Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 17, 2025
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.”
- Luke 12:49-53 –
Jesus speaks of his impending crucifixion as a baptism. To make sense of this expression, note first of all that the waters of baptism have a twofold significance: 1) cleansing and 2) drowning. For those who reject their baptismal covenant, these waters cease to be waters of cleansing and become waters of drowning instead. However, since Jesus did not need to be cleansed, he was ordained through baptism as the curse bearer for covenant-breakers. Hence, for Jesus the waters of baptism were waters of drowning, and his crucifixion was thus the outworking of his baptism.
As a further outworking of his baptism, Jesus was appointed to baptize with the Spirit and with fire after first passing through the waters of death. Like water, fire also has a twofold symbolism: 1) refining and 2) destroying. According to John the Baptist, the baptism with fire will involve a separation of the wheat from the chaff. Jesus will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:16b-17). For the wheat, however, the baptism of the Holy Spirit will be a refining fire as it was on Pentecost.
Prior to the final destruction of the chaff, there will be separation, division, and conflict between the wheat and the chaff. This is the ancient division between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). And because this division results from God’s election, it passes through families and churches. This division is already present in latent form, but when law and gospel are preached, the division becomes patent. Prophetic fire is cast upon the earth. Yet, this same preaching is powerful to soften and convert some hearts, even as it hardens others.
Since this division is already present, why do we seek church unity by avoiding pressing issues, like abortion, for instance? Just as peace is more than the absence of war, so unity must be more than a mere absence of conflict. And if we seek unity by watering down our faith, all we achieve is a least common denominator unity which is thin, brittle, and vacuous. We reduce our faith to pious platitudes and Christian clichés. However, if we speak the truth in love with wisdom and tact, we inadvertently cast fire upon the earth. Whether this is a refining or a destroying fire is up to God, not us.
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 17, 2025
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.”
- Luke 12:49-53 –
Jesus speaks of his impending crucifixion as a baptism. To make sense of this expression, note first of all that the waters of baptism have a twofold significance: 1) cleansing and 2) drowning. For those who reject their baptismal covenant, these waters cease to be waters of cleansing and become waters of drowning instead. However, since Jesus did not need to be cleansed, he was ordained through baptism as the curse bearer for covenant-breakers. Hence, for Jesus the waters of baptism were waters of drowning, and his crucifixion was thus the outworking of his baptism.
As a further outworking of his baptism, Jesus was appointed to baptize with the Spirit and with fire after first passing through the waters of death. Like water, fire also has a twofold symbolism: 1) refining and 2) destroying. According to John the Baptist, the baptism with fire will involve a separation of the wheat from the chaff. Jesus will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:16b-17). For the wheat, however, the baptism of the Holy Spirit will be a refining fire as it was on Pentecost.
Prior to the final destruction of the chaff, there will be separation, division, and conflict between the wheat and the chaff. This is the ancient division between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). And because this division results from God’s election, it passes through families and churches. This division is already present in latent form, but when law and gospel are preached, the division becomes patent. Prophetic fire is cast upon the earth. Yet, this same preaching is powerful to soften and convert some hearts, even as it hardens others.
Since this division is already present, why do we seek church unity by avoiding pressing issues, like abortion, for instance? Just as peace is more than the absence of war, so unity must be more than a mere absence of conflict. And if we seek unity by watering down our faith, all we achieve is a least common denominator unity which is thin, brittle, and vacuous. We reduce our faith to pious platitudes and Christian clichés. However, if we speak the truth in love with wisdom and tact, we inadvertently cast fire upon the earth. Whether this is a refining or a destroying fire is up to God, not us.