Slices
Prepare
Jesus has already spoken of the way birds and plants tell of God’s provision (12:24,28); now he urges his listeners to understand the times in the same way that weather is used to interpret climatic conditions. So how do we understand the age we’re in?
Bible passage
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.’
Explore
Jesus continues with his theme of a gathering crisis, but this time he’s speaking about a more immediate eventuality. Something is about to happen that will divide opinion, disturb the peace and shatter stable relationships. The status quo will be irrevocably changed. He says that he must undergo a baptism and he’s compelled to see it through. This same imagery of baptism is used to describe Jesus’ death in Mark 10:39 and the apostle Paul will later describe the rite of baptism as the believer’s participation in the death of Christ (Romans 6:5).
Within the Judaism of Jesus’ time, baptism signified a renewal of faith, a cleansing from past unrighteousness, and an immersion into God’s ways. It marked a separation from life as it had been lived and into a new commitment under God’s rule, choosing a more authentic faith. The challenge for his hearers and readers then and now is whether we will understand the power of the cross and live accordingly.
Respond
Our days are spent in the loud volume of TV programmes, social media, advertising and face-to-face conversations. How will I experience the crisis of the cross and the empty tomb today and turn to follow Christ?
Deeper Bible study
‘For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’1
Things are turning a bit grim. This should not surprise us, as the momentum towards the cross increases. The baptism Jesus has to undergo (v 50) entails being swallowed up by the waters of death; it is a baptism of suffering, already prefigured in Jesus’ baptism by John. It is drawing near.
We might do well to read these verses as ironic. Sometimes in scripture, consequences are portrayed as intentions.2 It is not that Jesus has deliberately come to divide and to set people against each other, but rather that because of his message they were divided in their loyalties for and against him. In retrospect this is understood as an inevitable consequence of willingness or otherwise to receive him. It was not intended, but neither was it unforeseen. People are divided about the truth, but this should not dissuade disciples from graciously holding fast to that truth even if, as for Jesus, it involves a price. Belief in Christ sometimes comes between people: Jews, Christians and Muslims for instance. But is that his fault? Pursuing truth and peace at the same time can prove to be uncomfortable, but we should not be deflected from attempting it.
It is difficult to see how verses 54–56 might follow from this theme. Because the words are addressed to the crowd rather than the disciples, they take the nature of a rebuke for failing to discern the truth, even when it came to them in flesh and blood and was staring them in the face. And verses 57–59 sound like an encouragement for adversaries to seek reconciliation urgently rather than to endure the destructive consequences that mutual hostility provokes. Christians should take pains not to be at fault in this.
‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible … live at peace with everyone.’3
1 John 1:17 2 Eg Isa 6:9; Matt 13:13 3 Rom 12:17,18
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 1,2; Psalms 112,113
Pray for Scripture Union
SU Development Worker Lisa Jones is running a residential weekend this month in Kent. Pray for the team and for the children who will be drawn from ‘the 95’.
