“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). This is a pretty startling statement from Jesus. This is something we’d expect old Beelzebub to spew forth as he foamed at the mouth. It’s not the kind of thing you’d expect Jesus to say. It is, undoubtedly, one of his least quoted utterances.

Out of context, it sounds as though he’s about to bring hell on earth. When most of us think of a place called hell, we envision flames, torment, and punishment. These are not things we readily associate with the prince of peace — the wonderful counselor — the Lamb of God. As always, however, we need to place these words into context.

We discover at the beginning of the chapter, “a crowd of many thousands had gathered” (Luke 12:1).  The same verse of scripture tells us there were so many gathered, “they were trampling on one another.” Despite the size of the crowd, Jesus speaks first to his disciples. He warned them of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. There were, undoubtedly, Pharisees gathered among those crowding in to hear him. A confrontation with them was almost inevitable when they and Jesus shared a space in close proximity to one another. Sure enough, Jesus would tee off on them before the day was over.

Someone attempted to get the Lord involved in a family dispute over an inheritance. Jesus would have none of it and admonished them to be on guard against greed of any kind. He fleshed that out by telling them the (now famous) Parable of the Rich Fool who built large barns to house his crops for retirement — then died. This grim tale set the tone for the afternoon.

As he taught the crowd that day, Jesus told them they didn’t need to worry — God had their back. He told them to invest in God’s kingdom rather than in treasures here on this earth. Stressing over material things wouldn’t add to their lives in any way, he said. He added other parables that chided them to be wary and ready for service at all times.

Then he came out with the fire and brimstone statement. It may have been a shocker for many who were gathered there that day. He not only said he was going to bring flames to bear, but he wished out loud that the fire had already been ignited. He implied that the only reason this hadn’t happened as yet was because of the “baptism” he was about to undergo. His hands were tied until he had gone through that baptism.

We can only speculate as to what the baptism was. From our side of the resurrection, it appears he must have been referring to his passion and death. He touched on it very fleetingly and didn’t explain what he meant by it. He quickly moved on to say he had not come to be a reconciler but a divider.

This sounds way out of place for Jesus. He is called the great reconciler in other portions of Scripture. For example, the apostle Paul told us that God “reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18). In Ephesians 2:11-16, he explained that Jesus had reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to the Father. Furthermore, he added in his letter to the Colossians 1:20 that the Christ had reconciled “all things” to himself. Why would Jesus call himself a divider?

He not only did that, he additionally explained that there would be disputes within families over him. “From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 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” (Luke 12:52-53). This doesn’t sound like the reconciling Savior we have come to know and love. What could he possibly mean by these things?

When in doubt, the best answer in these situations is simple. We have to assume he meant what he said. As hard a pill as it is for us to swallow, his language was plain and simple. His presence among us would drive a wedge between some people, and some of those people would be from the same family. He made no bones about it.

We live in times when division has become the watchword. We are split by culture. We are separated by status. We are delineated by class warfare. Candidates isolate us into voting blocs. Wealth (and lack of it) keeps us apart. Some of our own representatives in government have even called themselves “the resistance.” In this kind of atmosphere, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to understand what Jesus was driving at with these declarations.

We need to be careful that we don’t try to turn Jesus into a one-dimensional being. He is a multi-faceted person even as we are. You and I can have friends and still make enemies. Each of us can be loved and hated at the same time by different people. While the bottom line for Jesus is always love and reconciliation, not everyone will follow him. Not everyone will believe on his Name. There will be some that will even dislike us merely because we are Christians. In those cases, the Lord himself is the source of division.

It’s at this point in his teaching where he levels a barrage at the religious elite of his day. He mentions to them that they are good at discerning the weather. If they see clouds forming to the west, they predict rain (and they’re correct). If there’s a wind blowing in from the south, they predict a hot spell. Again, they’re correct. We would think this would be a good thing, but Jesus turns it around on them.

He calls them hypocrites — phonies, frauds, charlatans. He asks them how they can predict the weather by reading the signs, but “How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” (Luke 12:56). That sounds more than harsh to us.

How were they to know what Jesus was ushering in? Did he expect them to be clairvoyant? They were to know the same way they knew the coming weather. They had signs to read. Remember, these were the religious leaders of the day. They’re the ones who studied, knew, and interpreted the scripture. All the signs were right in front of them. Jesus, himself, should have been the final sign, but they ignored him. They regarded him as a blasphemer and a false prophet.

Instead of opening their hearts to the Lord, they were hell-bent on opposing him at every turn. He was a threat to their status — to their prominence. They couldn’t have someone like him showing them up. The promised Messiah hadn’t shown up for centuries. Why should they think he had arrived on the scene in the person of Jesus? Why? — because, all the signs pointed to him. They were too blinded by their own privilege to see him for who he was and is.

That trend has never changed. That attitude still blinds people to this day. There are still many who look upon Jesus as the enemy — as someone who wants to take away the things they hold dear. They will oppose their own family members to take a stand against the ways of Christ and his teaching. They will look to any sign that can placate their own desires while ignoring the one who is the sign.

There is something we may want to take away from all this. When Jesus confronted the opposition in the crowd that day, he (in essence) took a stand that we don’t have to take today. He took it for us.

By that, I mean it is not our job to call our enemies hypocrites. In fact, our job is just the opposite. Remember the Sermon on the Mount? In that most famous of all sermons, Jesus said, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27). We are called upon to be reconcilers, not judges.

When the apostle Paul talked about Jesus as being a reconciler, he added one important thing. He said, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). Did you catch that? He gave us the “ministry of reconciliation.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time (or, frankly, the discernment) to go around calling out God’s enemies and judging them. Jesus has already pointed out their foibles. That’s one of the reasons why they don’t like him. My job is to love them. It’s not easy, but it’s my calling. I need to let the judging up to Jesus.

From where I sit, it looks like it’s the job of every Christian to love others. Everyone who has answered the call of Christ has been commissioned to love. There is no limit or parameter to that love. We are to love everyone.

I have no doubt that Jesus loved the very people he called hypocrites as well. That could be why he was so harsh with them. He may have wanted to shake them out of their darkness and into his light. In John 9:5 he told us, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” He is no longer in this world. He left and sent his Holy Spirit. In so doing, he placed a mantle upon our shoulders.

He told us in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.” That is certainly a heavy burden. Yet he was clear. He told us he would shoulder that burden alongside of us. His actual word to us was, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He’s not asking us to do anything he isn’t preparing us to do. Nor is he asking us to do any job at which he won’t be doing most of the heavy lifting.

There will be times when we will see the task before us as impossible. The reason for that is simple. It is impossible. But with Jesus yoked to us, carrying the heavier part of the burden, the unmanageable becomes manageable. With him by our side, the onerous is softened. With him in our hearts, the arduous becomes a joyful experience.

He may well “bring fire upon the earth.” But for us, it will be a cleansing fire. Come, Lord Jesus…come.