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Morning. Before you take out your Bibles
and turn to Luke chapter 12, I want you to look at me. I just want you to know, dear
church, brothers and sisters, how much I love you. I'm so thankful
for each and every one of you. Well, if you would please take
out your Bibles and turn to Luke 12. We continue in our study through
the Gospel of Luke, and we find ourselves once again in this
extended section of Jesus' teachings to the multitudes who've gathered
to hear him. And we come today to a passage
that addresses one of the most important questions that a Christian
could ask. Because the answer to this question
determines, in large part, how you view your Christian life.
Like, what does it mean to live as a Christian? And your answer
to this question also determines how you view the church. Like,
what should we, as a church, be all about? And that's the
question, why did Jesus come? Did Jesus come primarily to feed
the hungry and heal the sick? If so, then the highest priority
in the Christian life and the primary mission of the church
should be to go and do likewise, to prioritize practical mercy
ministries above all else. Or did Jesus come primarily to
be an example of love and mercy and righteousness for us? If
so, then the whole of the Christian life would just boil down to
be like Jesus, imitate Jesus. What would Jesus do? And that
would be the primary message of the church. Or, did Jesus
come primarily to be a good moral teacher? If so, then the church
should primarily be a place for Christians to learn those lessons
so that we can be better people. Morality is of first importance. You see what I'm saying. The
answer to the question, why did Jesus come? It has tremendously
significant implications on both how we live as Christians, as
individual Christians, and what we as a church should be doing.
Now given how vitally important the question is, It should not
surprise us that Jesus, on several different occasions in the Gospels,
addresses and answers that exact question. For even the Son of
Man came, Mark 10, 45. Why? Why did he come? Not to
be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for
many. I came, John 10, 10, Why? Why did you come, Jesus? That
they may have life and have it abundantly. The Son of Man came,
Luke 19.10. Why? Why did he come? To seek
and to save the lost. And so you see how each of those
well-known passages addresses the same question of why Jesus
came, giving, of course, the same answer, the Gospel, that
Jesus came to die to save lost sinners that they might have
life, the same answer from slightly different angles. And that answer
is why we, as Christians, need to live gospel-centered lives. And why we, as a church, why
we must be a gospel-centered church. So each of those passages
gives an answer to the question, why did Jesus come? But our passage... our verses
for this morning, unlike those passages that we just read, they
don't give us just one answer to that question. They don't
even give us just two answers to that question. In our passage,
Luke chapter 12, verses 49 to 53, Jesus gives us three answers
to the question of why he came. Three answers that, again, are
all going to point to the same gospel. but again are gonna approach
from slightly different angles. And so given how important the
question is, and given how many different aspects of the answer
Jesus gives to us here, we who are his people ought to be paying
very close attention to this passage. Let me start by reading
the passage and then we'll talk about what it means and how we
might apply it to our lives. Luke chapter 12, verses 49 through
53. Hear the word of the Lord. 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. Brothers and sisters, the word
of the Lord. So I have three points for you
today, and all three points are going to answer the same question.
Why did Jesus come? Point number one, Jesus came
to cast fire. Point number two, Jesus came
to be baptized. And point number three, Jesus
came to divide. Let's go through those one at
a time. First point number one, Jesus
came to cast fire. Why did Jesus come? He came to
cast fire. At least that's what he says
in verse 49, I came to cast fire on the earth. So there you go. Easy enough. Point number one,
Jesus came to cast fire. But what exactly does that mean?
Obviously, he's not speaking literally. I Came to Cast Fire
isn't like The Human Torch from Fantastic Four. And I already know that only
two of you in this entire room are going to get this reference,
so this is just for you two, but this is not like Dhalsim
from Street Fighter with his yoga fires. He's speaking metaphorically. He's speaking symbolically. Say,
fair enough. But then what does fire stand
for? What does it mean? Well, there's a couple of possibilities
here. Some people think he's talking about the Holy Spirit.
