August 17, 2025
Text: Luke 12:49-53
SN: 0090
What do you think of when you hear the word division? Perhaps you think of the numerous problems in our world because people just can’t seem to get along with one another. Maybe you think of the bitter divisions that exist between different countries that lead to war and suffering. Maybe you think of the bitter divisions that mar our political system and lead to frustrating gridlock in Washington. Or maybe you think the far more important and irreconcilable division that exists between Cubs and Brewers fans.
But you probably don’t think of Jesus as someone who causes division. After all, one of Jesus’s titles is the Prince of Peace. We think of him as someone who came to heal strife and division, not cause it. After all, at his birth, the angels proclaimed, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude from the heavenly army, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind”.
But in our Gospel lesson, Jesus makes a shocking statement to his disciples, “Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” This statement of Jesus challenges us because it seems to run counter to how God wants us to live. God wants to show love and kindness to others. He wants us to mirror the love of our Savior. And while this is certainly true, we need to remember that we are also called to proclaim all of God’s Word in its truth and purity. We are proclaiming a message of absolute truth to a world that wants to make its own truth. The preaching of God’s Law and Gospel causes division because it is a message the world does not want to hear.
The message of the Law causes division because the world, and even our own sinful hearts, do not want to be reminded of the terrible division that exists between us and God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God in the Garden of Eden, they brought division into God’s perfect creation. Sin has divided us from God, and God’s Word reminds us of this terrible division and our inability to do anything about it. This is not a message that we want to hear. We don’t like hearing that we are sinners who deserve God’s wrath and punishment. We don’t like being told that there is absolutely nothing we can do to rescue ourselves. What our itching ears want to hear is that we are, in general, pretty good people, and if we just try our best, God will see that and reward us. This is the message that so many “Christian” churches proclaim today.
But this is not the message of God’s Word. God tells us that by nature we are dead in our trespasses and sins and are enemies of God. We are completely and utterly incapable of doing anything to save ourselves from this wretched state. But God, in his great love and mercy, did not want to leave us in this lost and pitiful condition, so he sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to save us. But even the beautiful message of the Gospel causes division. By nature, people want to believe they can save themselves. Surely it is too easy that all we have to do is believe that Jesus is our Savior, and we will be saved.
But this is exactly what God reveals to us in his word. In Ephesians 2, God says, “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” God’s Word causes division because it breaks to pieces the false and prideful belief that we can in any way contribute to our own salvation. Our just and holy God demands complete and total obedience to his will. To earn our salvation, we would need to live a perfect life, 100% free from sin. This is impossible for any human being to do. Only God’s Son, who was both true God and true man, could do this. Christ came to this world and placed himself under God’s law to keep it perfectly in our place. Christ lived a life 100% free from sin and perfectly in line with God’s will.
Think of the temptation Christ faced every day of his life. He knew with perfect knowledge exactly what God’s will was for him. Jesus says, “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished!” The baptism that Jesus is talking about is the suffering and agony he would endure on the cross. Imagine living each day with the knowledge that the physical agony of the cross and the spiritual agony of suffering all the torments of hell for the sins of the world was in your future. Yet Christ never wavered in his obedience to God’s will. Instead, as the end of his earthly life drew near, Christ resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem.
Our Savior loved you so much that he was willing to undergo the painful baptism of the cross to suffer and die in your place. He offered his perfect life to make full and complete payment for your sins. He was punishedin your place so that you could receive the forgiveness of sins. By his death, Jesus repaired the division thatexisted between you and God. This is the peace that the angels sang about on the night of our Savior’s birth. Itis a spiritual peace that was won for us by the death and resurrection of our Savior. It is a peace that is only available to those who have faith in Christ as their Savior.
This is why Jesus said, “Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” The message of the Gospel will always be opposed by Satan and his allies. While we await the glorious return of our Savior on the Last Day, we will live in a world that is marred by strife and division. Everywhere the Word of God is preached, Satan will stir up people against it. We should not be afraid of this division because this has been true for all of God’s people. We see how the prophets of the Old Testament faced opposition whenever they preached the truth of God’s Word. Christ faced opposition as he preached about the kingdom of God. And we, as his followers, will face hatred and division as we proclaim the message of the Gospel.
As we face division and hatred from the world, we must be careful to avoid the temptation to compromise on the truths of God’s Word. This is a very real temptation that Satan uses to undermine the Word of God. We want people to like us. We want people to speak well of us. But when we proclaim the unwavering truths of God’s Word, we will be hated and despised by the world. The world will tell us that it is unloving to call sin, sin. The world will tell us that it is wrong to say that there is only one path to salvation found through Christ alone. The world will tell us that a loving God would welcome people of all faiths who do their best, not just a few who believe in Jesus.
But we are not afraid to proclaim the truth of God’s Word because we are compelled by love. We are filledwith the love that our Savior showed us. We know all that he suffered and endured to free us from the slavery ofsin. As we proclaim the truth of God’s Word, we know that we will cause division. The world will hate us. We may even face suffering and persecution. But we also know all that Christ did for us, and so we are willing to endure the hatred of this world. Even if we suffer for our faith, we know that our reward in heaven is far greater than any suffering we will endure in this life. For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
We are also compelled by our love for others. Each of us knows someone who does not believe the message of the Gospel. And we know the harsh reality that those who do not believe in Jesus as their Savior cannot be saved. We want to tell them about Christ. We want them to know the peace that we have with our Savior. The peace that is ours because Christ has removed our sin, which divided us from God. And so, wecontinue to proclaim God’s Word in its truth and purity. We know that his powerful Word is like a hammer thatbreaks rock into pieces. We pray that by our preaching, the hard hearts of those who do not know the love of our Savior would be broken so that they may join with us in the eternal glory that was won for us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.