Luke 12 | True Treasure, Lasting Peace
I wonder how many times I’ve stopped and scratched my head in confusion over what I just read in the Bible. Too many to count, I’m sure!
It happened again today when Jesus said in Luke 12:51, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”
Ummm, what was that?? The promised Prince of Peace did not come to give…uh, peace??
Well doesn’t that beat all! What in the world can He mean by that?
As I’ve pondered this today, I think maybe it’s not as upside-down as it first seems. It’s just a different (and better) way of looking at peace.
Jesus did not come to bring peace from man to man, the way the world thinks of peace.
Jesus came to bring peace from God to man, the way the world actually needs peace.
The trouble is, most of the world doesn’t want to believe they need peace with God. They don’t now, and they didn’t back then either.
Even the Pharisees and so-called experts of God’s law were in denial that they were at odds with God. They were supposed to love Him and teach others how to do the same. Instead, they loaded the people up with burdens too heavy to bear (Luke 11:46).
Jesus came to take away those burdens (bringing peace to those who accepted Him) and establish a new Kingdom (bringing division to those who opposed Him).
But in order for that Kingdom to come, Jesus had to fulfill all the prophecies, not just as the Prince of Peace, but also as the Suffering Savior, despised and rejected by man (Isaiah 53). His rejection meant our salvation, because by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53), and therefore, we can now be at peace with God.
This was a hard message to understand in Jesus’ day, and for many, it’s still hard today.
People don’t want to hear that truth is not pliable, riches are not imperishable, and nothing we concoct can shield us from the fire that’s coming. There is a real God in a real heaven who is bringing real judgment to the earth one day to all who have rejected His Son and despised His word.
And yet! This same real God offers incredible mercy to all who embrace His Son. Instead of death, life. Instead of spiritual poverty, spiritual riches. Instead of judgment, peace.
Today I’m praying for all those who celebrate Christmas without Jesus. May the Suffering Savior open their eyes to the wonders of His love, and finally know true peace.
“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!” Luke 12:49-50
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace…” Isaiah 53:4-5