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The Book of Luke, Judge Yourself, Part II - Lesson 167
We are in Luke 12:49 -50. I will read these verses again from the Amplified Bible where Jesus Christ tells his disciples one of his missions for coming to earth:
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized , and how greatly and sorely I am urged on (impelled, “constrained) until it is accomplished.
We see here that Jesus Christ came to this earth for two reasons.
One is to cast fire upon the earth and the other is to be baptized. That baptism is of course his crucifixion which was a necessity for the redemption of men and the fire is his judgment upon those who do not accept that redemption.
Later on in this passage in Luke we are told that families will be divided because of Christ for he says that we are not to think that he has come to give peace on earth but we are to know that he has come to bring division.
And that division is a division of all peoples into two parts.
One part are those who need and receive a savior and the other part are those who think that they do not need nor do they receive a savior.
Therefore Jesus Christ came to this earth for two reasons.
One reason to be a Savior and one reason to be a judge.
And he tells his disciples that he yearns for both to be accomplished for he says: how greatly and sorely I am urged on (impelled, “constrained) until it is accomplished.
We therefore hear in his words a zealousness on his part for this work of salvation and this work of judgment.
We wonder about this zealousness for God’s judgment as described in scripture is such an horrendous thing full of the most indescribable disaster and misery that man has ever seen.
In our finite minds we wonder, How can Jesus Christ then yearn for this day?
Thinking upon this from my perspective brought me to think upon my position as a father who may have to deal with a wayward son.
Fathers love peace in the household but on many occasions peace must be interrupted by war because wayward children need to be dealt with.
Most of us have heard our fathers say “This will hurt me a lot more than it hurts you”, as they told us to grab our ankles and assume the corrective pose whereby a handy switch would be applied.
We as earthly fathers say “This will hurt me a lot more than it hurts you” but Jesus Christ says “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!
What a different attitude this is when it comes to judgment!
What a different way to think upon this on the part of Christ.
Christ yearns for the day when all things will be done according to the Father’s will.
Did not he pray : Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Didn’t Peter long for the day of the Lord in II Peter 3:12 when he said: Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Both Jesus Christ and Peter desired God’s judgment with an earnestness and longing. For everything that God does or intends to do, including judgment, is good and must not be opposed by his children.
We know from scripture that this outpouring of wrath is a prerequisite of and is preliminary to the establishment of the kingdom of God.
In order for the kingdom of God to be established, sinners must be punished and sin eliminated for God is just and will not allow sin to exist in his creation.
So this saying: “This will hurt me a lot more than it hurts you” should not be the saying of a Christian father but a Christian father should look upon chastisement or judgment as an opportunity to bring into the son’s life all those things that are needful for the son.
The son transgresses and the biblical father is eager to apply judgment because of what judgment brings.
If he goes about thinking how much hurt is put upon himself this will hinder judgment, this will hinder that which is needful for the son.
But what a different spirit he brings to the process when he eagerly comes to apply chastisement because of the benefit that is brought to the son and the benefit that is bought to the father because of a biblically reared son.
So the proper saying is this: Son, this hurt that I bring you only brings me joy for it is for your good and my good that I do this.
That is what Jesus Christ is telling us.
He wants to get on with the task at hand so that God’s glory is advanced, so that God’s kingdom is in place as he had planned from eternity past.
He wants to get on with the task so that the mansions that he has prepared for his own are occupied with saints who will continue to give God glory throughout the endless ages of eternity.
And how can God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven without judgment for God will not tolerate sin and sin must be dealt with with judgment!
But trials always precede victory and Jesus Christ must go though trials on our behalf prior to his victory.
Peter tells us of this in: I Peter 1:7, That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Jesus Christ is our example in this process for he must suffer the baptism of the cross before the kingdom will be throughout the earth.
Christ is the Prince of peace but we are told in this passage in Luke that he will bring division before he brings peace throughout the earth.
If the Lord’s coming meant a the “fire” of judgment for Him, and also for those who reject Him, it also had a cost for those who would believe in Him.
While He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), He is also the source of division.
He will cause great division among men, even within families, where human bonds are usually thought of as the strongest and the most enduring.
Luke 12:51‑53, Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
We know from experience and history that the gospel divides men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children, for faith in Christ requires an acceptance of his preeminence over all earthy ties including that of family.
We also know from this passage that there is a group splitting so that it is not “one against one,” but “two against three” and “three against two.”
Those who have come to faith in Christ will join together, while those who have rejected Christ will also find a new a new basis of unity, a basis in opposition to Christ.
They found in Christ a common enemy and could place their differences aside in order to bring him to the cross.
Third, there is, a reference to the role of “authority” in this division.
The division described in these verses is all within the family, but it also crosses lines of authority.
Fathers and mothers have authority over sons and daughters.
But since allegiance to Christ takes precedence over all other authority we will naturally find division.
