13.03.25 Luke 12:49-59

Prepare

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your presence today. We pray that here and now, we would behold your glory and by your spirit, be transformed into someone more and more like our risen King Jesus. Amen

Read Luke 12:49-59

Not Peace but Division

49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 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.”

Interpreting the Times

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. 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?

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.”

Reflect

Division is rarely the first word that comes to mind when we consider Jesus. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t let that detract from what Jesus has for us in this passage. Jesus uses this metaphor of Fire to describe the kind of division he intends to bring. The recent fires in Los Angeles proved to us once again how powerful fire is, how destructive it can be if you stand in it’s path. 

Still, whilst Jesus promises fire on the earth. The Bible also promises protection from the flames. You may remember the old testament story of The fiery furnace, where three of God’s faithful were joined by what many believe to be Jesus himself. Not only were they protected from the flames. They didn’t even smell of smoke. It is this faithfulness to God that Jesus has come to separate from the rest of world. 

Be

Living with peace in our lives will remain impossible without the assurance that we have peace with God. Thankfully, God never depended on our own faithfulness or obedience to maintain peace with Him. If peace was ever going to happen between us and him, it was always going to involve someone securing our peace on our behalf and His Name is Jesus. Let’s pray.  

• Jesus, thank you that through your life, you modelled constant relationship and constant peace with your heavenly Father.

• Jesus, thank you that through your death, the division that separated me from the Father has been removed

• Jesus, thank you that through your resurrection, I can experience eternal life and eternal peace

Become

In our search for peace, we can attempt to construct our own counterfeit peace. The crowd that were with Jesus found their certainty by interpreting the weather. They took something uncertain, something that might threaten their peace and sought to make it predictable. 

Have a think about how you try to enact control in your life? Do you over-rely on credit cards and loans to maintain a smooth life? Is your peace tied to how well your child performs at school or is peace impossible until you get that slightly bigger house? The more I try to control, the less I rely on faith. Offer up these things to God and ask him to replace them with the faith to trust him.

Do

Jesus makes it plain that even our closest relationships in life must be secondary to our relationship with God. Whilst it is rare in the UK to be ostracised for becoming a christian, it is a reality for many muslims, Jehovah witnesses, and sometimes atheists. I heard of a young man living in Jordan, who became a christian and as a result was trapped in the family basement for weeks and later sent to a work camp for over a year. 

Let’s pray for all those who face persecution and hostility from family because of their loyalty to Jesus

Practice

That young man from Jordan, after being released from the work camp and disowned by his family, returned to the missionaries that told him about Jesus. His first words he said to them are striking. “Let’s get back to work”. How remarkable that after suffering and loosing so much, he would consider it worth it and have no doubt whether to continue.
May your life today express a similar confidence in Jesus and in His message. Let’s be unashamed in being counted among his followers.