Luke Chapter 12

vs 51

Don't read this the wrong way - Jesus isn't saying that his ultimate goal on earth is to create war and division. But his ultimate goal is not harmony and peace between people either. He has come to bring peace from God to people, and that will essentially divide people up between those who get it, and those who don't.

vs 52

This truth will even split up families. There is no harsher way of saying this in that culture. Jesus may as well have said that this truth would split your top half from your bottom half, because the family unit in those times was as indivisible as your own body. Yes, you could excise people from it, but then you would not have 3 against 2. You would have all against one.

vs 53

And even to the point of splitting a son from his father and a daughter from her mother, so great will the division Jesus brings be! It's little wonder that Jesus calls the church of God a family, because you are likely not to have one after becoming a Christian. It's a real shame, though, that we fall into this trap of putting our blood families before God, because the church family really is more important. And we also have to remember that we need to be supportive for that very reason - because their families often won't be as supportive, or will be supportive at the cost of compromising your faith.

vs 54

Well, I don't normally, but I assume they did. To put a modern spin on it, "When you hear the Bureau of Meteorology say that it's going to rain, you think there's a good 50% chance they're right."

vs 55

When you look at the calendar and it says "summer", you know it's going to be hot.

vs 56

And because of the simple ability to listen to a weather report and look at a calendar, we are now all hypocrites. Possibly not because we get it wrong sometimes, but more likely because we care more about the weather than we do about the prevailing spiritual times in which we live. Of course, this isn't directed directly at us (since 'the times' Jesus is talking about is when the Son of God is walking the earth, and even talking to them right there), but in another way they do apply to us, because we live in the last days, and we should know better too. So, how about every time someone starts a conversation with you at morning tea after church that is about the weather (this will happen this Sunday, I guarantee it), quote Luke 12:54-56 at them.

vs 57

Well, isn't that what the people of the time of Judges did, and aren't they reviled for it? Oh, wait, you just mean in this specific picture you're about to paint verbally for us. This is one of those verses that, quoted on its own, would go completely out of context.

vs 58-59

I think the assumption in this picture is that you've done something wrong. You're going to get punished for it. So before that happens, even as you are on your way to judgement, plead with the person who is against you, beg for mercy, try your hardest to reconcile your differences. Because if you don't, then you will suffer the full penalty of the law - imprisonment and a hefty fine. In the Kingdom of God, of course, this instead means eternal punishment. So we should strive, since it is the last days, to be reconciled to God, or to suffer in Hell. That's what you get to judge for yourself.

But see, we live in an age where people say "Oh, I'm going to bank on the chance that hell doesn't exist, or that it's not so bad". But Jesus has just said that you're a hypocrite if you can't see the spiritual situation, if you can't read the spiritual weather patterns. If you did read them, it would be as plain to you as if you really were in the docks, with the handcuffs, and the judge was about to walk into the room. When the reality of that moment hits you, then you see that your only hope is to plead with the person who is accusing you, and hope that they can be merciful, and even gracious. You would do it if you really were arrested, I'll bet. You wouldn't say "I'm going to bank on the chance that the prosecution has made a mistake in their procedures, and I will be freed on a legal technicality". Because if you did, you know you'd be very likely going to share a cell with a huge angry guy who killed his brother for looking at him funny, and practices his stabbing every evening.