The Great Divide

September 11, 2022

Luke 12:49-59

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.”

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.”

Read Luke 12:49-53

1. This is a different side of Jesus that we may not be used to seeing. How does Jesus’ tone strike you? Does it make you uncomfortable?
2. What questions do these verses raise for you?
3. What ‘baptism’ is Jesus talking about that he has to undergo? From a human standpoint, how do you think his knowledge of what was ahead for him affected Jesus?
4. What do you think is causing the division that Jesus describes here within families?
5. Is the gospel inevitably divisive?

Read Luke 12:54-56

1. Jesus chastises his audience for their inability to ‘interpret this present time.’ What should they have been able to discern?
2. Jesus uses the example of clouds and winds as indicators of what was about to happen. What indicators were Jesus’ listeners not noticing or not paying attention to?
3. Thinking more about our present day, what indicators do you observe that we should be paying attention to? What might they tell us about the times that we live in?

Read Luke 12:57-59

1. As best you can tell from the passage, is Jesus talking about someone who is being treated unfairly, or is he talking about someone who is being justly accused? What difference might this have in the way we understand this passage?
2. This is a difficult passage to understand. What is your best guess at its meaning? How might you apply these verses in your day-to-day life?