Luke 12:49-53 – Refiner’s fire

Remember what John the Baptist said of the Lord's ministry in Luke 3:18-19? He foretold that the Lord Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. And that in His hand would be the winnowing fork to thoroughly clear the threshing floor, to gather the wheat into barns; but would burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

His work of baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire tells us that He would bring about repentance and transformation. And those who accept and follow Him would feel the purifying and sanctifying work of His refining fire. Those who would not believe and follow Him would experience His fiery judgement. With the winnowing fork in His hand, He would divide between the believers and the unbelievers. Like useful grains, the believers would then be gathered into barns for use. But the chaff would eventually be burned with the fire of His judgement.

In Luke 12:49-53, we see the Lord Jesus sensing the imminence of the cross. He was edging closer to Jerusalem where He would be tried and crucified. He was probably thinking of His disciples and their ministry. Confronted by the reality of the impending cross upon Him and His followers, He expressed His innermost feeling and what was on His heart. So in verse 49, He said that His desire was for His work of baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire to begin immediately. He wanted the fire to begin the work of regeneration and transformation and also the work of judgement to burn up the chaff. But then, quickly in verse 50, He knew that He must first undergo His own baptism - the suffering and the crucifixion. And He felt the weight of it all because He knew exactly what it would entail. We can almost sense the urgency in Him. May this be a lesson for us - to inject urgency into what He has called us to do!

In verses 51-53, the Lord Jesus turned to talk about the outcome of what would happen to families because of His ministry. He talked about division. It's an accepted fact and the Lord knew it from the start, that not everyone would accept Him. Hence, there would be a division between those who would and those who would not accept Him. Even close relationship, such as father and son, mother and daughter and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, would be fractured by His message. However, division is just one part of the equation. Peace is the other half. Down through the ages we have seen how His work had also brought great peace. Unexplainable peace. Deep inner serenity and tranquility. Despite the turmoil that exist in a fallen world, people had and is still experiencing His deep abiding peace. That was what He had brought to us who believe.

Today we have the advantage of looking at the post-Calvary perspective. To some degree we may understand the anguish our Lord had, then. Yet we have not fully understood until we have fully and rightly yielded our all to Him. He still wants us to be more complete people. His refining fire is still at work in each one of us, to purify, sanctify, change and transform, till we be more and more like Him.

So shouldn't we say to the Lord:

Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit 'till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.

Of course we should! And we must!