Think Acts chapter 2. Think about the day of Pentecost
when divided tongues, as of fire, appear to them. I guess that's
a possible interpretation, but it would be kind of random for
Jesus to prophesy about the coming of the Holy Spirit in this context
right here. Like, I'm not really sure what
the connection would be with anything else that he's been
saying. Others think that he's talking
about the word that he preaches. You know, in Jeremiah 23, where
God says, is not my word like fire, like a hammer that breaks
the rock in pieces? And I suppose that reference
could make sense here in the middle of this long teaching
in Luke 12. Like even as he's saying this,
he is in the middle of casting the fire of the word left and
right. But I think the best interpretation
here is that in talking about fire, I came to cast fire on
the earth, Jesus is talking about judgment. Because fire, throughout
the Bible, is often a picture of judgment. And that's not just
true in the Psalms, and Isaiah, and Amos, and 2 Thessalonians,
and I could give you a whole bunch of cross-references here,
but I'll let you do that study on your own. But we've also already
seen this picture used this way in this very Gospel. Luke chapter
3. You remember our old friend John
the Baptist? Even now, the axe is laid to
the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does
not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And then he says this about Jesus
in chapter 3, verse 17. His winnowing fork is in his
hand to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into
his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. And so in those verses, right,
from this very same Gospel, fire is clearly a picture of judgment. And so it makes sense for us
to understand this word picture here in Luke 12 in the same way,
as that of judgment. And look at how in John 9, 39,
How Jesus gives the same exact reason there for his coming into
the world. Why did you come into the world?
Jesus said, for judgment I came into this world, that those who
do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. So
why did Jesus come? Point number one, Jesus came
to cast fire, referring to judgment. Now we might not typically think
of Jesus' coming, at least his first coming, as being one of
judgment. We typically think of it as being
all about saving sinners. The saying is trustworthy and
deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. But you see, that gospel of salvation,
that saving of sinners, is one that necessarily separates the
wheat from the chaff. One that necessarily separates
the sheep from the goats. One that necessarily separates
those who, by believing in Him, are saved from judgment, saved
from fire, and those who, in their rejection of him, remain
under God's judgment and remain under fire. And so Jesus, even in his coming
to seek and to save the lost, has also come to cast fire on
the earth. But notice, that's not all Jesus
has to say about fire. Look at the second half of the
verse. Would that it, referring to the fire, would that it were
already kindled. He's desiring, longing, yearning
for that judgment of fire to come, for that fire to be kindled. But why? Well, that leads us
to point number two. Why did Jesus come? Point number
two, Jesus came to be baptized. Verse 50, I have a baptism to
be baptized with. Again, just like fire, this isn't
literal, he's not referring to a physical baptism, and we know
that because Well, Jesus already was physically baptized by John
the Baptist all the way back in chapter 3. It's like if Emilio
were to come up to me today and say, I have a baptism to be baptized
with. What do you mean? You had a baptism
last Sunday. So if Jesus is not referring
to a physical baptism, again, what then is the metaphor? What
is being symbolized here? Well, to answer the question,
we should ask ourselves if there are any other passages in the
Gospels in which Jesus uses the idea of baptism in a metaphorical
sense. And that leads us to Mark chapter
10. You're probably familiar with
the backstory here. James, John, the two brothers, they come up
to Jesus and they ask him, grant us to sit. One at your right
hand and one at your left, in your glory. Silly request, but
do you remember Jesus' response? Mark 10, 38. You do not know
what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup
that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I
am baptized? So you see how in that statement
that Jesus makes there, Jesus links the metaphor of baptism
together with another metaphor. He puts baptism in parallel construction
with a second metaphor, that of drinking the cup. And drinking
the cup, we can be pretty sure about this from many Old Testament
references, drinking the cup is a reference to suffering the
wrath of God in judgment. And since being baptized in that
verse means the same thing as drinking the cup, right, they're
parallel concepts, then that means that baptism also refers
to suffering the wrath of God in judgment. And so it's a picture
of how, just like in physical baptism, right, picture Emilio,
the one being baptized is submerged, he's immersed, he's plunged beneath
the physical water, So in the same way, one under God's wrath
is immersed, submerged, or plunged in the waters of God's judgment.
And so going back to Luke chapter 12, verse 50, I'm kind of putting
this all together here. If Jesus is using baptism in
the same sense in Luke 12 as he does in Mark 10, and I see
no reason why we can't make that assumption, then what Jesus is
saying here, what he's referring to here when he says, I have
a baptism to be baptized with, he's talking about the cross.
He's talking about the fact that on the cross, he's gonna suffer
the wrath of God in judgment. He's gonna drink the cup of God's
wrath, the cup that will not be removed from him. Nevertheless,
not my will, but yours be done. Of course, not the wrath of God
for his own sins, for Jesus lived a perfect life. No, the wrath
of God for our sins. He takes our place. He takes
our sin upon himself. Then he drinks down the cup of
God's wrath that's reserved for us on our behalf, down to the
dregs. He's baptized into the wrath
of God for all the ways in which we have sinned against the Holy
God, all the ways in which we've rebelled and broken His laws.
Why? So that sinners like you and
like me can be saved. If we repent of our sins and
trust in Jesus' death and resurrection, we can be saved. Point number
two, why did Jesus come? Jesus came to be baptized. And
do you see the wonderful connection between the first two points,
between the fire and the baptism? Jesus in coming brings judgment,
judgment for sin, judgment that each and every one of us deserves,
fire, because we've broken the laws of a holy God. But Jesus,
in coming, dies for our sin. He undergoes a baptism. He immerses
himself in that judgment that each and every one of us deserves.
And so yes, he judges. He brings judgment. But he first
bears judgment on our behalf, that we might be spared from
that judgment. Or to put it another way, if
it were not for Jesus's baptism, Jesus's fire would have consumed
us all. But thanks be to God, in the
gospel, his baptism quenches his fire. So now we can come back to that
question we asked earlier. Why does Jesus say, referring
to the fire of judgment, why does he say, would that it were
already kindled? Why does he desire so strongly
for this judgment to come? It's because the fullness of
the judgment, the fullness of that judgment coming means that
his mission is accomplished. His mission is completed. Look
at how in the end of verse 50, he refers to accomplishing his
mission. When his salvation is accomplished,
when his baptism is completed, When He dies for sin and rises
again, triumphant over death, and then ascends to the right
hand of the Father, when His work is finished, that means
that eternal salvation has been secured for His people and the
just judgment of those who reject Him is pronounced. Salvation
and judgment, they're like two sides of the same coin. with
the gospel determining which side you're on. And so Jesus,
we've seen him pictured as resolutely setting his face to Jerusalem
that he might fulfill that task. And so here he longs for that
day when it would all be accomplished and completed. Oh, that it were
already kindled. But until that day, until the
completion, Oh, how great my distress until it is accomplished,
he says. And that's not just like a general
distress as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. No, this
is great distress as he anticipates becoming the sin bearer for all
of his people, as he foresees his upcoming baptism. This is
great distress a distress that would be exhibited most prominently
in the Garden of Gethsemane, where sweat became like great
drops of blood falling to the ground, where it was an agony. My soul is very sorrowful, even
to death. Great distress, as he thinks
ahead to that moment when darkness would come over the land. And
he would cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But that great distress, as great
as it would be, well, it would only be for but a moment. How great is my distress until,
until, until he concludes his work, until his baptism is completed,
until, look again at verse 50, it is accomplished. In Greek,
that word is teleste, which you may recognize as coming from
the same root as his very last word, tetelestai, it is finished. And so Jesus is longing for the
joy that was set before him. He's longing to say those words.
How great is my distress until it is finished. Point number
two, Jesus came to be baptized. So why did Jesus come? Well,
point number one, he came to cast fire and judgment. Point
number two, he came to be baptized and to take upon himself the
judgment for the sins of his people. And point number three,
we're gonna see how this is a natural consequence of points number
one and two. Jesus came to divide. Verse 51, do you think that I
have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. And you say, wait a minute. What
do you mean Jesus didn't come to give peace on earth? Whatever
happened to the Prince of Peace? The one who makes peace by the
blood of his cross? What happened to Ephesians chapter 2? He himself
is our peace. You mean to tell me that the
angels got it wrong back in chapter 2? Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Well,
no, Jesus does bring peace. Through the baptism that he undergoes,
his death, Jesus brings peace between God and man, between
a holy God and sinful man. Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled. Therefore, since we have been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." Romans 5.1. And because of that vertical
peace that sinners now have with God because of Christ, well not
horizontally, We who previously were at enmity with one another,
we can now be at peace with one another. That's the whole point
of Ephesians chapter 2. He himself is our peace, and
so he's even made Jews and Gentiles, people who hated each other,
he's made them one in him by breaking down that dividing wall
of hostility. And so yes, in a very real sense,
Jesus does bring peace, but that peace, somewhat ironically, also
brings division. Because when someone is saved,
when someone is brought to peace with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ, when they're spared from the fire of point number one
by the baptism of point number two, Well, the Bible says that
they're a new creation, that the old has passed away and behold,
the new has come. Which means that not only are
they different from their old selves, but also significantly,
they're now different from all those around them. And when you're a person who
loves the Lord Jesus, surrounded by those who are in rebellion
against the same Lord Jesus. When you're a man after God's
own heart, surrounded by those who set themselves against the
Lord and His anointed, when you're a woman who is a slave to righteousness,
and you're surrounded by those who are slaves to sin, you see,
division, separation, conflict, They're all inevitable. Just
picture this scene in your mind. You and your friends are all
walking together towards your sin, towards unrighteousness,
away from God, away from holiness. You want nothing to do with any
of that. And so you're all walking in this direction, and then by
His sovereign grace, God takes your spiritually dead heart and
grants to you faith and repentance. Well, what does it mean to repent?
It means to turn. And so now, you are leaving behind
the pursuit of sin and unrighteousness, and you are pursuing holiness.
You are pursuing God. But as you turn in that direction,
as you now desire God, and as you pursue Him with your whole
life, well, your friends continue down that same path of destruction.
And you see how division then is inevitable. And the closer
you're linked together, The more tightly knit you were with those
people, the more this separation is going to hurt, the more it's
going to tear those bonds apart. But it's inevitable. It's kind
of like what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6. Do not be unequally yoked,
yoked together with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness
with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light
with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion
does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has
the temple of God with idols? We'll often cite that passage
to talk about why believers shouldn't marry or date unbelievers. And that's true. Believers shouldn't
marry or date unbelievers. And that's a wonderful application
of that passage. But I hope you see that that
passage is much more broad, much more general than just romantic
relationships. Because Christ, his gospel, his
salvation, it divides all righteousness and all lawlessness. It divides
all light and all darkness. It separates and divides every
possible relationship that we could have. But you see, division and conflict
and rejection, those are always hard. But it's especially hard
when it's your own family. Your co-workers hate you, that's
one thing. Your neighbors can't stand you,
that's another thing. but your own family, your own
flesh and blood, that's where it really hurts. Yeah, I get
that the gospel is gonna cause strain and division in my relationships,
but even in my own family? Yes, Jesus says, even in your
own family. And so to make that point, Jesus
gives a hypothetical example of a family being divided. Look
at verses 52 and 53. He borrows this in substance
from the prophet Micah. If you count the people, the
number of people in verse 53, you're actually going to count
six. So there's father, son, mother,
daughter, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, So what kind of math is that?
How is that a two on three? It's kind of like the old riddle. Two fathers and two sons go fishing,
but there's only three men on the boat. How can that be? Well,
Sherlock, there's a grandfather, a father, and a son. And so one
man is both a father to his son and a son to his father, and
so there's actually only three people on that boat. Well, in
the same way, in verse 53, one woman is both a mother to her
own son and a mother-in-law to his son's wife. It's the same
person, and so there's actually only five people on that boat.
Probably not all that important, but at least you now have a good
riddle in your back pocket. Now that might be a hypothetical
example that Jesus is giving there. But at the same time,
I know that as some of us read that verse, like there's nothing
hypothetical about that at all. As some of you know, the division
that the gospel can cause in families. Because when, as a
young person, you got saved, that caused a serious divide
between you and your parents. They wanted you to devote your
life to money and power and prestige and success. And here you are
giving your life to Jesus and your relationship has never been
the same. You've experienced that division firsthand. Some of you know the division
that the gospel can cause in families because you are a Christian
and your spouse is not. And you know how hard that's
been on your marriage. And how you and your spouse,
you just have such different priorities and different values. Maybe that unsaved spouse is
even sitting here with you this morning. You know how your heart
longs for them to be saved. And so you've experienced that
division firsthand. And it's caused much heartbreak
in your life. Some of you know the division
that the gospel can cause in families because of when your
brother stopped talking to you and cut you out entirely from
his life after you shared the gospel with him and he was deeply
offended. Quick side application here,
if any of this really hits home, if you've experienced this firsthand, Don't give up on your unsaved
parents, on your unsaved spouse, on your unsaved brother. The
conflict and the tension in your relationship will make that an
easy enough temptation to just give up on them. But continue,
be steadfast in praying for them. Continue to share Christ with
them. Continue to be a light to them. Don't write them off
because the same gospel that took a spiritually dead sinner
like you and saved you can surely do the same in them. Point number
three, why did Jesus come? Jesus came to divide. And I hope
you see how these three points are intertwined, how they're
answers to the same question, and so they're closely related.
Jesus came to bring fire, to bring judgment. That was point
number one. But he spares his people from that fire by undergoing
a baptism on their behalf, by taking that judgment for them.
That's point number two. But now based on how people respond
to that baptism, to that death and resurrection, to that gospel,
whether by repentance and faith or by rejection and unbelief,
well that then divides them. And so point number three, Jesus
came to divide. So that's our text. Let me leave
you with two quick points of application here. First application point number
one, rightly view your earthly family. Rightly view your earthly family. Let me start with a few caveats
here. The Bible is very clear on the importance of family.
We just talked last week about how we must, as faithful Christians,
be faithful and wise managers when it comes to the stewardships
of our families. The Bible has a lot to say about
how parents and children, husbands and wives are to be faithful
in the relationships that God has given them. So one of the most beautiful
and wonderful and precious things in the world is a Christian family. A family in which both husband
and wife, father and mother love the Lord Jesus and they're bringing
up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Look
what a glorious picture of the transformative power of the gospel
and its ability to affect an entire family unit is. But with all that said, we need
to rightly view our earthly families. Jesus says it most plainly, Matthew
10, 37. Whoever loves father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. That is a sobering but important
thing for us to hear. Because we can easily take the
good and gracious gift of family that God has given to us, and
we can turn that into an idol. We can make our families the
end-all be-all, and our families become our highest and greatest
affections. But that should not be. Our love
for the Father, our love for the Lord Jesus, our love for
the Holy Spirit, our love for God, the three in one, has to
come first, and then our love for our families has to flow
out of that. Now sometimes, those two things are very compatible.
