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Luke 12:49-53

⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Is this what you expected to hear from Jesus when you got up to come to church today? Probably not. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, right? You expect to hear Jesus proclaiming a message of peace, but instead you get all this: fire, distress, division, fighting. Fathers against sons. Mothers against daughters. Houses of five divided – three to two. Who will be in the majority and will the majority be on Jesus’ side?

Jesus asks, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?”

“Well, yes, Mr. Jesus, if you are asking, yes. Now that You are here shouldn’t everything go perfectly? Aren’t You here to end all war, famine, and calamity? Aren’t You here to make everything fantastic? Make the lion lie down with the lamb and all that. Make this world the place ‘where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average’?”

Jesus doesn’t let us answer His question, “Do you think I have come to give peace on earth?” He jumps right in and says, “No, I tell you, but rather division.” In the same context in Matthew, Jesus answers His own question more violently, “I have not come not to bring peace but a sword” (Mt. 10:34).

Swords and division go together. Swords divide. They are a tool of war designed with one purpose – to divide. Flesh from bone. Soul from body. Paul writes that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Maybe, then, we shouldn’t be surprised when Jesus, the Word of God in the flesh, brings division. In our Old Testament lesson (Jer. 23:16-29), God says, “Is not my Word like a fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

Remember that the next time you come to church and hear the Word of God. Remember that before you crack open your Bible. Be careful with the Word of God. You can get burned. You can get smashed. You can get slashed.

The division Jesus speaks about is first and foremost within you. The work of God’s Word is to separate you from your sin, and this isn’t a pleasant operation. It is a terrifying ordeal. God talks about it as removing your heart of stone and giving you a heart of flesh. We’d prefer to postpone the operation. Maybe get a second opinion. But Jesus won’t wait for us to sign liability forms. Jesus is ready to get the whole thing started.

Jesus says, “Fire is coming to the earth, and let’s get it kindled. I’m going to be baptized in My own blood and God’s judgment. I will go to the cross where the napalm of God’s wrath will be poured out upon Me because I will become sin – for you.” Jesus will be baptized upon the cross as God pours out His anger against your sin upon His own beloved Son.

In Christ, God is at war with sin. The Great Physician is amputating what is incurable – your sin, your evil, your wickedness. He took it upon Himself and nailed it to the cross, buried it in the tomb, and left it there when He rose from the dead.

And in your baptism, God joined you together with Jesus. You who are baptized have been baptized in to His death – into a Jesus-type death. You were buried with Jesus by baptism into death. Since you have been united with Jesus in a death like His, you will certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His (Ro. 6:3-5).

“But pastor, that’s all over now, right?” Nope, that’s not what the Scriptures say. Sorry. Through His Word, God has raised up a new man inside of you. If it were over, you wouldn’t sin anymore. But you do. Your old, sinful flesh still clings to you. So now the good things you want to do, you don’t do them. The things you hate because God says they are sin, you still do those things (Ro. 7:14-20). God has made your hearts instruments of faith and faith will and must fight against sin and unbelief.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Ro. 7:24-25). All the while God says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 8:1).

God’s Word is still a sword. Believer, on this side of glory you are still at war. The Word of God still cuts and divides. And the place where it is rightly preached is always marked by division. Your neighbors, your friends, and sadly, yes, even your family will be divided against you. God’s Word of Truth is the stench of death to those who do not believe. People you love will stop their ears to the Gospel. They don’t want to hear the Gospel – the free forgiveness of sin – because they don’t want to need forgiveness.

But you, you will run with endurance the race set before you. You will lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. You do this looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith (Heb. 12:1-2). This Jesus is coming again. When He comes, His power will be seen. The fog will clear, and all of the devil’s lies will be exposed.

Then you won’t run. You won’t stand. You will kneel. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Then, and only then, will the division within and without cease.

Until then, you fight. Fight and rejoice in the joy that Christ has given. You will fight singing a battle song. Even though it will appear that the enemy is winning because even if you fall in that battle (and unless Jesus comes first, you will), the victory is already won. Forgiveness is yours. You are now free, and soon you will be whole. Then your warfare will end. Then the sword will be beaten into a plowshare. Then you who have been made clean will lie down with the Lamb. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.