The Prince of Peace Calls Us to War

Luke 12:49-53

Pastor Michael Zarling

The Lord Jesus himself warns us that, as his children, we will experience severe trials. Jesus teaches, “Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51) Our faith might even be tested to the point of having to choose between submitting to the false beliefs of those who are near and dear to us or following the true way of Christ. We will not give up the faith. There is too much to lose: our dear Savior, forgiveness, and everlasting life. Our gracious God, who sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sin, gives us all that we need for our body and soul.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us (Hebrews 12:1). Amen.

Harold fell in love with his next-door-neighbor when she was a teenager. As their relationship progressed, he told her that he wouldn't marry her unless she converted to being a Lutheran. That didn't sit very well with her very Catholic parents. It caused a division within the family.

Maggie came to the U.S. as a foreign exchange student to attend classes at an area Lutheran high school. As part of the curriculum, she had to take "Introduction to Christianity" and "Introduction to Lutheranism." Her host family were also insistent that she attend worship with them every Sunday morning and also take their pastor's adult confirmation classes. Maggie was eventually baptized and confirmed in her new Lutheran Christian faith. Her atheist family back in China were not pleased. They had sent her to the U.S. for an education, not a conversion.

Kim was a quiet young woman, raised in an "unchurched" family. When her friend invited her to visit his church, she accepted. She got hooked on the message that God loved her despite all the wrong things she had done. But then the trouble started. Kim began attending worship every Sunday to learn more about God's love. Her parents felt left out. They felt God was taking their daughter away from them. Every Sunday morning when Kim left for church, her father called out after her, "See you later, hypocrite!" Her mother scheduled family picnics and events on Sunday mornings. When Kim chose to go to church instead, she heard from her mom, "You love these strangers more than your own family!"

Harold, Maggie, and Kim sound harsh, don't they? They're dividing families. They're displeasing parents. They're causing rifts and separation where there had once been peace and calm.

What happened in the families of these three people are exactly what Jesus said would happen when he's involved. "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." Then Jesus goes on to describe that division: "From now on there will be five divided in one household: three against two, and two against three. They will be divided: father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Luke 12:52-53).

Jesus sounds like a homewrecker and a Fourth Commandment breaker, doesn't he?!

Just when you think Christians are supposed to be focused on the family, Jesus comes along and says you have to hate your family in to follow him. This is one of those Bible verses that atheist types love to parade around to show how crazy Christianity can be. On the one hand, you're supposed to love your enemies. Then on the other hand, you're supposed to hate your family. On the one hand, you are commanded in the Fourth Commandment to honor your father and mother. Then on the other hand, you're told you must hate your father and mother, along with the rest of your family.

"Fire on the earth ... baptism to undergo ... division". What is Jesus talking about here? Jesus' baptism was the fire of the cross and hell he suffered for us. Our lives, as blessed as they are, will be filled with the fire of battling temptation and rejection for the sake of the cross. Jesus is saying that people will become divided over him and his teachings.

You've experienced what Jesus is talking about. You've had discussions with your family and friends. Discussions that turned into disagreements. Disagreements that turned into divisions.

The hard thing to do is to speak out. But that's what Jesus wants you to do! Even if it causes division. You forsake earthly peace for the hope of eternal peace. The easy thing to do is to look the other way and keep silent. That's what the devil wants you to do. Because that way you keep peace in the family. An earthly peace that he hopes will lead to eternal torment.

There is a very real temptation to be close-mouthed and open-minded. To shirk from confronting sin or shivering from challenging false doctrine. To practice outward unity when there is no spiritual unity. This is a very real temptation in our lives, our church, and in our Lutheran church body.

You tried calling your sister to repentance after she moved in with her boyfriend. You told your son how disappointed you are that he left his confirmation vows to join a different Christian denomination. You've had the discussions at work about infant baptism and closed communion. You've debated in your family the struggle of attending your cousin's gay wedding. You want to demonstrate love for your family, but you don't want to appear like you're approving of your family's sinful choices.

When you've spoken out you've been called "rude," "unloving," "hateful," "close-minded," and a whole host of other unpleasant adjectives.

Didn't the Christmas angels announce that Jesus was born to bring "peace on earth" (Luke 2:14)? Yes, they did! Isaiah prophecies that Jesus will be the Prince of Peace. "There will be no limit to his authority and no end to the peace he brings" (Isaiah 9:6-7). Yes, he is! Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and he did come to bring peace – but not worldly peace. Instead, Jesus came to bring peace between sinful human beings and his holy, heavenly Father. "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)

Jesus is the Prince of Peace – by his standards, not the world's. Human nature loves to unite around what promotes outward peace especially at the cost of the heavenly peace that Jesus brings. The world teaches that if you get rid of religion, there will be freedom of expression. But Christianity is the only religion that allows humanity to have real, lasting freedom from sin, Satan, and eternal death. The peace and freedom that the world promises are only a façade. To all such facades of peace, Jesus is a bull in the world's China shop.

