Luke 12:49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
Today’s scripture, at face value, is very disconcerting. Jesus came to bring fire? He came to bring division? That’s not the Jesus I know and love. But I think that if we look at His words in the context of His time, we can better understand what Jesus meant.
Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!
The Pharisees and Sadducees embodied the prevailing religious attitudes of the day, neither of which is anything close to what Jesus stands for. The fire Jesus has come to bring, then, is a fire for God, for Christ. In order to bring that fire, Jesus has to wake people up to the errors of their ways. That type of awakening is always going to bring division. It’s unavoidable.
Luke 12:51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
Precious Savior, Thank You for allowing me wisdom to understand when I am baffled by Your words. Help me not to create You in my image, but to more fully understand who You are in God and who I am in You. Help me to see Your love and be Your love everywhere I go. Amen.
Luke 12:52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
Have a blessed day.