Commentary - Luke 12:49-53

Bird's-eye view

In this startling passage, the Lord Jesus pulls back the curtain on the sentimentalized view of His first coming. Many wanted, and still want, a Messiah who brings a soft, therapeutic peace, a kind of spiritual group hug for all mankind. But Christ here demolishes that notion entirely. He declares His purpose to be disruptive, divisive, and purifying. He speaks of fire, a distressing baptism, and the sharp sword of division that will run right through the middle of the most basic human institution, the family. This is not the gentle Jesus, meek and mild, of so many flannelgraph lessons. This is the Lord of glory, whose very presence in a fallen world creates a crisis, forcing a choice and separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff. Paul is simply echoing this later when he says that to one we are the aroma of death, and to another the aroma of life. The gospel is never neutral.

The passage unfolds in three movements. First, Christ announces His mission to bring fire, a purifying and judging conflagration that He eagerly wishes was already burning. Second, He reveals the personal cost of this mission, a "baptism" of suffering that He must endure, which we know to be the cross. His distress is not fear, but a holy impatience to accomplish the work the Father gave Him. Third, He applies the consequences of this fiery mission directly to human relationships. The gospel is a sword that severs natural ties when they are set against the ultimate tie to Christ Himself. This division is not an unfortunate side effect; it is a stated purpose. The peace He brings is peace with God, which necessarily results in conflict with a world at war with God.

Outline

The Fire of Judgment and Purification

When Jesus speaks of casting fire upon the earth, we must have the Old Testament backdrop firmly in mind. Fire in Scripture is a consistent symbol of God's presence, His holiness, and His judgment. God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). He appeared to Moses in a burning bush that was not consumed. The light of Israel is to be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame (Is. 10:17). This fire both purifies and destroys. It burns away the dross from the gold, and it consumes the stubble entirely. John the Baptist had already announced that the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16). The coming of Christ is therefore the coming of a great sorting. His presence forces a crisis. The gospel, when preached, does not leave things as they are. It kindles a fire that reveals what every man's work is made of. The fire Jesus brings is the gospel itself, which brings the holy presence of God into direct contact with a sinful world, and the results are necessarily explosive.

Christ's Baptism of Suffering

Jesus speaks of a baptism He must undergo. This is not a reference to His water baptism by John in the Jordan, which was behind Him. That baptism was His identification with us, His people, in our need for repentance. This baptism He now faces is the baptism of wrath and suffering on the cross. He is to be plunged, submerged, and overwhelmed by the full force of God's judgment against sin. This is the cup the Father gave Him to drink. His "distress" is not a sinful anxiety, but rather the holy pressure and constraint of His mission. He is driven by a divine necessity to complete our redemption. He is straitened, hemmed in, until it is accomplished. This is the pressure of love, the weight of glory, the necessity of the atonement. He is headed for the cross, and He will not be diverted. This baptism is the very means by which the fire will be kindled. His death and resurrection unleash the Holy Spirit upon the world, and that is the fire He came to bring.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

The Lord's mission statement here is anything but tame. He did not come to be a moral example, or a dispenser of wise aphorisms. He came as an incendiary. He came to start a fire. This fire is the gospel of the kingdom, which brings with it the fiery presence of the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit of God moves, things are not left undisturbed. The old order is consumed. Sin is exposed and judged. Hearts are either purified or hardened. This is the fire of Pentecost, the fire that refines the church and judges the world. Christ's wish that it were already kindled is an expression of His holy zeal for the glory of God and the accomplishment of His redemptive purpose. He is not a reluctant savior; He is an eager one, pressing forward to the cross where the victory would be won and the fire unleashed.

v. 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished!

Here is the necessary precursor to the fire. Before Pentecost, there must be Calvary. Before the Spirit could be sent in power, the Son had to be offered in weakness. Jesus speaks of His impending passion, death, and burial as a "baptism." He would be utterly submerged in the wrath of God that our sins deserved. The word for "distressed" is one of intense constraint, a feeling of being pressed in on all sides. This is the agony of Gethsemane already casting its shadow. But it is not the distress of one trying to escape His fate. It is the distress of a man running a race, constrained by the tape on either side, focused entirely on the finish line. The finish line for Him was the cross, where He would cry, "It is finished." Only then would the fire fall.

v. 51 Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;

Jesus directly confronts the popular misconception of His mission. The world wants a peace that papers over fundamental disagreements, a peace that allows everyone to remain comfortable in their sins. But true peace, peace with God, is a sword in the world. To be reconciled to God is to be set at odds with a world that is in rebellion against Him. The gospel message is inherently divisive because it is a message of absolute truth in a world of lies. It demands ultimate allegiance, and this demand splits humanity in two. There is no neutrality. You are either for Christ or against Him. The gospel draws a line in the sand, and that line is the cross. When a man takes his stand with the crucified King, he is immediately divided from those who will not have this man rule over them.

v. 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.

The Lord now brings this principle of division down to the most intimate and foundational level of society: the family. The gospel is not a private, personal matter that can be kept neatly tucked away. It reorders everything, including our most basic loyalties. Jesus makes it starkly clear. The arrival of the kingdom will sunder households. The line of allegiance to Christ will cut right through the dinner table. This is not a hypothetical. This is a prophetic declaration of what "from now on" will be the reality for His followers. The numbers three against two are not magical; they simply illustrate a household fractured by the gospel. Some will believe, and some will not, and this difference will create a fundamental divide.

v. 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.”

Jesus quotes, in effect, from Micah 7:6, showing that this tragic reality was foretold by the prophets. He lists the most fundamental family relationships, the ties that ought to be the strongest and most loving, and declares that the gospel will sever them. Father against son, mother against daughter. This is the high cost of discipleship. Loyalty to Jesus Christ must be supreme, even over loyalty to one's own flesh and blood. When a father rejects the Christ his son has embraced, a division has occurred. When a mother mocks the faith of her daughter, there is a painful separation. This is not because Christianity is inherently anti-family. Rather, it is because sin is anti-Christ, and when family members choose sin over the Savior, they are the ones who are creating the division. The believer is simply standing on the side of Christ, and the unbelieving family member is standing on the other side of a line that Christ Himself has drawn.

Application

We live in a time that prizes tolerance, inclusivity, and a mushy sort of peace above all else. The words of Jesus in this passage are therefore a necessary and bracing corrective. We must first understand that the gospel is not a message of comfortable accommodation with the world; it is a declaration of war. The fire of God's truth has been cast into the world, and we are the ones who carry the embers. We should not be surprised when it causes combustion.

Second, we must count the cost of discipleship. Following Jesus is not an add-on to an already comfortable life. It is a radical reorientation of all our loyalties. For some, this will mean the painful reality of division within their own families. We must love our families, pray for them, and seek their salvation, but our ultimate allegiance belongs to Christ. We must be prepared to stand with Him, even if it means standing against those we love most dearly.

Finally, we must remember the baptism of Christ. Our Lord endured the cross, the ultimate division from the Father, so that we might have peace with God. The divisions we face in this world are a small participation in His sufferings. But just as His baptism of suffering led to the fire of Pentecost and the glory of the resurrection, so our faithful endurance through trials and divisions will lead to our sharing in His ultimate victory. The peace He gives is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of the victorious King in the midst of it.