In a world filled with false ideas about "relative truth" or "my truth," Jesus and his teachings are divisive since he proclaims absolute truth. Jesus said of himself, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6) We are either for Jesus or we are against him. Jesus says, "The one who is not with me is against me. The one who does not gather with me scatters." (Luke 11:23) There is no room for neutrality where Jesus and his work are concerned. Either Jesus is our Lord, or he is not. There's no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. You either stand up for Jesus on one side or you stand against him on the other side.

The Prince of Peace calls us to war. It's a war of words – his words over the world's words. It's a war of gods – the true God of heaven and earth versus the gods of ego and money. It's a war of teachings – teachings that rebuke, correct, and forgive against teachings that permit decadence, debauchery, and death.

You've felt the fire. You've experienced the hate. You've lived this division. You've been in the trenches of this war. … And none of it is pleasant!

The fire you've felt is only a small taste of the fire Jesus felt for you. He teaches, "I came to throw fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already ignited. But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished" (Luke 12:49-50)!

John the Baptist promised that Jesus would "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Luke 3:16). James and John were ready to call down the fire of judgment on the Samaritan village that would not welcome Jesus (9:54). The rebuke they received makes it plain that the time for fiery judgment had not yet come. But the day of fire will come. The Master will return. The wish that Jesus expresses that the fire "were already ignited" suggests that he would like to get it over with since it is so dreadful to contemplate.

Before Jesus brings a baptism of fiery judgment upon the earth, he must first undergo his own baptism as he receives God's judgment upon sin on the cross. This baptism is God's judgment for our sins. Jesus receives an infinity of fiery judgment during his finite time upon the cross. He was divided from his heavenly Father for a time so that we who believe in him can spend an eternity united with our heavenly Father.

As Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem to undergo this baptism of fire, he makes it clear that others are not ready to accept his message of salvation. The Christmas angels sang of the peace that the Messiah would bring upon the earth. But when people reject that peace, then they will receive judgment in its place. Families were divided by Jesus two thousand years ago. That division of families continues to this day. What Simeon foretold, Jesus sees happening: "This child is destined to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel" (Luke 2:34).

Are you ready to endure this fiery division Jesus brings? Even when it gets personal? Even when it shows itself not just on our TVs or phones but within our homes and families?

The questions come quickly: Who do you love more – Jesus or your family? What do you cherish more – God's teachings or peace in the family? What is your ultimate goal in life – to see your family and friends in heaven – or to keep the religious arguments to a minimum?

Harold was adamant that his future wife becomes Lutheran. She did. Those are my parents. Because my dad would not compromise, I'm here as your pastor.

Maggie is the Chinese foster daughter of a retired pastor who served with me in Racine. I was blessed to baptize and confirm Maggie as a high school senior. My daughters teased me that I didn't tear up at their baptisms, but I did at Maggie's. I told them that I knew they were going to be raised in a Christian home. When Maggie went home to China, she didn't have that at all. No support from her pagan family. No Lutheran church in the area of her pagan country.

Kim's abuse continued for months. Why would anyone – especially a meek young woman – put up with this? Why not skip worship to appease her parents? What could be worth the hurtful comments and long guilt trips?

God's love for her! For the first time in Kim's life, she had experienced a Father's perfect love. Her heavenly Father knew her darkest secrets. She could hide nothing from him. As God said through Jeremiah, he is a God who is both near and far away. No one can hide from him. He fills the heavens and earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24). God knew Kim … yet he still loved her. He had been willing to sacrifice his Son to make her his daughter. No matter what she did, he would never stop loving her.

This amazing, unselfish, sacrificial love changed Kim's heart and life. She could endure the division in her family on earth. It didn't make her happy. She wished her parents understood. She tried to explain it to them. Whether they understood or not, Kim wasn't going to lose her heavenly family. She knew the love of the Father, who created her, the Brother who died for her, and the Spirit who gave her peace despite the insults and guilt trips.

Her new family was worth the trouble with the old family. Kim only hoped that one day, her old family could be part of her new family, too.

Brothers and sisters, do you have the same willingness to join with our Brother in Christ and be divided from your physical brother and sister? Are you willing to be separated from your earthly parents all because you will not be separated from your heavenly Father?

These are very real questions because the Prince of Peace calls us to war. But during this war, the Prince of Peace gives his followers a peace that is beyond all understanding. A peace only he can provide. Amen.

Hebrews gives us this encouragement about Jesus enduring the fire of the cross: Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God's throne (Hebrews 12:2). Amen.


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This Sermon is part of the 2025 Series "Wounds That Heal"

Not all wounds are bad. A skilled surgeon takes a deadly sharp scalpel and cuts through flesh and muscle. The result of that wound: not harm, but healing. In this series, Jesus shares truths we need to hear, even though it hurts to hear them. Jesus speaks words that wound us, but his intent is to heal our very soul.