Luke 12:49-53

May 4, 2025

Luke 12:49–53 ESV

49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Discussion Question:

After laying out lessons about servants and masters, Jesus now focuses on his current ministry. 

What events are these scriptures referring to?  In answering this question, please consider the following:

• What does the last phrase of verse 49 mean “would that it were already kindled!”?
• Jesus was already baptized, why is he using this word (verse 50)?
• Isn’t the gospel a message of good tidings and peace (verses 51-53)?

Discussion Summary:

Jesus’ ministry will result in a division between those who accept him and those who reject him (Luke 2:24, John 9:39).  This result is revealing the heart condition of those who heard him (John 3:19-21).  As Jesus faces the continued rejection and eventual death in Jerusalem, he expresses the wish that because it must be this way, let it be done.  There was no longer any hope that the whole nation would reform.

This division as represented by fire can be thought of in two ways:

• Fiery trouble upon the nation (Luke 3:16,17)
• Tongues of fire given at Pentacost (Acts 2:1-3)

The baptism that Jesus refers to involves more than his water immersion at Jordan.  It encompasses the process of laying his life down in sacrifice which started at Jordan and ended at Calvary.  This same thought is expressed in Mark 10:38,39 where Jesus asked his disciples, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”  The Apostle Paul refers to this all-encompassing baptism in Romans 6:1-4, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

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