Bible Text: Luke 12:49-59 | Preacher: G.F. | Series: The Disease of Hypocrisy

“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.” He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
(Luke 12:49-59)
Commentator Philip Ryken notes, “Luke 12 ends with a fiery blaze of judgement and an urgent warning to find safety in Christ before it is too late.”

This passage is a conclusion of the message that Jesus had started in chapter 11. He concludes his message with a rebuke to the hypocritical generation. A generation who were clever enough to tell what the weather was going to be like, but could not tell anything about the God who made the weather, earth and sky.

This passage is all about the Gospel. It’s all about Jesus. It’s all about His grace. He’s the dividing line. And Jesus is saying to His disciples and He’s saying to you and me, “If you don’t understand who I am and what you need, nothing else is going to make sense.” If we don’t see our sin in the light of a Holy God, we will never see our need for a Saviour. If we don’t see our need for forgiveness, we will never see the provision Jesus has made for us in and through the Gospel, which means we will have to pay for our own sins, under the terrible wrath of God in a place called hell.

Jesus endured the cross, He willingly took upon Himself the distress, the suffering, the pain, the sorrow, the shame that was necessary for winning our salvation and to purchase for us forgiveness of sin and everlasting fellowship with God.

May God grant you an understanding of Jesus as Lord, Savior, God, and our only hope of salvation. May He grant you an understanding of your own sin. And may He grant that you would take the choice to stand with Jesus and against everything else that rejects Him.