Knowing the Times (Luke 12:49-59)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news, but it is also a pivot-point in history. It divides humanity into those who recognize it and those who reject it. It splits families. Jesus tells His followers that He has come to bring judgement and not peace. True, the message that Jesus brings is an offering of peace with God, but that in itself is an ultimatum. In John’s Gospel, we see Jesus declaring that He did not come to bring judgement, because those who reject Him have already been judged. That may be semantic, but it is true. The good news of the Gospel is that we are offered an escape from the judgement we have earned.

Jesus tells the crowds that His coming is akin to the signs of a change of the weather. We all know when a cold front is blowing in. We have the tools today to warn us to prepare for many natural disasters. In Jesus’s day, the signs were clear that God was doing something extraordinary though Him. People could see it. Would they prepare for what was coming?

In the same way that smart people who are guilty of a crime strike a plea bargain, Jesus tells the crowds that they need to seek peace with God before it is too late. This all applies still today. If God tarries, that is not an opportunity to ignore His coming, but rather to prepare!