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Most folks think that Jesus taught about peace, love, gentleness, and heaven. They probably would not cite these words:
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.” (Luke 12:49–52)
Consider three words in Christ’s statement.
division
Christ’s audacious claims produced division. He claimed to be sinless (John 8:46–47), to be the only way to God (John 14:6), to forgive sins (Luke 5:20–21), to give eternal life (John 6:40), to share glory with the Father (John 17:5), to be the heavenly King (18:36–37), and to be the One who would judge the world (Matt. 25:31–32).
These are polarizing claims. According to C.S. Lewis, they force the conclusion, “Either He was and is the Son of God or else a mad-man.” Jesus produces division. You see Him either as Lord and King, worthy of worship, or as irrelevant and unworthy of consideration. If you accept His claims and go to the ends of the earth, urging people to repent and believe in Him as the only way to life, you will create division. Mothers will say, “You’re in a cult.” Fathers will get angry. Brothers and sisters will be offended.
baptism
Jesus says that He is in great distress until His baptism is accomplished. He cannot mean baptism by John the Baptist. That baptism took place at the beginning of His ministry. In Mark 10, James and John ask for places of prominence in His kingdom. In reply, Jesus asks: “Can you drink My cup? Can you be baptized with My baptism?” (see v. 38). What baptism does Jesus refer to there? To answer, we must identify the fire of our passage.
fire
In Scripture, fire is used as a figure of judgment and purification. Jesus is saying: “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and I wish it were already burning off everything wicked and purifying the whole earth. But before I can bring that fire, I have a baptism to bear. It fills Me with great distress because before the fires of divine judgment can fall on the world, the fire must fall on Me.”
Christ’s agony in the garden was the realization that on the cross He would undergo a baptism of fire of divine judgment that would consume Him. If He drank the cup, He would be destroyed. If He did not drink the cup, those whom He had come to redeem would be destroyed. The wonder of redemption is that on the cross Jesus endured the baptism of fire that His followers could never endure and provided salvation for all who would trust Him and believe.