“I
came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. For from now on, there will be five in one house 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 her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Luke 12:49-53
Luke 12 [42.] The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
Luke 12 [49.] “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. For from now on, there will be five in one house 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 her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Luke 12 [54.] He said to the multitudes also, “When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. When a south wind blows, you say, ‘There will be a scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don’t interpret this time? Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny.”
Meaning:
Jesus has just told his disciples to be faithful servants, ready for their master’s return, because much will be required of those to whom much is given (Luke 12:48). Now he speaks in a very personal and urgent way about his own mission.
- “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.”
Fire in Scripture often speaks of God’s judgement and of his purifying presence. John the Baptist had announced that the coming one “will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). The fire Jesus brings tests and refines: it burns away what is false and sets hearts ablaze. Jesus longs for that fire to be kindled, but it could only begin after his own suffering.
- “But I have a baptism to be baptized with”
Here baptism means being plunged into overwhelming suffering. Jesus used the same picture when he asked James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). His baptism was his coming death on the cross. He felt its weight deeply, yet walked steadily toward Jerusalem to complete it.
- “Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.”
This seems to contradict the angels’ song at his birth: “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Jesus does bring peace: peace with God and a peace the world cannot give (John 14:27). But that peace is received by faith, and not everyone receives him. Simeon had told Mary that her child was “set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against” (Luke 2:34). Jesus forces a decision, and decisions divide.
- “father against son, and son against father”
Jesus draws on the prophet Micah, who described a time of deep unfaithfulness: “For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house” (Micah 7:6). In a culture where family was the centre of life, loyalty to Jesus could split a household down the middle.
Matthew records the same teaching: “Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
The Significance of Luke 12:49-53
- Jesus’ willing suffering
Jesus knew the cost of his mission and was distressed by it, yet he chose to go through with it. His “baptism” of suffering on the cross was undertaken for us.
- Following Jesus above all
Faith in Jesus may bring tension with relatives who do not share it. Jesus asks his followers to put him first, while still loving and honouring their families as far as faithfulness allows.
- Peace that comes through Christ
The division Jesus speaks of is not his goal. His aim is reconciliation with God, and through him people from every background are brought together (Ephesians 2:14).
Cross-References:
Matthew 10:34: "Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword." The parallel in Matthew.
Micah 7:6: "For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother," The prophecy Jesus echoes.
Mark 10:38: "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" Baptism as a picture of suffering.
Luke 3:16: "He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire," John’s promise of fire.
Conclusion: Jesus came to kindle a fire on the earth, the purifying fire of God’s Spirit and judgement. First he had to pass through the baptism of his own suffering, and he was deeply distressed until it was accomplished. His coming brings peace with God to those who believe, but it also divides, even within families, because each person must decide for or against him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible