If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke Chapter 12. We're continuing through our series in the Gospel of Luke. Today, we will read Luke Chapter 12, verses 49 through Chapter 13, verse 9. Even though we go into a new chapter, this should be understood as one whole or one pericope of scripture, one context that we want to appreciate. with regard to Jesus as Jesus is teaching and preaching to the crowds, particularly his disciples, and the response that he demands of all who hear, who have ears to hear and eyes to see. So we'll read from chapter 12, verses 49 through chapter 13, verse 9. This is God's word. Let us hear the word of the Lord. Let us heed the word of the Lord. Jesus says, 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've paid the very last penny. There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. or those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them. Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And he told this parable, a man had a fig tree planted in his venue and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, look, For three years now, I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure. Then, if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down. Thus ends the reading of God's word. Let us pray. Our Father, I thank you for the word of the Lord. Thank you for your holy and inspired word. We thank you, Lord Jesus. We pray that you would speak to us now by your spirit. In Jesus name. Amen. In our passage this morning from Luke, chapter 12, verses forty nine to thirteen nine, Jesus interprets in advance the significance and meaning of the death he will experience in Jerusalem. I'm going to spend quite a bit of time on the first two verses. because the other verses explain the response that should come forth when someone understands verses 49 and 50. In the cross of Jesus Christ, we see the wrath and judgment of God revealed clearly as the eschatological wrath of God as this wrath is manifested, as it intrudes on this earth in the death of God's eternal Son. This baptism of fire that Jesus must undergo, that he speaks of in verse 40, it redeems and it unites a people. but it also divides. All people are called to repent in light of this fiery manifestation of God's just wrath revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem and the kingdom continues to be manifested in his person and work, so the opposition against Jesus intensifies as Jesus addresses Israel and the crowds. He addresses the crowds and Israel, particularly with the prophetic woes of judgment that will surely come upon all unbelievers if they do not repent. Jesus is saying now is the time to seek repentance and turn to him for hope and salvation. Now is the day of salvation. Jesus is saying the impending judgment is near and some will be saved and some will be destroyed. As Jesus has preached to the disciples and crowds about living their lives in light of the end, as we learned in the last two sermons. So now he also informs them that the judgment of the end is even present now and that it's intruding presently through Jesus's preaching and kingdom revelation. There is impending judgment for Jesus, we learn in this passage, and there's impending judgment for the whole world who reject Jesus Christ. Let's look at verses forty nine and fifty first together. Jesus says, I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished. Let's take note of the casting fire on earth that Jesus was called to do. First of all, we want to notice in verse forty nine is a great urgency in what Jesus is saying here. When Jesus speaks here of casting fire on the earth, he's speaking of the judgment day that the prophet spoke concerning when Messiah would appear, a judgment day that would be manifest when Messiah would come. It's the casting of the fire that Jesus is speaking of. Jesus is clearly saying in verse 49 that part of his divine messianic mission in making known the kingdom of God is to cast fire on the earth. And he eagerly anticipates the day when it will be kindled, he says. Remember earlier in Luke's gospel, John the Baptist, who was the fulfillment of the Malachi prophecy we read earlier, Malachi 3. John the Baptist was the messenger who came to prepare the way of Messiah or the Lord. And if you remember, John the Baptist message was this in Luke 3 9. We learn, he says, 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. John the Baptist is introducing that with Messiah there'll be a fire that is cast. In fact, he says in chapter 3, verses 16 through 18, John answered them in saying, I'm not Messiah. I'm just his forerunner. I'm just the messenger that precedes him. He says, I baptize you with water. Understand, but he who is mightier than I is coming. The strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. And so with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people. That was John the Baptist's message. That's Jesus' message of casting of a fire to be kindled upon the earth. Jesus will cast the fire on the earth. The great day of judgment has, in a sense, come in Jesus Christ. It's not been fully realized yet. But in the coming of the kingdom is manifested the day of judgment in Jesus' kingdom preaching and revelation. Jesus is saying here, however, more clearly, More than the prophets understood, Jesus is saying, as the great and final prophet, that I must undergo judgment on behalf of my people before the great judgment day of God will manifest itself fully. Yes, I've come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were kindled already, but I must undergo a baptism of fire first. Jesus is saying that in Jesus's judgment on the cross, the judgment he receives from God, we do indeed see the intrusion of God's last day, wrath and judgment against sin. We see it in Jesus's baptism. He sometimes calls it the cup he must drink. Father, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but yours be done. And so Jesus, the baptizer with fire, would be the one who would first be baptized with fire. Receiving the wrath of God from his father. This language of fiery judgment is present many times in the Old Testament prophets in Jeremiah forty three twelve it says that God says to the people I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. Zechariah 13, 13, nine says, and I will put this third into the fire and refine them as one refines silver and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name and I will answer them. I will say they are my people and they will say the Lord is my God. And then, as we read earlier in the Malachi prophecy, chapter three, beginning in verse two, Malachi says, Who can endure the day of Messiah's coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he's like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like silver and gold, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. We learn from these passages that fire in the old covenant throughout scripture can destroy. It consumes. It's God's way of making manifest his wrath. But this same fire also can purify and refine God's people by faith. That's a very important point of the prophets, that God's power, his fire that is kindled, that Jesus is speaking of in Luke 12, 49, is a fire that can consume. It's greatly dangerous. It's greatly powerful. It's the very wrath of God. But it's also a fire that by faith can purify and refine his people The fire that Jesus will cast upon the earth will consume unbelievers who opposed him, but it will purify and refine those who are united to him by faith. You see, we see this partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, where Jesus, after his death, his resurrection, his ascension, glory, enthronement, where Jesus pours out this all consuming spirit fire upon all those who believe. If you remember, the people had tongues of fire over their heads that did not consume them. Although the fire of the fiery tongues could have indeed. The spirit fire that was sent on Jesus's people, those who believed in him, was sent to refine and purify the sons of Levi by faith in Jesus. And so Jesus says, I must first undergo a baptism by fire in verse 50. Notice in verse 50B, Jesus is in great distress here. He's in great distress until his baptism is accomplished. Jesus must undergo a baptism crisis into which he must pass through in order to accomplish his divine messianic mission. This is the crisis he must pass through in order to save and redeem his people. This baptismal crisis is the reason for which he was sent, ultimately. The prospect of Jesus' sufferings The one who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses, the one who was like God and like us, who was truly God and truly man. This one for Jesus, the prospect of his sufferings was a perpetual Gethsemane for him. Continually, did he realize without the taint of sin clouding his mind, how great was the judgment and just wrath of his father without the cloudiness that sin might cause us to be. uncaring about it, to not be as fearful as we should be. This Jesus was not clouded by sin. He knew what he must face. And so we see this great distress that he feels. We also see this distressful struggle that Jesus went through, as it's explained to us in John's gospel, when Jesus comes to the hour of being betrayed. In John 12, 27, at the hour when Jesus is betrayed, he says, My soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. The baptism by fire that Jesus must experience, as I said earlier, briefly, must be linked to the cup that Jesus speaks of later in Luke's gospel, this cup of God's wrath that Jesus must drink down to the dregs for sinful humanity. Remember, in Luke 22, Jesus says, Father, if you're willing, Remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Jesus, to think about his sufferings and his anguish brings great distress to him in his humanity, even though he's in hypostatic union with deity, even though he's one person with two natures, his humanity is real. And he experienced great distress, great agony, so that on the cross, when he cried out for his people, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He truly meant it. Jesus realizes that his clear revelation and the teaching about the kingdom of God present in himself will create, will continue to create opposition against him. This will end up being the reason for which Jesus will have to undergo the baptism of God's fiery wrath. God, in his sovereignty, will use sinful mankind to nail him to the cross. In order to better understand baptism, I think it's significant. It's important to look back to how baptism is taught to us in the Old Covenant and especially in the ancient Near Eastern time period in the Old Covenant. Salvation, the salvation, the Old Testament meaning of baptism had two aspects, one of judgment as well as salvation. And we see this in the exodus from Egypt, if you will, when they were crossing the Red Sea. In the Exodus from Egypt, the Egyptians are drowned in the Red Sea. They undergo a baptismal crisis, but it's a baptism of judgment that they undergo when the waters of God's wrath consume them. Exodus 15, where Moses sings the song, he says that the horse and his rider, they were thrown down into the sea. The Lord's wrath consumed them. There's judgment revealed in baptism, but there's also salvation. If you remember, we learned in 1 Corinthians 10 that Israel is saved because they were baptized into Moses. Now, what does that mean? It means that they were represented by Moses. And so, when they came upon this crisis of the Red Sea, they passed through and were saved. They were redeemed. The waters of judgment did not consume them. This is in the back of Jesus' mind when He's speaking of baptism. It's not only with fire, but it's with the water that symbolizes the water. The water that will consume the people in judgment, but will also save those who make it through the crisis by faith in God. In the ancient Near East, in the wider context of the ancient world, baptism in the ancient Near East was a crisis that a person would be subjected to that included water or the passing through of water. In the ancient Near East, waters would be used as a crisis where Either a person would either pass through the judgment waters and be saved or vindicated, or they would pass through and be consumed and therefore judge. The term was also used in the ancient Near East for the total destruction of a city. You would say that a city was baptized by fire when it was consumed by an enemy. And so the reality of this baptism, Jesus speaks of it, we do not want to miss is the is the cross. It's clearly the cross of Christ that Jesus is speaking of. Although there are symbols, there's water, there's fire, the reality is the cross for sinners. Here, Jesus speaks of the cross that he as representative of his people must bear on their behalf and how greatly he is distressed until this has been accomplished. Now, let's go back in Luke's gospel and be reminded of a few things. We should be reminded that Jesus has already undergone John's baptism. Remember back in Chapter three, he's undergone John's baptism. He underwent John's baptism, not because he needed repentance, because he was a representative of his people. This baptism was a baptism as a representative. Jesus's messianic baptism now that he's speaking of is not the baptism of John. The baptism he's speaking now is a baptism of judgment he must undergo. It is also a representative baptism because it represents his people. So Jesus is saying my messianic mission cannot be accomplished until I undergo God's judgment upon sin. Jesus has been our representative who was represented by John, and now he's the one who will represent us before the Father. He must undergo a baptism by fire on behalf of his people in order to be vindicated and resurrected for his people. So what Jesus is saying is, I'm about to face a crisis where I must pass through a baptism. I must pass through as representative, and this will either prove that I'm righteous But before God, through his vindication, or it will prove I'm unrighteous because I will remain dead in the tomb with no Lord to say and deliver me. In the book of Acts, Dr. Luke tells us of the great news of the gospel. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear. Not to all the people, but to us who have been chosen by God as witnesses, who drank and ate with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. In other words, to fast forward to Acts chapter 10, Dr. Luke's second volume, we learn that Jesus was indeed vindicated by God in his resurrection. He didn't stay under the power of death, who is his great enemy. He was raised for our salvation vindication. He was raised because he was not guilty before God. It's important to understand the one mission of Jesus in the light of Luke's larger gospel, to understand the one mission of Jesus with different phases to this mission. If you remember, phase one was Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. Phase two was Jesus was baptized by the Spirit of God from heaven and who equipped him to carry forth his divine messianic mission. Phase three was Jesus was baptized with fire upon the cross, which he's speaking of here. Phase four was that Jesus was fully baptized by the Spirit of God in his glory enthronement when he was glorified and made the life-giving spirit. as 1 Corinthians 15, 45 speaks of his resurrection, exaltation, glory, enthronement. Then at this point, Jesus would pour out his spirit on his people to cleanse and purify them. So it's helpful understanding the phases of Jesus's one divine messianic mission. He had to go through the cross as a baptism. He had to go and receive the Holy Spirit fully. in his glory and thronement in order to pour out his spirit on those who believe. I think at this point it's important to talk about theologically the term vicarious atonement. What is vicarious atonement? I think it's important to understand this term in the context of how we are identified with Jesus, our representative in this baptism he speaks of. John 3.18 and 3.36 says that whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, meaning they stand condemned now. As unbelievers, because they've not believed in the name of the only son of God in John three thirty six, John writes, whoever believes in the sun is eternal life, but who does not whoever does not obey the sun shall not see life. But the wrath of God remains on him. That's how John can speak of one who does not have a representative who's undergone a baptism of wrath under God's judgment, that the wrath of God abides on them even now. Vicarious means in the place of another. Jesus was baptized with God's wrath in our stead, in the stead of those who believe. So he was baptized in our place so that we might be saved, so that we might be redeemed and we might be saved from the wrath of God in him. The ground of the Christian's redemption, the ground, that foundation of the Christian's redemption is found in Christ's vicarious atonement on our behalf. In this vicarious atonement, we have God's wrath against sinners where it's satisfied and reconciliation is accomplished by the obedience and perfect sacrifice of God's eternal son. As we learned earlier in Isaiah 53, it was the Lord's will to crush him. for our iniquities. This is a picture of the vicarious sacrifice, of the sacrifice of Jesus and his baptism in the place of another. It is vicarious, and that vicarious sacrifice is one that in Him, in that crushing of the Son, we find by faith, being united to Him, a cleansing and a purification by His Spirit so that we might be righteous as He is righteous. The Apostle Paul in Romans 6 can even speak of our identification of Christ in his death and resurrection in such a way that teaches us that we were indeed there. In Romans 6, verse 3 to 5, it says, Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in a newness of life. He says, if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. And so we sing the spiritual song, Were You There? And for believers, yes, they were there. Jesus' judgment and baptism on the cross was our baptism and judgment on the cross. Jesus is salvation through the baptism of God's wrath is our salvation through baptism, through the baptism of God's wrath. So we have died with him. We will also be raised with him. And that's important to understand with regard to our salvation. But Jesus goes on to say that this truth of the kingdom that's being revealed in himself and and in his ministry, this truth does not bring peace. As many think, it actually divides. Look at verses 51 through 53. Jesus says, Do you think that I've come to bring peace on the earth? Basically, he says, No, I did not bring come to bring peace on the earth. Rather, I came to bring division where households will be divided. With regard to their either having faith in Jesus Christ or rejecting Jesus Christ. Why not peace on earth? Isn't that what Luke tells us the angels on high said in all their glory? Didn't he say peace on earth, goodwill toward men? That's what we always hear. Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Isn't that what we hear in the angels? We hear that there was a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, and the angels say glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill upon men. But that's not a good translation. The translation should be that the peace is extended to those on whom his favor rests. The peace is for the world, all of those who are in the world. But the peace is for those upon whom his favor rests, those to whom his favor is extended in the person of Jesus Christ. And those on whom his favor rests are those who God has provided a substitutionary sacrifice for them in the person of Jesus Christ. For them, it's Shalom. For them, it's peace and reconciliation with God. For them, it's union with one another, whether Jew or Gentile. And so the Judgment Day wrath of God intrudes upon the present as men either receive or reject Jesus Christ and his kingdom, and this divides families as a result. See, in these verses, Jesus does indeed unite a new family in him through grace. His mission, though, was to divide humanity into those who are part of this present age that was passing away. Divide those people from those who are part of the age to come by faith in him. So his purpose was to divide so that he would have members of a kingdom, that he would bring down the wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles and bring union to those in him. but not apart from him. You see, as Paul says in Galatians 3, that in Jesus Christ, all are children of God, whether they're Jew or Gentile, whether they're slave or free, whether they're male or female. Jesus has broken down the wall of partition or hostility that stood between them. So, yes, he brings peace to those in him, but he also divides. Remember, in chapter two of Luke, we also learn of the division that Jesus is to bring. Not only do the angels not say peace on earth, goodwill toward all men. The angels say that peace is on those whom his favor rests. But later on in chapter two, if you remember when Jesus is brought to the temple and Simeon greets him, he says, my eyes have beheld the glory. And he says, after he blessed them, he says to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. It's very important. Simeon says right up front, even as the baby's an infant being blessed, that this infant will divide people. This will cause a division within Israel to show forth who are the true Israelites by faith and who are those to be rejected, who may claim Abraham as their father, but who are really of their father, the devil, as Jesus says in John 8. Here we have very early before Jesus begins his mission. Simeon says this child is for the rising and falling of many in Israel, and a sword will pierce through your heart also, your soul also. You see, Jesus is going to divide Israel into those who are the true Israelites and those who are not because they have rejected him. Remember, this is how Paul speaks in Romans 9, 6. He says, Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Why? Because they've rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Jesus has divided the people. He's brought peace or shalom to those who believe. People have got the basic unit of all social groups, as you may know, is the family. Even before the government and the church, there was the family. And yet the cross of Christ divides those within this basic social group because one is either for or against Jesus Christ. There's no neutrality. This is, again, Jesus' teaching on no neutrality with regard to him. One is either for Jesus or against him. And so, therefore, it divides even the most basic social group, which is the family. We must remember, as the written word of God is a two edged sword that divides whether one accepts it or receives it or believes it or not. So the incarnate word is also a two edged sword who divides one either believes or rejects the king and the kingdom. And so that's why Jesus turns and calls them hypocrites here in verses 54 to 58. He says, you can look around and you can predict, you can foretell the weather, but you can't tell that I'm among you. You can't tell that what you can tell what the weather is. You can tell when the rain is going to come or when it's going to get hot. But you cannot tell what's in right in your midst, you cannot see, you cannot interpret the times as a time where you must repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He said, you know, in Palestine, a cloud from the West meant simply that moisture was coming from the Mediterranean Sea, and everybody would see it and say, OK, rain is coming. And the southwesterly wind would come from the Negev Desert and bring such scorching heat that the temperature would literally rise 30 degrees in an hour. They were all with that. They understood that clearly. They could see clearly the natural signs of weather. They could interpret the significance of a cloud. They could interpret what that means. They could interpret the significance of a southwesterly hot wind. But they can't interpret the significance of Christ and his kingdom that's present in their midst. In his person, in his word. And so Jesus, in verse 56, rightly calls them hypocrites. He says, you hypocrites, you can tell the weather, you can predict the weather, you cannot interpret the clear teaching that the kingdom of God is present among you. And so, because you cannot interpret rightly, when it begins to rain, you go inside. When it gets hot, you find a shelter. But here I am in all my glory and kingdom, and you cannot repent! The prophet spoke of me when I come. Who can stand on the day of his coming? Who can endure his wrath? And Jesus has just got through saying, I am going to undergo that wrath on behalf of those who believe. But your response is to repent in light of that. This kingdom is present among you. The day of salvation is here now. Call upon the name of the Lord, lest you be consumed and not refined and purified. You see, the 11 of the Pharisees that Jesus spoke of in chapter 12, verse 1, has 11, the whole batch of Israel. And so Jesus is calling them all hypocrites, like the weather that tells them something's about to happen. So Jesus is preaching and his miracles are to tell something of what's about to happen with regard to the impending judgment of God. And so that's why he goes into speaking of settling matters very briefly in verses 58 and 59. The context dictates that we understand that this is settling matters with God, settling the debt that we owe to God. And he uses the language of the prison, settling these matters, because if you are guilty, you'll have to pay every cent or never be released