Gene’s Daily Scriptural Postings

When Jesus Divides: Luke 12:35-59

Focus Passage: Luke 12:35-59 (NCV)

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, the gospel of Luke describes Jesus sharing with His disciples one of the reasons He came to the earth. In this description of why He came, I am surprised by Jesus’ words, because in many ways, they seem very “un-Godlike”.

Luke tells us that Jesus said: “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. From now on, a family with five people will be divided, 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.” (v. 49-53)

When we think of Jesus, and specifically about the mission He came to this earth to accomplish, more often than not, we think of Jesus being someone who unites people together. There are other passages in the gospels that suggest this, however the big distinction between those passages and this one is that Jesus came to unite “God’s people”, wherever they happen to be, but while Jesus is uniting God’s people, He is separating God’s people from those who are not God’s.

This passage draws our attention to the reality that Jesus Christ is the most divisive, controversial person to have ever set foot on the earth. While He is clearly one of the most famous historical figures, He also inspires the most conflict. There are people living today who believe He was God who became a Man, other people living today who think He was nothing special, and even some who believe that He never existed.

By simply being present on earth and living out God’s mission for His life, Jesus divided those living in that century into people who believed He was sent by God and those who thought He was a raving lunatic sinner who was empowered by Satan.

The dividing nature of Jesus continues today. Jesus doesn’t want to divide God’s people, but He knows that God’s people must ideologically separate themselves from those who are not God’s, and the best place to make this division relates to Jesus Himself – and who we believe Him to be.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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