What the diligent student of Scripture knows full well is something the casual inquirer has no clue about. I refer to the simple truth that it was Jesus who spoke more about God’s wrath, coming judgment, and the dangers of hellfire than any other biblical character.
Contrary to the bogus claim that Jesus wants us to be really nice and loving to everybody, he instead was speaking constantly about how his ministry was all about division, judgment and the like. Sure, real love – love that is defined biblically, not sentimentally – was also a part of his message. But it was a love that also warned.
With this in mind, one important passage which is often overlooked – or at least is found to be confusing by many – is Luke 12:49 which says: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” How are we to understand this? As always, context is crucial.
Before Jesus said this, he was talking about being ready for his return (verses 35-48). And after it he spoke about the signs of his coming (verses 54-56). The immediate context of this is verses 49-53:
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
To help us understand what he means about bringing fire to the earth, other texts from his gospel, as well as from the Old Testament, can help us out here. The most common thing the imagery of fire stood for in the OT was judgment. Here are just a few examples:
-Deuteronomy 4:24 says this: “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
-1 Kings 18 discusses the confrontation at Mount Carmel where Elijah commands fire to fall before Baal’s prophets.
-2 Kings 1 speaks of Elijah calling down fire on the king of Samaria’s soldiers.
-Isaiah 66:15-16 says this:
For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many.
And in Luke’s gospel, we see various references to fire, such as:
“Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (3:9)
“John answered them all, saying, ‘I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire’.” (3:16-17)
“But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (9:53-54)
“Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” (17:28-30)
Philip Graham Ryken speaks to this fire imagery in Luke 12:49-53 as follows:
The Scripture says, “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). When he is present in his holiness, God burns with a pure and powerful flame. This fire has a twofold effect: it consumes whatever is destined for destruction, while at the same time purifying whatever God ordains to refine. Fire always consumes or purifies, depending on the nature of what it burns. It is an instrument of judgement, revealing things for what they are. This is what Christ came to cast on the earth: the consuming, purifying fire of God’s judgement. Fire is “the spiritual power exercised by the Lord through His Word and Spirit – to the undoing of those who reject him, and to the refining of those who believe in him.”
And R. Kent Hughes also speaks to this dual aspect of the fiery judgment of Jesus. He reminds us of what John the Baptist had said about the ministry of Jesus, and then says this:
Believers would be baptized “with the Holy Spirit and fire” because the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit would involve the fire-like work of purification. And those who would refuse Christ would undergo the fire of Christ’s judgement, as John further explained: His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (3:17). Therefore, we are given to understand from the very first that Jesus’ ministry would be fiery – first as a purifying baptism of believers, and, second, as a consuming judgement upon unbelievers.
Luke: An Expositional Commentaryby Sproul, R.C. (Author)
And finally, a few further thoughts on the divisive nature of the person and work of Christ, this time by R. C. Sproul:
If somebody asked you, “Why did Jesus come into this world?” I doubt you would have answered that he came to cast fire on the earth. But that’s what He said here. He’s not only announced that He was going to send fire on the earth, but he communicated his own feelings about that task, saying, “Would that it were already kindled!” Jesus was now baring His soul, saying something about his deepest longings. What are we to make of that?
He looks at some options, and then goes on to say this about verse 51:
We call Jesus the Prince of Peace. We think about peace every Christmas Eve – peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Isn’t that why he came? Jesus said no; He came rather to divide. It seems to be a bad thing to divide people. We tend to think that He came to reconcile and to bring healing everywhere. But here He said that He came to bring division.
When the New Testament talks about the appearance of Christ, and uses the Greek word krisis. We get the English word crisis from it, but the translation of the word krisis is not “crisis”; it’s “judgement” or “division.” Jesus was saying that all human history will be divided by Him.
As to familial divisions that Jesus spoke about in verses 52-53, Sproul remarks:
People will be divided over Jesus. The most dividing question in the history of the world is, What do you do with Jesus?
The first week I became a Christian, I came home and said to my mother, assuming a joyous response would be forthcoming, “Mother, I became a Christian this week.” She responded. “What? You’ve always been a Christian.” I said, “No, Mom, what I mean is, I’ve come to know Christ as my Saviour.” She had no idea what I was talking about at that point. By the grace of God, she came to know, but in the meantime, my sister, my cousins, and my uncles and aunts did everything but disown me because I had committed my life to Christ. That act cost me many friends. I was shocked at the intensity of the hostility and animosity toward Christ.
We do everything we can to mollify the situation, to water down the divisive character of Christ, but Christ made it clear: there is no neutrality. You are either for Him or you’re against Him. Whether you’re for or against Him is the most critical issue for you eternally. If you’re not for Him, you’re against Him. If you stay against Him, you will be against Him and He against you forever.
Correct. Those may not be the sorts of words we want to hear, but they are the words that we need to hear. The very existence of Jesus means there will be division. He died on the cross so that sinners who acknowledge their sin and turn to him in faith and repentance can get new life.
But those who do not still await future judgment. It is imperative that we choose wisely here.
Not a message that you hear often from the pulpit. Many in our churches would be uncomfortable with such direct teaching. A very timely reminder for our current generation in the western church. Thanks for being courageous enough to preach fully what Jesus himself taught.
Not a message that you hear often from the pulpit. Many in our churches would be uncomfortable with such direct teaching. A very timely reminder for our current generation in the western church. Thanks for being courageous enough to preach fully what Jesus himself taught.
Many thanks Ken.