CRITICAL NOTES
Luke 12:49. I am come.—Rather, “I came” (R.V.). The tense refers to the historical fact of the Incarnation. Note in this the consciousness of pre-existence, as also of a heavenly origin in the last clause of the verse. Fire.—As a symbol of discord and violence. What will I, etc.—It is difficult to make out the precise meaning of the words. Probably the best rendering of them is—“And what will I?” (what do I desire now?) “O that it were already kindled!”
Luke 12:50. A baptism.—Cf. Matthew 20:22. To be plunged or immersed in sufferings. Straitened.—Pressed, distracted. Cf. John 12:27. A premonition of Gethsemane and Calvary.
Luke 12:51. Division.— Matthew 10:34 has “a sword.”
Luke 12:52. For from henceforth.—A better reading is, “For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided,” etc. Three against two, etc.—I.e., the younger generation against the older.
Luke 12:53. The father, etc.—The five members of the household are here specified: father, mother, son, daughter, and daughter-in-law.
Luke 12:54. To the people.—Rather, “to the multitudes”; from which we would understand that the preceding words had been specially addressed to the disciples. He warns them also that the time is critical, upbraids them with spiritual blindness, for not being able to see it (Luke 12:54-57), and urges them to make, each one, at once, his peace with God (Luke 12:58-59). A cloud. Perhaps, rather, “the cloud,” the well-known prognostic of rain (1 Kings 18:44). In Palestine the rains come up from the Mediterranean. Straightway.—Rapid and certain conclusion as to the weather.
Luke 12:55. South wind.—Coming across the desert. Heat.—Rather “a scorching heat” (R.V.).
Luke 12:56. Hypocrites.—The insincerity lay in the fact that they chose not to see signs which were equally visible with those of the weather. “Among these signs were miracles (Isaiah 35:4-6); the political condition (Genesis 49:10); the preaching of the Baptist” (Matthew 3) (Farrar).
Luke 12:57. Yea and why.—“Even apart from signs, from the declaration of prophets, ye might, from what ye hear and see, recognise the signs of the times, and the person of the Messiah in Me” (Bloomfield).
Luke 12:58. When thou goest, etc.—The figure is that of coming to an agreement with a creditor on the way to the court. Officer.—The gaoler, lit. “the exactor,” whose duty it was to compel payment of the debt.
Luke 12:59. Mite.—The smallest Greek coin then in use.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Luke 12:49-59.
The Signs of the Times.—The fact that in the mission and work of Christ upon earth a new epoch in the world’s history had opened was clearly realised by the Saviour Himself; it was, however, but imperfectly comprehended by His disciples, and quite hidden from the people at large. In this section of the gospel history Jesus gives expression to His own feelings of concern at the greatness of the work given Him to do, and the sufferings through which alone He could bring it to a successful issue. He then forewarns the disciples of the sharp conflict between faith and unbelief which would result in every community where the gospel was preached; and, finally, He upbraids the multitude with the spiritual blindness which prevented their recognising the significance and solemnity of the times in which they were living.
I. The actual state of matters so far as it concerned Himself (Luke 12:49-50).—The conflict with the Pharisees was an indication of a widespread war between the forces of good and evil, which was to result from His work on earth. The fire-brand had been cast upon the earth, and from it a great conflagration would ensue. He had kindled in the hearts of the disciples a love of heavenly things, which they were to spread abroad; and all the efforts of the earthly-minded would be directed to oppose and extinguish it. And He recognises that one of the results of this conflict will be sufferings and death for Himself; nay, He realises the fact that His passion is needed for completing the work which He came to earth to accomplish. Without the cross His teachings and His miracles would fail to produce the great change on human society which it was His purpose to effect. This utterance of His strikingly illustrates the union in Him of the human and the Divine natures. With genuinely human feelings He shrinks from the conflict, but with Divine knowledge and love He anticipates the results that will flow from His self-sacrifice, and longs for it to be accomplished. These mingled feelings recur in a more intense form at a later period of His life (John 12:27; Matthew 26:38), but were never entirely absent from His mind during the whole period of His public ministry. The fact that He so clearly foresaw the sufferings and death which were attached to His redeeming work brings into clearest relief His love for mankind and His devotion to the will of the Father.
