I Came to Set the Earth on Fire

Sometimes when you read Jesus’ teachings, you feel like you’ve gotten on a horse that’s much too big and much too fast for you. When you read what Jesus says in Luke 12, you have nothing but lightning and blood, but in the center of this teaching is the most wonderful thing a human heart can hear.

In this text, we learn two things: we learn about the divisiveness of Jesus caused by his self-centered teaching, and we learn about the agony of Jesus caused by his self-denying love. It may be surprising to many of you to see what he says, but you don’t know the real Jesus unless you understand his divisiveness and the constant agony and pressure under which he labored every minute of his ministry.

Let’s look now at these two things: 1) the divisiveness of Jesus, and 2) the agony of Jesus.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 17, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 12:49-53.

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