Proper 15
Preaching
Preaching Luke's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
"I came to bring fire to the earth...." "I have a baptism with which to be baptized...." Jesus has a great sense of urgency "on the way" to Jerusalem. "Let's get on with it!" he seems to be saying. In Luke 9:21 Jesus uttered his first passion prediction. "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering," he told his disbelieving disciples. In the story of the transfiguration which follows this passion prediction, Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah about his exodus to Jerusalem (9:31). In 9:51 Jesus "set his face" to go to Jerusalem. In 13:31-35 Jesus spoke again about the urgency of coming to Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets. "He is inter-preting his own mission in sharply prophetic terms, and the peril of judgment is deeply felt."1
When Jesus speaks about bringing fire to the earth we are to understand that he comes to bring judgment to earth. Fire is associated with God's judgment throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament we see this, e.g., in Zechariah 13:9 and Malachi 3:2-3. Luke also uses the image of fire for judgment (3:9, 17; 9:54; 17:29).
When Jesus speaks of the "baptism with which he is to be baptized" it seems clear that he speaks of his coming death. Mark uses this imagery to speak of Jesus' death in 10:38. We assume that the use of baptism as a metaphor for Jesus' dying was common imagery.
Jesus is not merely "wishing" that something might hap-pen. He is caught up in God's will and plan as announced by John that the Messiah would baptize "with the Holy Spirit and with fire ... to gather the wheat ... and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire" (3:16-17). No aspect of the Messiah's mission will fail of fulfillment including the baptism and the fire, but how it shall all be accomplished is still hidden in the will of God. Perhaps even Jesus does not yet know how all of this will take place.2
Robert Tannehill puts it this way:
Fire, a baptism to be suffered, division in place of peace „ Jesus speaks of them not as the unfortunate result of human blindness but as part of the commission which he came to fulfill. This extreme language emphasizes the in-escapability of these experiences if God's plan is to be realized.3
In the Gospel of Luke it is very clear that God has a plan and that Jesus "must" carry out this plan. There are ways in which this is the gospel message of Luke. The message is that God has a plan and carries out that plan. Other New Testament writers give more space to the nature of God's plan. God's plan is to come and die for our sins, for example. It is not so in Luke, and this has long puzzled students of his Gospel. Tannehill interprets Luke to mean that Jesus carried out a kind of "prophetic destiny." "A sacred pat-tern assures those who accept it that events are not meaningless and chaotic, for they reflect the rhythm of God's work in the world."4 This is also "good news"! It is good news most especially to us in our time when life can really seem meaningless. God as source of meaning and purpose to human life is a message of good news to people in our chaotic world.
But God's plan and purpose means that Jesus must die. When Jesus first spoke such words to his disciples they did not believe him (9:44-45)! Luke 18:31-34 tells us that well "on the way" to Jerusalem they still did not understand these things. They couldn't grasp it.
In verse 51 Jesus announces that he has not come to bring peace to the world. This word of Jesus stands in clear contrast to other passages in Luke where Jesus is clearly the One who brings peace (1:79; 2:14, 29; 7:50; 8:48; 10:5; 19:38; Acts 9:31; 10:36). Luke's word is true. Jesus did come to bring peace to the earth. When that word is rejected, however, Jesus' word becomes a fire of judgment. The disciples are not the only ones who do not get it.
Luke holds before us, therefore, a complex picture of God. God is love! God is wrath! The Bible constantly attests to this twofold word of God. God's twofold word brings divisions to human life. We see this reflected in the family divisions spoken of in verses 52-53.
Verses 54-56 speak of the signs of the times. See also 11:29-32. People can read the signs of the weather but they can't seem to read the much more important signs of the kingdom. They cannot grasp or understand what God is up to in a servant who is off to his death in Jerusalem.
