5. The coming distress 12:49-59

Jesus' teaching on the same occasion continued. He clarified next that His disciples could anticipate a period of intense persecution. This is the reason He charged them to be faithful (vv. 41-48).

"In Luke 12:49-14:24, Jesus is calling on his audience to note the nature of the time--a time when God is making divisions among people, a time when people should be able to see what God is doing through Jesus, and a time when Israel had better respond before becoming nationally culpable for rejecting God's messenger."³¹⁶

 Division over Jesus 12:49-53 (cf. Matt. 10:34-36)

Jesus addressed these words to His disciples primarily (cf. vv. 41-42).

12:49-50 In view of the context Jesus' reference to fire must be as a symbol of judgment primarily rather than purification, its other common signification in Scripture. He had just spoken of judging unfaithful disciples (vv. 45-48). Now He explained that one of the purposes of His incarnation was to bring judgment to the earth (cf. 3:16). Perhaps Jesus wished this aspect of His ministry was taking place already because it would result in the purification of His people and would usher in the kingdom. However before Jesus' judging ministry could begin, Jesus Himself would have to undergo judgment, which He pictured as baptism. It would overwhelm Him but only temporarily. He would rise from it as a person experiencing water baptism rises out of the water. The prospect of His baptism (i.e., the Cross) distressed Him because it involved bearing God's wrath for the sins of humankind.

12:51-53 Evidently Jesus meant that He did not just come to bring peace on earth but also division. Jesus' earthly ministry began this division. From the time Jesus appeared preaching publicly, even households, the tightest social units, began to experience division. The difference of opinion that divided people was their beliefs about Jesus' person and work. This situation would continue. No physical relationship would escape the possibility of this division (cf. Mic. 7:6). This situation posed a crisis for the future. Historically division in the Tribulation will precede peace in the Millennium.

"Since detachment from family is another repeated theme in Jesus' teaching about discipleship (see 9:57-62; 11:27-28; 14:26; 18:28-30), the inclusion of 12:51-53 helps to make Luke 12 a comprehensive discourse on central themes of Jesus' teaching to his disciples."³¹⁷

 Decision for Jesus 12:54-59

Jesus again focused His teaching on the multitudes (cf. v. 13). He urged the people to discern the significance of the present times. This was important in view of the coming judgment and the present division of opinion concerning Himself. Luke did not indicate a chronological connection between this section and the preceding one, though there may have been one. He may have inserted this teaching here because of its logical connection with what precedes. In effect Jesus was calling the people to join the ranks of His faithful disciples before it was too late.

12:54-55 Rain clouds moved in from the Mediterranean to the west and usually indicated showers. Southerly winds often brought hotter weather from the desert that lay in that general direction.

12:56 The people could predict future weather from present signs, but they could not see that the events associated with Jesus' ministry indicated the arrival of Messiah (cf. Matt. 16:2-3). The present time was one of change and crisis. By calling His hearers hypocrites Jesus was saying that He recognized that their professed inability to recognize Messiah's appearance was unreal. It was not that they could not see that He was the Messiah, but they did not want to see it in spite of the evidence.

12:57-59 Jesus urged His hearers to come to a decision before it was too late (cf. Matt. 5:25-26). They needed to judge what was right and to believe on Jesus before God judged them and condemned them for their unbelief. Jesus reminded them of the wisdom of settling their disputes with one another before they went to court and a judge made the decision for them. The result of not settling out of court might be condemnation and confinement in a Roman debtors prison from which they could not escape easily. Jesus' point was that the unbelievers in the crowd needed to get things right with their adversary (Jesus) before the judge (God) sent them to prison (hell).

The fact that Jesus presented the person in the illustration as escaping from prison by paying his debt does not mean people can escape from hell by paying their way out. This false interpretation might lead one to pay money to the church to get his or her friends and or relatives out of hell. Elsewhere Jesus taught that hell is a place of eternal torment from which no one can escape (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:46; John 5:29; Acts 24:15). Jesus probably did not say the person in prison in His illustration had to stay there forever because in the prison in His illustration one could get out if he paid his debt. The parallels between divine judgment and the human judgment that Jesus described in His illustration are not exact.