from prison. Being released from debtor's prison was very extremely unlikely in Jesus' day. A context, he's saying, make your peace with God now through repentance by finding your hope in me, Jesus is saying. Do it now, because you have a debt that you cannot pay, that my baptism will pay for, once and for all. And so, he tells the people, unless you repent, you all likewise will perish. Look at chapter 13, verses 1 through 5. As Jesus has an impending judgment that he must face the baptism by fire, where he will take the father's wrath for the sins of his people. So there's also an impending judgment on those in Israel who are presently rejecting him and who will continue to reject him. That's what he's saying here. To reject Christ is to reject his perfect obedience and sacrifice offered by God for guilty sinners. And so Jesus says what Paul says, all have fallen short of the glory of God. All have sinners, whether you're Jew or Gentile, all are sinners. None seek after God, as Paul says in Romans 3 9. That's, in essence, what Jesus is saying here. He's saying, in light of all that I've said, in light of all that I've revealed to you, you must repent no matter who you are. If you remember earlier in Luke's gospel, he said that the The Pharisees and the teachers of the law rejected God's purposes for them. How did they show that rejection? They rejected John's baptism for repentance. And so we might remember how John responded to them. You brood of vipers. Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. Don't say that you have Abraham as our father, because God is able from these stones to raise up a child of Abraham. And so Jesus is teaching all people, everyone who can hear my voice, all people who hear about the king and the kingdom, that for all people, we must understand that in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we see the king and the kingdom. And in light of that, we're to repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. We're to seek Christ for our salvation. Notice in verses one through five, there was this idea that we see even in our day, In Jesus' day, as well as in our own, some people believe that when bad things happen to people, it's because of God's judgment on sin. So he says to you, these Galileans were worshipping, and Pilate comes in, having a bad day, and murders them while they're sacrificing, while they're worshipping God. They must have been bad, real bad. And then he says, these Galileans, the tower in Siloam, they fell on them. They must have been real bad, huh? And Jesus responds to both cases, saying, no, but unless you repent, you likewise will perish. He clears up the wrong thinking that they had and that we have today, many times when we see disaster around us, that is somehow the judgment of God on bad people. Being killed while worshiping. It's pretty bad, experiencing a terrible death in the fall of a tower is very bad, but it's nothing. Nothing compared to the impending judgment on sinners who refuse and reject Jesus Christ and who will not repent. Nothing compared to the impending judgment of God's wrath that will consume those who do not believe. When people observe the terrible reality of death, Jesus is saying they're not to think about how the people who suffer must have somehow deserved it more than they did. Jesus is saying there to realize that death is imminent for us all and that the judgment of God follows our death if we do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the only way we can be prepared is through repentance and faith. One one author wrote that the issue is not when death will happen or why it happens, but avoiding a terminal fate with even greater consequences. Only repentance will prevent the death that lasts. Another teacher wisely said the fate of these people is a reminder, not of their sins. They were neither better nor worse than many others, but it was of the urgency of the gospel. Had they only known what was a stir, had they only been warned that pilot was in a black mood or that the building was dangerous, they might have saved their lives. But there was no one there to warn them. And so they perish. So this generation, says Jesus, in effect, is walking politically and religiously straight for disaster. The warning has been given, though, by Jesus Christ. First by John the Baptist, and now by Jesus. It's a warning to change direction before it's too late. It's a very serious warning that we must all hear and heed. And so Jesus closes this section with the parable of the barren fig tree in verses 6 through 9. Jesus is using the language of the fig tree that describes Israel, the prophet Jeremiah in Chapter 12 of Jeremiah and more particularly in Chapter 24 of Jeremiah. The fig tree was symbolic of Israel and Jeremiah, the prophet, as Jesus here. is telling Israel to repent and turn to the Lord that keep their fruit in keeping with repentance is Jeremiah's message to Israel. And so it was John the Baptist message. And so now it's Jesus's message about Israel. This is very sad, but we must understand what this barren of the fig tree means. Although God had showed his favor to Israel, many