If you are so clever in predicting the weather, why are you unable to discern the very presence of God's reign in your midst? This is yet one more disclosure of the divine will along with an exposure of human rejection of God's reign. If the whole of Luke's narrative were not confident of God's saving triumph, this haunting question could only demonstrate the validity of divine judgment (see also 13:1-5).5
Homiletical Directions
As with much of the other material in the "Travel Narrative" this week's assigned text is didactic in nature. Jesus is teaching his disciples about his destiny and the destiny of the human race. There is much to teach our people from this text. It does not, however, have many narrative connections. One possible way to put this text in a narrative frame would be to tell those stories which point to God's plan in Jesus Christ. The songs of Gabriel, Mary, and Zechariah in Luke 1 each speak of God's plan for this child who is to be born. The angel announced to shepherds that this child would be the Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord (2:11). John the Bap-tist prepared the way of the more powerful one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (3:1-21). Jesus quoted from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown synagogue to give shape to his mission.
Things look very bright for this Messiah. But the darkness sets in. In 9:22 Jesus reveals to his disciples that he "... must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." This is a divine must. Jesus is under orders, under a plan of God. He must. This divine necessity is repeated many times in Luke (13:33; 17:25; 22:37; 24:7, 44).
Under divine necessity Jesus first must suffer! That's what pushes to the surface in today's text. "Let's get on with it!" Jesus is ready to submit to the plan. He is ready to go to Jerusalem. He is ready to die.
If we were to stitch together some of these stories to put today's teaching text in its overall Lukan context we might then end with a word of proclamation. It can go something like this:
"Jesus has a word for us today. 'I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! God has a plan for my life. I must carry out the plan. I must die and then be raised. I must suffer and then see glory. My life has a meaning, a purpose, a destiny when it is in God's hands.
"a'And so it can be for all who put their trust in me. You suffer much in your life in this world. You wonder at times if life is worth the effort, if life has any meaning or purpose or destiny. I am here today to tell you that your life can have meaning. I am here today to tell you that your life can have purpose. I am here today to tell you that your life can have a destiny. Put your trust in me. Your life takes on great meaning when you give it up to me. I am your purpose. I am your destiny.' Amen."
____________
1.aDavid L. Tiede, Luke: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minne-apolis: Augsburg, 1988), p. 244.
2.aIbid., p. 243.
3.aRobert C. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts, Volume One (Phila-delphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 252.
4.aIbid., p. 288.
5.aTiede, op. cit., p. 245.
When Jesus speaks about bringing fire to the earth we are to understand that he comes to bring judgment to earth. Fire is associated with God's judgment throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament we see this, e.g., in Zechariah 13:9 and Malachi 3:2-3. Luke also uses the image of fire for judgment (3:9, 17; 9:54; 17:29).
When Jesus speaks of the "baptism with which he is to be baptized" it seems clear that he speaks of his coming death. Mark uses this imagery to speak of Jesus' death in 10:38. We assume that the use of baptism as a metaphor for Jesus' dying was common imagery.
Jesus is not merely "wishing" that something might hap-pen. He is caught up in God's will and plan as announced by John that the Messiah would baptize "with the Holy Spirit and with fire ... to gather the wheat ... and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire" (3:16-17). No aspect of the Messiah's mission will fail of fulfillment including the baptism and the fire, but how it shall all be accomplished is still hidden in the will of God. Perhaps even Jesus does not yet know how all of this will take place.2
Robert Tannehill puts it this way:
Fire, a baptism to be suffered, division in place of peace „ Jesus speaks of them not as the unfortunate result of human blindness but as part of the commission which he came to fulfill. This extreme language emphasizes the in-escapability of these experiences if God's plan is to be realized.3
In the Gospel of Luke it is very clear that God has a plan and that Jesus "must" carry out this plan. There are ways in which this is the gospel message of Luke. The message is that God has a plan and carries out that plan. Other New Testament writers give more space to the nature of God's plan. God's plan is to come and die for our sins, for example. It is not so in Luke, and this has long puzzled students of his Gospel. Tannehill interprets Luke to mean that Jesus carried out a kind of "prophetic destiny." "A sacred pat-tern assures those who accept it that events are not meaningless and chaotic, for they reflect the rhythm of God's work in the world."4 This is also "good news"! It is good news most especially to us in our time when life can really seem meaningless. God as source of meaning and purpose to human life is a message of good news to people in our chaotic world.
