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This week we are concluding our studies in Luke Chapter 12. Please read verses 49-59 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 12:49-50 (NIV)
‘”I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!”’
When I was about 8 years of age, I had been learning to play the piano for about a year and my teacher felt that I was ready for my Grade One examination. She had previously given me pieces of music that were way in excess of the Grade One requirements and I was doing well. She had complete confidence in me and asked if it was okay to put my name forward for the exam. Somewhat reluctantly I volunteered.
I’ll always remember how nervous I was in the build-up to the exam. I was well practiced and I was confident that I would do just fine, but I really, really didn’t want to go through the process of examination. I was aware that an examiner would be scrutinising my playing and would look for errors with each mistake being penalised. My hands were sweating, my heart was racing and I was thinking “What on earth have I decided to do and why?”
Really, I didn’t know what I was volunteering for. I was unsure of what to expect and I didn’t know if I was ‘up to the task’. In our verses today, in this very short study, I just want to look at the first three words: “I have come”.
When we read the Scripture, we see a picture of Jesus that, very often, causes some people concern. We see Him as the Sacrificial Lamb. We see Him as a willing volunteer to pay the penalty of sin. He wasn’t a ‘victim’ in any way. He came to earth to demonstrate who God is, to point us to His Father and to destroy all the works of the evil one.
It wasn’t going to be an easy task. Can you imagine what He was feeling as the countdown began to His death? Everything about His life, His death and His resurrection was within His control and direction. He said, “no man takes my life. I have power to lay it down and power to raise it up again.” He was also fully aware of what it meant to walk the road to Calvary. He knew what was coming. He was going to suffer an horrendous death and would ‘set His face as flint’ in order to accomplish everything for which He had volunteered.
When He uttered the words “I have come”, they are full of meaning. Perhaps He had a longing to complete the work as quickly as possible although He was more than prepared to lay aside His will in submission to the Father’s.
My prayer at the beginning of this week is to continually appreciate everything that Jesus has done for us and to know exactly what it means when He says “I have come”.
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