did not believe. And so there was no fruit. There was no bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. There were mouths and lips in Israel who praised God and who favored God, who said that they were Israelites and they enjoyed the covenants and the glory and the special privileges and special revelation. But their hearts were far from Yahweh. Although there's still a remnant in Israel by God's grace, because they're represented by the kingdom disciples who are believing in Jesus. Although there's a representative, one more time, a remnant of Israelites that are surrounded by Jesus, who are listening, who are being made apostles, who are the foundation and part of the foundation, who are the foundation of the church. Nevertheless, many in Israel are resisting and not believing. They're not recognizing in Jesus what Moses and the prophets and the writings spoke of. The Israelites had very special privileges that Gentiles did not have. And the sad reality is that what John one says that he came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But to those who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You see, it might be hard for us to understand, but the truth of Scripture clearly is that national Israel, as a people who were specially used by God in the old covenant, they were represented by the teachers of the Sanhedrin rather than by Jesus as a majority. And those teachers of the Sanhedrin, who were their representatives, killed Jesus, put him to death, crucified him. In fact, in Stephen's great sermon in Acts 7, 51 to 53, he says that you're the ones who are stiff necked, who have always killed the prophets. And so you continue to kill the prophets. See, within the time of that generation, God himself sent the Roman forces between 66 to 70 to put an end to their national existence as God's visible people in church. Their temple was laid waste and permanently destroyed. because the glory of God and his worship were from now on to be found in Christ alone. The types were no longer significant. The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin. Only the once and for all sacrifice propitiation of the blood of Christ that God put forward Jesus as a propitiation for a once and for all sacrifice and mediator for sin. That this Jesus who underwent the baptism on the cross The wonder went God's wrath for those who believe whether Jew or Gentile, he is and was the only hope for either Jew or Gentile. And so the fig tree is barren, but notice at the end of this parable, this grace and hope that shown in verse nine, if it should bear fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down and reminds us of second Peter three, nine, or it should that God is slow. in keeping his promises. He's not, so I should say, in the way that we think slowness, but he's not wanting any of his people to perish, but for all to come to repentance. And so even here we have a hope, we have a hope of gospel, of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Once again, the hope of Israel and the world. So as Jesus says, the Old Testament prophets would speak judgment and then speak of salvation. So Jesus speaks of the judgment of the barren fig tree. But then he speaks of salvation for those who would repent. Jesus is challenges his Jesus challenges his listeners not to delay repentance, but to seek to live fruitful lives by faith as God, who mercifully holds back the last day judgment at the present time. will spare those who continue to spare those who turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. And so in our passage, Jesus says there's an impending judgment for him and there's an impending judgment on the cross for him. There's a baptism he must undergo and there's a fire that he must undergo as he reaches Jerusalem. Jesus teaches that there's also an impending judgment for all who do not repent. One's either represented by Jesus in his baptism upon the cross or the wrath of God abides on them. And so in light of this baptism that we see, this king and the kingdom that's clearly revealed in Jesus Christ, we must all repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Thanks be to God for Jesus. Thanks be to God for the fact that God put Jesus forth as our propitiation, our sacrifice for sinners. Whether you're Jew or Gentile, he calls us to repent and turn while the kingdom is still near, while it's still the day of salvation. Thanks be to God for his grace in Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Our father and our God, we thank you for your many blessings in Jesus Christ. We thank you for the great grace that you show to us upon the cross. Lord, we ask that you would help us to repent, help us by faith, Lord, to look to Christ alone for our salvation and hope daily. Lord, we pray for those who we know who are amongst us, those who are our friends, those who are family members who have not turned to Jesus Christ by faith. We pray that they would indeed do that, that you would grant them faith and repentance and that they would find the wrath of God consumed upon Jesus Christ. and their sins forgiven. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.