Not Peace but Division

Luke 12:49-53 Jesus said that he had come to bring fire on the earth. Not the fire of destruction, but the fire of passion for God. One is reminded of the verse in Revelation 3:15f “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Jesus did not come and die for lukewarm. He already had that. Folks that played the game, but certainly did not want to rock the boat by being fanatic. The baptism that He is talking about is His death on the cross that had to happen to remove the sin barrier between us and God. The distress that He is experiencing is not so much the dread of the pain of the cross; but the desire to see accomplished the uniting of man and God and the resulting passionate relationship. The fire of Pentecost where thousands came to that kind of relationship with God through Christ. The fire that continued in the following decades when many would lay down their lives rather than compromise their faith. Jesus did in fact come to bring peace, peace between God and those with a passionate relationship with Him. Between those who become children of God through faith in Christ and those outside, there can only be division. The peace that the world knows comes with toleration and compromise — “peaceful-coexistence." There can be no toleration or compromise when it comes to sin. There are sharp lines drawn that we cannot and must not cross. These lines separate communities, friends and families. We need to agonize for, and intercede, and encourage and invite those outside to come in. These lines will separate husband and wife, children and parents, brother, and sisters. We need to grapple with the question that Jesus asked Peter in John 21:15 “Simon, son of John, ‘Do you truly love me more than these?’" Let us pray that this fire will be kindled within us.