I have come to bring fire on the earth (Luke 12e)

“I have come to bring fire on the earth”

Luke 12:49-59
 Key verses 12:49,56

Last week, we heard about the Paris terror attacks. According to the U.S. Department of State, “In 2014, a total of 13,463 terrorist attacks occurred worldwide, resulting in more than 32,700 deaths.” Nations spend much more money on weapons rather than on helping and saving people. There are always wars around the world. Meantime, tens or probably hundreds of thousand of children die of hunger every year in Africa. Now same sex marriage is legal in U.S. Muslims are growing in number whereas the number of Christians in America has declined. Many countries, particularly in the third countries, are getting hostile to Christians. What is going on in this present time? How do you interpret all this? Today, we are going to talk about this present time. We tend to see only what we can see and what we are interested in. This present time is rapidly changing and heading toward the state where many people do not expect it at all. What does the Bible say about this present time? I pray that through today’s passage we may be able to interpret the present time.

In the previous passage, Jesus said that his disciples should be ready for the second coming of Jesus by being faithful to the work he has given to them. In today’s passage, Jesus speaks about how to view the present time in light of his upcoming death and about what action to take accordingly.

Jesus came to bring fire

If we ask someone why Jesus came, almost everyone will say that he came for our good, such as salvation, peace, love, reconciliation, unity, and the like. Certainly, he came for our good. However, surprisingly Jesus says that he came to bring fire on the earth.

49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Does he mean that he will burn out the earth? What does it mean? What is the fire?

There are several different interpretations of this. Some people say that the fire is God’s judgment. Some others say that it is the Holy Spirit. Still others say that it is the gospel or spiritual vehement. I think that each has its own good reasoning and they are related to one another. But I would like to say three things first about the fire according to what Jesus says in the passage.

First, Jesus wishes the fire were already kindled.

The fire is what Jesus really wishes and longs for. It is what Jesus came for. It is what God wants to fulfill through Jesus. So, it is so important and even urgent a matter.

Second, the fire will be kindled when Jesus finishes a baptism.

50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!

A person who is baptized is immersed into water, which symbolically means death. So, the baptism refers to his suffering and death, which is imminent as he is heading toward Jerusalem now. One day when James and John asked Jesus to sit them next to him in the kingdom of God, he said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). So, the fire will be kindled when he dies. As he is going closer to the cross, he becomes more anxious and distressed because that is what he came for and it will be so painful.

One more thing about the fire is that it will result in division.

51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Against people’s expectation, Jesus says that he came to bring division not peace. Even family members, who are the closest, will be divided. It is very shocking that parents and children will go against one another. Why do they have conflict with each other? It is because of Jesus and the fire he will bring.

Mark 13:12-13 read, “12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

The Jewish family is very strongly bound and the father has absolute authority over children. But if one accepts and believes Jesus, even such a family relationship will be broken, and the conflict between believers and unbelievers in the family will be great.

However, the division is not Jesus’ ultimate purpose but it is an effect of the fire he will bring. And the division among the family is an inevitable and necessary process to rebuild the family in Jesus.

My parents did not go to church when I was young. Yet, they were so sacrificial to me and I grew under their good influence and care. They did not smoke or drink. They were loving and diligent. I had no problems with my parents. But when I began to believe in Jesus, things were changed. They still loved me but they were not pleased with my commitment to church. We often disagreed with each other in many ways, which was painful. It took many years until they experienced God’s grace when my mom suffered cancer. Since then, my parents have become Christians and finally found joy in God and in their church life. They say that they are so thankful for God’s grace and have true joy in their late life.

As such, believing Jesus entails division with our family members. Not only with our family members but also with our friends and other people, we will have division. We will be even persecuted. However, this division is not for the sake of division but a natural process when we choose Jesus as our Savior. It is so painful, but God uses this pain to refine us and to use us as his witnesses to them, and eventually our pain will be paid off.

So far, we have seen the three things about the fire Jesus will bring through his death. By his death, the gospel has been completed and then the Holy Spirit has come. The Holy Spirit convicts people of their sins and divides people between believers and unbelievers, which result in division. Most of all, people will face God’s judgment if they still do not believe in Jesus. Though it is a little hard to clearly define what the fire refers to, we can see for sure that the fire has brought about very significant changes to each individual, each family, and all humankind. “I have come to bring fire on the earth.” By saying this, Jesus looks forward to the great thing that will be accomplished by his death.  

If you look back previous passages in chapter 12, it seems that Jesus has spoken to his disciples continually from 12:35 on. Why does he tell this to them?

We learned in Luke 11:14-28 that Jesus was opposed by some people when he drove out a demon. Jesus rebuked them and they opposed him fiercely. (11:53-54) Then, Jesus began to speak more about what is yet to come. The disciples should seek the kingdom of God and be ready for the coming of Jesus. Until that time, the disciples will suffer opposition from others and even from their family members. These are all unknown and unfamiliar to the disciples. They expect that Jesus will establish his kingdom soon and they will enjoy peace and glory with him. But they do not understand what is actually ahead of them. Jesus will rather suffer and die in Jerusalem, which also will bring division and conflict. The disciple should know and anticipate that the kingdom of God is going to come gradually but rapidly until Jesus comes again and meantime they will undergo opposition and conflict. Jesus wants them to be aware of this and ready for this.

We believers today should know that we are already in the fire and so we should know what it means to us and how to live accordingly.

