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Day 168

Luke 12:49-53 "DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT I CAME TO GIVE PEACE ON EARTH?" Luke 12:51"

Day 168 – Luke 12

Text: Luke 12:49-53

“DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT I CAME TO GIVE PEACE ON EARTH?” Luke 12:51

Once again, we have another puzzling and even startling statement. These enigmatic statements of the Lord Jesus Christ must be studied carefully, or great misunderstanding can arise.

Let us keep at the forefront of our minds the principles of interpretation as we struggle over these deep statements of Jesus.

1. The principle of Context must always be borne in mind.

2. Another important principle to bear in mind would be Language. We must try and understand not only the words, but the meaning of His words.

3. We must always remember that Scripture cannot contradict itself. Jesus would never, could never contradict Himself in any way.

4. We must always appreciate the fact that Jesus was no ordinary Teacher. He was capable of saying very cryptic things. It would take a lot of patient contemplation to fully understand some of the things that He taught. At no time must we dismiss the statements of Jesus easily.

AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND THE HARD SAYINGS OF JESUS

The first difficulty seems to lie in the word “peace”. Did Jesus not come bring peace to the heart? The answer to this question is an assured “Yes”!

However, in this particular context, Jesus was not speaking about “peace in the heart”. His context was “peace on earth”. A person can have peace in the heart, and yet see war on earth.

There is no contradiction at all. Jesus did mean to give peace to people on earth. However, in that process, the peace that He offers can end up in conflict with those who reject His message.

This was what Jesus understood would be the case. Even as He looked at the people who flocked around Him, He knew that if His own people did not understand or receive Him, it would be even harder for others outside Israel to receive His Message without great resistance.

The message of hope, love and peace that Jesus brought would also stir up feelings of resent and hatred in those who would reject Him. Inevitably, there would be people who would indeed say that Jesus did not come to bring peace on earth. They would wrest His words to their own destruction!

Jesus readily admitted that His message would not be easy to receive. He taught His Disciples that there would be those who would strenuously object to what He stood for. Thus, they must be prepared for conflict and tribulation, even though they may proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are reminded once again of what Jesus said to His Disciples concerning the Cost of Discipleship,

“If anyone desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life
Will lose it,
But whoever loses his life for My sake
Will save it.”
Luke 9:23-24

“DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT I CAME TO GIVE PEACE ON EARTH? I TELL YOU, NOT AT ALL, BUT RATHER DIVISION” Luke 12:51

Already, the people who followed Jesus were divided in their opinions.

1. There were some who sat on the fence.

2. There were some who followed because they saw the miracles.

3. There were others who listened to His teachings only to see if they could find fault .

4. There were still others who spread malicious rumours about Him.

This is not even an exhaustive list of the people who followed Him! Jesus was most realistic as He looked at the people who thronged Him.

He was not out to woo the crowds. He was not looking for numbers. He was not looking to be popular either.

He sought to teach God’s Word. That message had two major elements usually. On the one hand, there is the offer of forgiveness to all who repent. On the other hand, God would one day punish those who are unrepentant in their wickedness!

Not only was the Message that Jesus preached hard to understand for some. The Man Himself was difficult to comprehend. Who exactly was He? On the one hand, the people felt that they knew Him. They knew His earthly family. Yet what was puzzling was His depth of knowledge of the Scriptures. Then there was His power that was most extraordinary.

Apart from the miracles of Jesus (and even that was controversial to some), everything about Him was complex and difficult to comprehend. Jesus knew that the inevitable would happen – opinions about Him would be divided.

“FOR FROM NOW ON FIVE IN ONE HOUSE WILL BE DIVIDED: THREE AGAINST TWO, AND TWO AGAINST THREE” Luke 12:52

Jesus was open and honest when He taught His Disciples that following Him would not be easy! They must expect all kinds of problems. One of the most difficult, and probably one of the most emotionally painful things to go through would be “family conflict”.

Nobody likes to see a family divided. Anything seen as a possible threat to family unity would be resisted. Some prize family unity even above truth!

Should the message of Christ be watered down so that such family conflicts could be avoided! The message of Jesus was most plain at this point! The message of the Gospel cannot be watered down. Even if there is family becomes divided, the message of Jesus cannot be compromised or diluted in any way! A tough situation indeed for anyone contemplating following Jesus!