Normally, a Christian’s faith should improve his or her obedience to those in authority, but there will be times when we must obey God rather than men, and in these instances, division will occur.
An unbelieving father will find it difficult to accept when his son, after bowing to Christ and knowing that his overall responsibility is to obey God and to please Him resulting in putting earthly ties at a lower level.
Jesus never paints a glorious picture of continual bliss and pleasure for those who would follow Him.
Men will receive forgiveness of sins and know the joy of obedience to Him in this life, but faith in Christ will also will produce persecution as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
There will be immeasurable joy and pleasure in heaven, but there will also be pain and persecution for Christians on earth.
This is one of the central themes of Peter’s first epistle.
The Christian’s perspective should be like that of the apostle Paul, who saw the pain and trials of this life as nothing when compared to the joys of heaven
Paul wrote of this in 2 Corinthians 4:16‑18, For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.).
Jesus Christ is always true and does not minimize the price of discipleship.
But he also does not minimize the great prize that awaits the faithful steward, the faithful disciple.
There is no way that we can avoid pain and suffering.
Anyone who faithfully follows Christ will suffer now, and will, because of the love of Christ shun the pleasures of sin, but also because of Christ will later on experience the unending joys of heaven.
Moses knew this and is listed as a hero of faith in:
Hebrews 11:24‑26, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.).
But the one who rejects Christ and lives only for pleasure now will suffer eternal torment in hell.
These are the ones upon whom Christ will cast fire upon the earth.So as to not let fire be cast upon you the challenge by Christ is not to choose judgment but to choose salvation for that opportunity to choose is that which brings the great divide. If verses 49‑53 spell out the negative consequences of Christ’s coming, verses 54‑59 challenge men to respond as they should to His coming.Verses 54‑57 call upon men to think clearly and independently, and to act decisively.
In verses 58 and 59 our Lord concludes by challenging His listeners to act quickly on what He is saying:
He said to the crowd: Luke 12:54‑59, And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. 55And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 56Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? 57Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? 58When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.
At the beginning of chapter 12, Jesus spoke of the hypocrisy of Israel’s leaders (cf. v. 1).
Now, Jesus focuses on the hypocrisy of the individuals in the crowds.
Jesus calls them hypocrites. Why is this so? In what way are they hypocritical?
A hypocrite is one who acts inconsistently, who does not act as one believes.
The people all knew how to judge the future in the light of the present.
Jesus illustrated this by showing that they knew how to predict the weather.
When a cloud appeared in the west, they quickly concluded that it was going to rain.
It only took one cloud, not a whole sky full of them.
And this one cloud was sufficient reason for them to immediately conclude that rain was coming.
It did not take long deliberation for the conclusion was obvious.
The evidence was clear, even though but one cloud.
So, too the evidence was clear, with a south wind.
A southerly wind was sufficient evidence for the Israelite to conclude that it was going to be a hot day.
In both cases, the predictions proved out.
The cloud from the west produced rain, just as the southerly wind produced heat.
The ability to judge evidence and to see its implications was not confined to the experts.
Everyone would come to the same conclusion from the evidence they received.
Why, then, could these people, skilled at reaching conclusions about the weather, not come to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah, based upon the mountains of evidence which had piled up, all of which conformed perfectly to the predictions of the prophets?
Were Israel’s leaders guilty?
They certainly were, but this did not exempt the individuals from the crowds.
They should have seen the obvious and come to the right conclusion about Jesus, even if their leaders did not.
Jesus’ rebuke to the crowds seems to be that they did not think clearly, nor did they think independently of their leaders.
They were guilty of letting their leaders think for them.
Listen to our Lord’s words again:
Verse 57, Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?
They should have thought for themselves, Jesus charged.
Their leaders were guilty, but so were the followers for following them.
Let the individuals of the crowd look at the evidence and judge rightly.
Are we not people too easily swayed by the thinking of the “experts.”
We want people to do our thinking for us.
We want to let others be responsible for coming to the right answers and if they don’t we blame them.
But Jesus is very clear here.
The important truths, those which really matter, are self‑evident to anyone who will look at the evidence.
God has revealed His truth to babes, not scholars (Luke 10:21).
We are all responsible to “search the Scriptures” and to see if what is taught is true, even when Paul is the teacher (Acts 17:11).
Let us study the Word for ourselves and let us believe the self‑evident truths which are there, and which are revealed to all men who seek it through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14‑16).
It is in this light that I believe John wrote these words:
1 John 2:26‑27, These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
We are not, by these words, told to go it alone and to neglect the gift of teaching which God has given to the church, but neither are we to be so dependent upon the teaching of others that we believe whatever we are told.
God gives us the Spirit to teach us, and He therefore holds us accountable for our conclusions.
The multitudes who heard Jesus thus had the weight of responsibility for the actions placed on themselves. |