But God's plan and purpose means that Jesus must die. When Jesus first spoke such words to his disciples they did not believe him (9:44-45)! Luke 18:31-34 tells us that well "on the way" to Jerusalem they still did not understand these things. They couldn't grasp it.
In verse 51 Jesus announces that he has not come to bring peace to the world. This word of Jesus stands in clear contrast to other passages in Luke where Jesus is clearly the One who brings peace (1:79; 2:14, 29; 7:50; 8:48; 10:5; 19:38; Acts 9:31; 10:36). Luke's word is true. Jesus did come to bring peace to the earth. When that word is rejected, however, Jesus' word becomes a fire of judgment. The disciples are not the only ones who do not get it.
Luke holds before us, therefore, a complex picture of God. God is love! God is wrath! The Bible constantly attests to this twofold word of God. God's twofold word brings divisions to human life. We see this reflected in the family divisions spoken of in verses 52-53.
Verses 54-56 speak of the signs of the times. See also 11:29-32. People can read the signs of the weather but they can't seem to read the much more important signs of the kingdom. They cannot grasp or understand what God is up to in a servant who is off to his death in Jerusalem.
If you are so clever in predicting the weather, why are you unable to discern the very presence of God's reign in your midst? This is yet one more disclosure of the divine will along with an exposure of human rejection of God's reign. If the whole of Luke's narrative were not confident of God's saving triumph, this haunting question could only demonstrate the validity of divine judgment (see also 13:1-5).5
Homiletical Directions
As with much of the other material in the "Travel Narrative" this week's assigned text is didactic in nature. Jesus is teaching his disciples about his destiny and the destiny of the human race. There is much to teach our people from this text. It does not, however, have many narrative connections. One possible way to put this text in a narrative frame would be to tell those stories which point to God's plan in Jesus Christ. The songs of Gabriel, Mary, and Zechariah in Luke 1 each speak of God's plan for this child who is to be born. The angel announced to shepherds that this child would be the Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord (2:11). John the Bap-tist prepared the way of the more powerful one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (3:1-21). Jesus quoted from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown synagogue to give shape to his mission.
Things look very bright for this Messiah. But the darkness sets in. In 9:22 Jesus reveals to his disciples that he "... must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." This is a divine must. Jesus is under orders, under a plan of God. He must. This divine necessity is repeated many times in Luke (13:33; 17:25; 22:37; 24:7, 44).
Under divine necessity Jesus first must suffer! That's what pushes to the surface in today's text. "Let's get on with it!" Jesus is ready to submit to the plan. He is ready to go to Jerusalem. He is ready to die.
If we were to stitch together some of these stories to put today's teaching text in its overall Lukan context we might then end with a word of proclamation. It can go something like this:
"Jesus has a word for us today. 'I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! God has a plan for my life. I must carry out the plan. I must die and then be raised. I must suffer and then see glory. My life has a meaning, a purpose, a destiny when it is in God's hands.
"a'And so it can be for all who put their trust in me. You suffer much in your life in this world. You wonder at times if life is worth the effort, if life has any meaning or purpose or destiny. I am here today to tell you that your life can have meaning. I am here today to tell you that your life can have purpose. I am here today to tell you that your life can have a destiny. Put your trust in me. Your life takes on great meaning when you give it up to me. I am your purpose. I am your destiny.' Amen."
____________
1.aDavid L. Tiede, Luke: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minne-apolis: Augsburg, 1988), p. 244.
2.aIbid., p. 243.
3.aRobert C. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts, Volume One (Phila-delphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 252.
4.aIbid., p. 288.
5.aTiede, op. cit., p. 245.