Interpretation the times

Now Jesus turned to the crowd and speaks to them.

54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.

The west here refers to the Mediterranean, which brings moist air to the Palestine. As it passes the land and hits the mountains, it rains, which usually occurs in winter through early spring. But in late spring a south wind from the desert begins to blow, which is hot and dry. So the people know that summer will come soon. For Israel people to know when rain comes or the hot wind blows is very important to them. If they miss or misinterpret such signs, they will suffer severely because the nature greatly affects their agricultural life. So they are keenly insightful about the weather and notice even a small cloud or a wind, which is a sign of what is to come soon. But, they are poor at interpreting spiritual things.

56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

They are good at interpreting the natural phenomenon but they do not know how to interpret the present time, which will affect their life much more than the weather does.

What is “this present time?” Since the fall of Adam, God has prepared for the salvation of humankind. He promised that he would send the Messiah and sent prophets to prepare the way for him. And finally he sent Jesus the Savior of the world. He proclaimed the good news and performed many miracles and drove out demons. All the things Jesus has done and spoken are so evident and powerful signs that the kingdom has come through Jesus. Jesus is about to die and then the fire will be kindled. Now is the time of salvation. If they accept Jesus, the kingdom of God will be given to them. And now is the time of judgment as well. If they ignore or reject Jesus, they will face God’s judgment. It is getting closer to the end time. What else can be more important than knowing this?

Now they are at a very critical time. But many of them still hesitate or reject Jesus. Some of them eventually will kill him. They are good at interpreting the appearance of the earth and the sky but poor at interpreting what God has done and will do through Jesus.

Sadly, the same is happening today. When I got my current smartphone, the widget set up on the home screen is the weather forecast. That shows how much people are interested in weather forecast and how much it is important to our daily life. People put more widgets and applications on their electronic gadgets they are interested in most, such as email, stock market, calendar, breaking news, etc. People are good at seeing something ahead of time. We humans can reach the end of the solar system and predict which comets will come toward the earth and when, but have no idea that God is working hard toward the end time. Jesus has already come and will come again. We live in-between. But as we learned in the last passage, Jesus will come at an unexpected hour. In fact, we can see many signs of the end time as Jesus said in Luke 21, Mark 13, and Matt 24. Jesus said that there would be many wars, natural disasters, false prophets, abomination, persecution, etc. Here is what Jesus said in Mark 13:8-10.

⁸ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. ⁹ But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.¹⁰ And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

Can you see such signs today? Can you interpret this present time? The fire of the gospel is spreading to the ends of the world in the mist of all kinds of troubles. Now is time to accept and believe Jesus sincerely with your heart. Now is the time of God’s grace but the grace period will end soon. Let’s pray that we can get out of our comfort zone and our own realms and see beyond what we can see and where we live. This world is going toward the end and God is working hard to complete his salvation work. Now can you see and interpret this present time?

Reconcile with your adversary

Jesus tells the crowd a parable so that they must prepare for God’s judgment in hurry.

57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Here Jesus gave them a parable. The adversary here is a legal term used in a courtroom. It is also translated accuser. Here is a man who borrowed one million dollars from someone and did not pay back. The lender is very angry with him and about to take the borrower to the court. The lender will definitely accuse the person in the court and then he will be put into prison. Once he goes to the court, chances will be little that the person can get out of prison.

So, how can the borrower to avoid the punishment? The person must reconcile with the lender before going to the court, right? Jesus, however, is not teaching them how to avoid accusation regarding human affairs. Rather, he is telling this in light of God’s imminent judgment. We all are sinners and will be accused before God at the last day. Once Jesus comes again with the kingdom, we will have no more opportunity. We must stand before God to be judged. How terrible it will be!

A long time ago, after I finished a Bible study on UM campus at night, I was passing around the M circle in University of Maryland and mistakenly got into the circle from the wrong lane. Then a policeman caught me. Weeks later, I went to the court to appeal. There were many violators. While waiting in the courtroom, I saw a guy whose violation was much heavier than mine. I thought that definitely his drive license would be suspended. But amazingly, he only paid some penalty. The reason was that he came with his lawyer and the lawyer defended him so well that the judge did not suspend his drive license. I saw the great benefit of having a lawyer. Then I was called up. When I stood before the judge, I was nervous and could not but defend myself. I have learned that it will be much terrible when I stand before God’s judgment seat.

So, we should reconcile with God before being judged at the God’s judgment seat. It is urgent. It should be done now before the day comes. How? Thankfully, we believers have Jesus who is our lawyer and defender. If you accept and believe in him, he will defend you before God and you don’t have to be tried.

Overall, Jesus teaches his disciples what will come after Jesus’ death. They will see the powerful work of God more than ever so that many people will believe. The fire has already been kindled. The gospel is spreading to all the corners of the world. The Holy Sprit is working powerfully among people, convicting people of their sins and turning them to the Lord. This will happen until Jesus comes again. Those who still do not believe will face God’s terrible judgment. Therefore, now we should reconcile with God by believing Jesus.

Now can you interpret this present time? The fire of God has been kindled. The fire is consuming the world. The kingdom of God has come. Jesus is coming. We don’t know when he is coming. We don’t have much time. So it is urgent. Do not be ignorant of the signs of the present time. Now is time to reconcile with God by accepting the gospel of Jesus. If not, you will face God’s judgment.
by David Yun