II. The disciples forewarned of their participation in the strife (Luke 12:51-53).—They were probably anticipating the erection of a Messianic kingdom, characterised by peace and prosperity of a material kind, and needed to be prepared for a very different state of matters. Peace was not to be the first and immediate result of His work, if by peace was to be understood comfortable outward conditions of life. The peace which He bequeathed to His disciples was a state of heart: being delivered from bondage and fear, and reconciled to God. The relation which Jesus sought to establish between Himself and all who accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour was higher and more sacred than any other, and acknowledgment of His unique claims was certain to lead to conflict, not only between Himself and the world, but between the members of human society. Men would begin to distinguish themselves as adversaries and subjects of His kingdom. And it is one proof of the profound significance of Christ’s work in the world that this strife should spring up wherever the gospel is preached. Men feel that they have to do with One whose claims override all others and extend to every department of life; and if these claims are not accepted they provoke resistance. And every one who accepts Christ as Lord and Master needs to keep in mind that He insists upon absolute devotion to Himself, even if this means the rupture of the nearest and dearest ties that bind him to his fellows.
III. The multitude upbraided for their blindness and heedlessness (Luke 12:54-59).—Jesus now turns to the people at large, who do not realise the gravity of the circumstances in which they are placed, and who are plunged in carnal security and impenitence. He upbraids them with their blindness to the importance of the crisis, and urges them to take advantage of the time which yet remains to them for making their peace with God. He contrasts the shrewdness and prudence which they display in the ordinary affairs of life with their slowness to comprehend the things that concern their spiritual welfare. The real explanation of the discrepancy is that they are interested in things that concern their earthly welfare, but are indifferent to their highest welfare. A sinful heart means a darkened understanding (cf. Romans 1:21; Ephesians 4:18). The very appearance of Christ upon the earth pointed to the necessity of reconciliation with God: it was to effect this that He came, and therefore indifference to Him and to His teaching meant exposing oneself to the greatest danger. All who heard Him had the opportunity of becoming reconciled to Him whom they had offended, and whose claims they could not of themselves satisfy. Let them beware of allowing the day of grace to pass, and of compelling God to deal with them according to the strict demands of justice.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luke 12:49-59
Luke 12:49-53. The Conflict.—My conflict hastens apace; Mine over, yours begins; and then let the servants tread in their Master’s steps, uttering their testimony entire and fearless, neither loving nor dreading the world, anticipating awful wrenches of the dearest ties in life, but looking forward, as I do, to the completion of their testimony, when, after the tempest, reaching the haven, they shall enter into the joy of their Lord.—Brown.
The Critical Nature of the Time.—The critical nature of the time
(1) as concerned Jesus Himself— Luke 12:49-50,
(2) as concerned the disciples (Luke 12:50-53). “Is it a time,” said Elisha to the faithless Gehazi, “to buy lands and oxen, when the hand of God is on Israel?”—that is to say, when the Assyrian is at the gates of Samaria? Jesus speaks in the same way to the disciples about Him, “Is it a time for the believer to propose, as the aim of his life, the peaceful enjoyment of worldly property, at the moment when the great conflict is about to begin?”—Godet.
Luke 12:49. “Fire on the Earth.”—By “fire” here we are to understand the higher spiritual element of life which Jesus came to introduce into this earth, with reference to its mighty effects in quickening all that is akin to it, and destroying all that is opposed. To cause this element of life to take up its abode on earth, and wholly to pervade human hearts with its warmth, was the lofty destiny of the Redeemer.—Brown.
The Gospel a Fire.—Our Lord says here, in the plainest way, that while the object of His coming is to give peace, the effect of His coming will too often be to send fire on earth.
I. The text calls the gospel a fire.—A fire is a power. How fire spreads, glows, rages, devours! When the gospel is called a fire, we mean not a name, an idea, a poor faint, creeping thing, which may be disregarded and let alone, but a great, active, at last a victorious and irresistible force. Never suppose that the gospel is an insignificant or despicable thing.
II. There are hearts and places in which the gospel is not a fire.—There are families where the gospel in the heart of one causes discord and division. The only alternative must be the backsliding of the one, or the conversion of the rest. So long as the gospel is not a power, it is not a fire; it causes no breach and no division. Therefore we are constrained to wish for such signs of its working. The fire is the sign of the peace. If there be no fire, the gospel will be a mere balm, a mere soporific, a mere lullaby of the soul.
III. What is the lesson of the text for each of us?—Is the concord of our homes due to the gospel? Is serving Christ the secret of family union? Let the fire be a fire of cleansing, and a fire of quickening, and a fire of devotion. Is your home disorganised? What has divided you? Was it the fire of the gospel which severed? Are you intolerant of the devotion and service which others render to Christ? It must needs be that the gospel divides; but woe to them by whom that division comes! We do not wish to spread division by the gospel; but even if this be the effect, we recognise there one of the signs of the work of grace. Division is a sign that life is there. It means an end to fatal lethargy. It is the work of the ministry to bring the gospel home. It is something to have it preached in our churches; it is more to have it preached, even to dispeace and division, in our homes.—Vaughan.
“Already Kindled.”—The disciples having falsely imagined that, while they were at ease and asleep, the kingdom of God would come, Christ declares, on the contrary, that there must first be a dreadful conflagration, to kindle the world. And as some beginnings of it were, even then, making their appearance, Christ encourages the disciples by the very consideration that they already feel the power of the gospel. “When great commotions,” says He, “shall already begin to kindle, this is so far from being a reason why ye should tremble, that it is rather a ground of strong confidence; and, for my own part, I rejoice that this fruit of my labours is visible.”—Calvin.
“To send fire.”—“Everything fertile in results is rich in wars” (Renan). The fire when it burns on all sides consumes chaff and straw, but purifies silver and gold.
Luke 12:50. The Passover before the Passion.—Jesus expresses with perfect candour the emotion that fills His mind. The thought of the terrible suffering He is to endure is before His mind, and weighs upon Him like a nightmare until it is over. The first evidence of this feeling is in this passage; a second time it comes to view while He is in the temple (John 12:27)—“Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say?” A third time it breaks forth in all its vehemence in the garden of Gethsemane.
The Secret of the Saviour’s Earnestness.—
1. His belief in a Divine commission.
2. His belief in the solemnity of time. We, too, however, have a mission to fulfil, and our time for fulfilling it is appointed and proportioned by God. If these convictions possessed our souls, would they not kindle a Christlike earnestness?
(1) They would dispel the delusions of time.
(2) They would overcome the hindrances to submission.
(3) They would break down the impediments of fear.—Hull.
Luke 12:51-53. The Gospel an Occasion of Division.
I. The fact that the gospel of Christ shall be the occasion of division and contention in the world is easily verified. The heart of every believer is an example. The history of the gospel in every country into which it has been introduced establishes it.
II. The causes of the division. Hatred of the truth; hatred of a holiness which rebukes sin; hatred of authority such as the gospel claims.
III. Results of this division. The world is convinced of sin. The faith and patience of believers are called forth and strengthened.
Luke 12:51. “Peace.”—This saying may distress weak minds; for
(1) the prophets everywhere promise peace and tranquillity under the reign of Christ, and
(2) Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), and the very office of the gospel is to reconcile us to God. But we must remember that this peace is associated with faith, and exists only in the hearts and consciences of the godly. The corrupt nature converts the inestimable gift into a most destructive evil.
The Result of Christ’s Coming.—Our Lord speaks not of the intention with which He came into the world, but of the sad result of His coming, which was to be (owing to the corruption of man’s fallen nature) strife and division.
Luke 12:52. Strife Sometimes Better than Peace.—Better is strife, when it brings one near to God, than peace, when it separates one from God.—Gregory Naz.
Luke 12:54-59.—Two Great Faults:—
I. Blindness, in not being able to discern the significance of this time, as they did the signs of the natural heavens (Luke 12:54-56).
II. Want of prudence in not repenting and becoming reconciled to the law of God while yet there was time (Luke 12:57-59).
Luke 12:57-59. The True State of the Case.—Why do ye not discern of yourselves your true state—that which is just—the justice of your case as before God? You are going (the course of your life is your journey) with your adversary (the just and holy law of God) before the magistrate (God Himself); therefore by the way take pains to be delivered from him (by repentance and faith in the Son of God), lest he drag thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the exactor, and the exactor cast thee into prison.—Alford.
Luke 12:58-59. “When thou goest,” etc.—Our Saviour seems to say: In a merely temporal matter, you are careful to act thus prudently. While the day of mercy yet lasts, should you not discover the like anxiety to avail yourselves of it? through Me to obtain deliverance from the wrath of God, before it be too late?—Burgon.