For example, you selflessly love and serve your wife, Well, that's
both loving her and honoring the Lord who calls you to love
your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Or you're leading your family
in devotions every night. Well, that's loving your family
by caring for their souls, caring for their spiritual good, and
loving the Lord who you're worshiping together. Or you just faithfully
go to church every single Sunday as a family. What a wonderful
thing for an entire family unit to worship God together and to
fellowship with His people together. And so sometimes, those two things
are very compatible. But at other times, and that's
kind of the point of this passage, at other times, they're not so
compatible. And the gospel causes division. three against two, two against
three. The gospel divides you from your
parents. The gospel divides you from your
children. The gospel divides you from your spouse. The gospel
divides you from your siblings. And the question is, will you
still follow Jesus despite that resistance? Will you still obey
the Lord? despite those headwinds, just to make it very practical.
What about when God calls you, through his word, to do something
that's not going to be very popular with certain people in your family? Are you okay with that? You're spending too much time
at church. Why aren't you coming to our
family barbecue next Sunday morning? Why do you prioritize being with
church people over us? Why aren't you going to your
cousin's wedding? How dare you waste your education
by becoming a missionary? That's where we really need God's
grace. That's where we really need the
abiding, enabling power of the Holy Spirit to rightly view our
earthly families. Yes, family is important. It's
so important. And so don't hear me, or more
importantly, hear Jesus saying otherwise. But part of the Christian
call, part of denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily,
This being willing to forsake anything and everything, I count
everything as loss, that would hinder us from loving the Lord,
our God, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And sometimes that even includes
family. Application point number one,
rightly view your earthly family. Application point number two,
rightly view your spiritual family. Let's cheat and look ahead a
little bit. Turn ahead in your Bibles to
Luke chapter 18. Let me read Luke chapter 18, verses
28 to 30. And Peter said, See, we have
left our homes and followed you. And Jesus said to them, Truly,
I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or
brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of
God, who will not receive many times more in this time and in
the age to come eternal life. Oftentimes when we think about
the blessings we get for making costly sacrifices for Christ,
such as being forsaken by family, we think about the blessings
in the life to come. And know how every sadness in
this life, from fractured family relationships because of the
gospel, how all of that will be more than made up for then.
But, Did you catch what Jesus just said? Look again at verse
30. You'll receive many times more
brothers and parents and children in this time, in this life. How? Well, in this life, in saving
sinners from fire through his baptism, Jesus calls his division
because he divides believers from unbelievers. But in doing
so, he also unites believers to one another in a new spiritual
family, all adopted into the same family by the same Heavenly
Father because of the work of Jesus Christ. So now we have
brothers and sisters in Christ. Friends, how wonderful is that?
That even as the gospel will divide many of us from unbelieving
family members, at the same time, it will unite us into even closer
bonds with brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of you know this firsthand
because your earthly family is unsaved. They don't know the
Lord. Or maybe your earthly family
is saved, but they live far, far away. And so this, like this,
this is your family, your church family. How incredibly kind for
a good and gracious God to give us such a wonderful gift. Our brothers and sisters and
parents and children in this life. So dear church, let us steward
that gift well. Let's steward this gift faithfully,
loving one another. spending ourselves for one another,
giving of our time and our energy and our resources for the sake
of one another, being eager to maintain the spirit of unity
in the bond of peace. For this is a family that should
not be divided, in which we should not see three against two and
two against three. And ultimately, Helping one another
to love the Lord our God in an undivided, complete way. Encouraging one another and all
the more as you see the day drawing near. Friends, what an incredible blessing
we have in one another, our church family. Application point number
two, rightly view your spiritual family Let's pray. Father, what an amazing gift
of grace that even as your gospel, the baptism of your Son that
saves us from your fire, that then divides us from unbelievers,
that this same gospel then grants to us brothers and sisters, parents
and children in this life. Father, allow us to be a church
that stewards that gift well for your glory. In Jesus' name,
amen.
Family Matters
Series Luke
Sermon preached by Harry Fujiwara on Luke 12:49-53
| Sermon ID | 72124208281083 |
| Duration | 45:49 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Luke 12:49-53 |
| Language | English |
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