s justice and redeem sinners.
Next we come to some verses that many do not like to hear, and that is that Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace, but rather division, sometimes even within families (vs. 51-53). This is not a contradiction of Jesus’ title of the Prince of Peace, which we read of in Isaiah 9:6, nor of what Jesus said when He promised His followers to give them peace (John 14:27). The peace Jesus spoke of in the Gospel of John is a peace the Holy Spirit brings to a Christian’s heart despite what may be going on in their life or what is happening in the world. These verses in today’s Scripture are showing us that the truth that Jesus brings will bring division between a believer and a non-believer.
The message that Jesus brings, the Words of truth in the Bible, are offensive to the unsaved and to the world. They do not want to hear it, and the world continues to try and stamp it out. Following Jesus Christ often means rejection by family members who resist the truth. Unsaved parents do not like it when their children decide to follow the Savior instead of the paths they would want them to. Unsaved children reject the Bible and its truth that their parents tried to teach them. And when a believer marries into an unsaved family, that will often stir up strife. Jesus is telling us that if we are going to stand firmly and loyally with Him and His Word, it may cost us some earthly relationships, including those in our own family.
The final segment of Scripture in this passage is a rebuke by the Lord to those who are able to interpret the weather by the clouds and the wind, but who fail to recognize the spiritual signs of the times (vs. 54-56). Their eyes were blinded to the fact that the long-awaited Messiah was right there standing in their midst, and to their need to repent. Multitudes today are just as blind to the signs of the end times.
In closing, Jesus is giving us word today at just what faithfully following Him might cost us, just as it cost Him when He was crucified for our sins. Are we willing to make that sacrifice to follow Him, no matter the cost, including family? He also stressed the importance of being spiritually alert, by being well-grounded in the Scriptures, and ready for His return. Let us stay rooted in the Scriptures so as to be able to discern spiritual realities, preparing our hearts daily for Jesus’ return, and also be bold in proclaiming the truth, even when it causes division.
No comments:
Post a Comment