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Jesus the Cause of Division
Luke 12:49-56
Good News Translation (GNT)
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Jesus the Cause of Division
49 "I came to set the earth on fire, and how I wish
it were already kindled!
50 I have a baptism to receive, and how
distressed I am until it is over!
51 Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to
the world? No, not peace, but division.
52 From now on a family of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three.
53 Fathers will be against their sons, and sons
against their fathers; mothers will be against
their daughters, and daughters against their
mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their
daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law
against their mothers-in-law."
Understanding the Time
54 Jesus said also to the people, "When you see
a cloud coming up in the west, at once you
say that it is going to rain - and it does.
55 And when you feel the south wind blowing,
you say that it is going to get hot - and it does.
56 Hypocrites! You can look at the earth and
the sky and predict the weather; why, then,
don't you know the meaning of this present
time?
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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)
Not peace but division
Luke 12:49-56
Jesus' coming divides people into two groups:
those who reject Him and those who accept Him.
For those who reject Him, the fire is the fire of judgment.
It is, in a sense, the fire of hell.
But for those who accept Jesus, the fire is the fire of purification,
of strengthening. It is the fire of the Holy Spirit
Jesus wished His work of salvation would spread quickly
all over the world.
When a fire is kindled, it spreads by itself.
The fire had to be kindled before Jesus died; otherwise,
it might go out.
The fire was soon kindled in the hearts of His disciples,
and it has been burning in the hearts of each generation
of disciples ever since.
Jesus had a baptism to undergo. Here "baptism" means
suffering and death. Before the fire of the Holy Spirit could come,
he first had to suffer and die.
He longed that this "baptism" might be finished quickly.
Being Worthy of Christ
Jesus was a peacemaker. He came primarily to make peace
between man and God.
But not all men believe Jesus. Not all men repent and receive
forgiveness from God.
Those that do not always oppose those who do.
There can be no peace between the kingdom of Satan
and the kingdom of God.
That is why Jesus said,
"I did not come to bring peace, but a sword,"
or "division."
Jesus said to His disciples:
"I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you".
As a sword divides things into two, so Jesus' word divides believers
from non-believers.
Jesus here quotes from Micah 7:6 to show that even within one's own
family, non-believers will oppose believers in Jesus
Micah 7 states
6 "In these times sons treat their fathers like fools, daughters oppose
their mothers, and young women quarrel with their mothers-in-law;
your enemies are the members of your own family."
The Pharisees Ask For a Sign
The Pharisees asked Jesus to show them a sign.
They had already decided that He was not the Messiah.
They were not sincere in their request.
They wanted a sign from heaven. They had seen the miracles,
but they did not consider these to be sufficient proof,
that He was God's Son.
Jesus answered the Pharisees: "no sign will be given this generation except
the sign of Jonah".
Jonah was a prophet who was swallowed by a great fish and spent three days
in its stomach.
In the same way, Jesus would be killed and spend three days
in the earth and then rise from the dead.
That would be the sign that He was truly the Son of God.
The Jews did not even accept that sign, but said, after the resurrection,
that His disciples came during the night and stole him away
Jesus did not want to give a sign - because if He did so
there would no longer be any room for faith.
Faith can only exist when the object of our faith is something
beyond our finite knowledge.
To demand a sign is the same as not to believe.
Jesus reminded the Pharisees that by looking at the sky,
they could predict what the weather would be.
If they could interpret these signs of the coming weather,
why couldn't they interpret the spiritual signs of the coming
of the kingdom of God?
For those with open believing hearts,
Jesus had already shown more than enough "signs"
that He was the Son of God.
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