“Prince of Peace Or Conflict?”
Text: Luke 12:49-53
8-17-2025
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. How about if we start with a little memory test? Trust me, it won’t be difficult. I’d like you to think back to Christmas. Maybe you don’t want to because that means thoughts of frigid temps, snow, and ice. On the other hand, with all the hot, humid weather we’ve been having that might just be a pleasant thought. But the weather isn’t what I want you to focus on. Instead, I want you to remember our Christmas celebrations. Okay, now here’s the memory quiz: Do you recall the words of the angels who appeared to the shepherds that first Christmas? They sang, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace and good will among men!” The prophet Isaiah writes that one of Christ’s names would be the “Prince of Peace.” And so, in many of our Christmas hymns, that’s how we refer to baby Jesus.
If you’re like me, those words and hymns give you a warm, comfortable feeling. But wait a minute. Isn’t that little baby the very same person who is speaking in the Gospel Lesson? And didn’t we just hear Jesus say, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” At first glance, those words make us very uncomfortable. It almost sounds like Jesus is saying, “I’m the Prince of Conflict, not the Prince of Peace.” Is He contradicting what the angels and Isaiah said about Him? Not at all. Whenever we run into one of these seeming contradictions in the Bible, it ought to make us stop and take a second look. Because if we do, then we can learn more about our Savior’s love and His plan of salvation for the whole world. And as we look deeper, we’ll also see that there’s no contradiction, just a lack of understanding on our part. So, let’s allow God to teach us what Jesus was actually saying.
The best place for us to start is with those 2 opening verses which can be just as confusing as what follows. Jesus begins this discourse by saying, "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” Doesn’t that sound like unpeaceful language? And what did He mean by it? Well, look back at the last verse of the Old Testament reading. That’s God speaking when he says, “Is not my word like fire?” God’s holy, unaltered Word is like a white-hot flame. When it comes into contact with sin and evil, the sparks are gonna fly. There will be a conflict! When the truth of God’s Law is spoken clearly, sinful people will resist and fight against it. Why do you suppose there are such huge legal battles over prayer and the Bible being spoken about anywhere in public? Why do you suppose in countries like Iran, China, Russia, and the Sudan, Christians are arrested for speaking about their Savior, Jesus? You may not believe it but even in Canada and England this is happening. Why? It’s because the forces of evil can’t stand the purifying fire of God’s Word.
But this resistance happens even in our own hearts and minds. When the fiery truth of God’s Law points out our sins we’re inclined to resist it. We resist when a Pastor or a Christian friend dares to confront an obvious sin in our lives, either in a sermon or one-on-one in private. After all, what business is it of theirs? We get offended. That’s because God’s Word causes conflict in a sinful heart. And the sparks fly. The mission of Jesus did exactly the same thing but on a universal scale. The truth of the cross would set the whole world ablaze spiritually. Jesus knew that some people would be offended by it. He knew that some would resist it. He knew that some would reject the salvation which is offered through His perfect sacrifice on that cross. Knowing this conflict was coming, Jesus said, "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” Make no mistake. Jesus was not happy that some would resist. He wasn’t happy that it was going to cause conflict. He really is the Prince of Peace. But Jesus was looking forward to the kindling of that fire because it meant that the chains of sin would be broken for those who would believe in Him. For believers, the cross is not offensive. It’s not a point of conflict. It’s the power of our salvation.
That dovetails perfectly with what Christ said in our text. He didn’t come to sign a peace treaty with the devil and sin. He didn’t come to compromise one iota of God’s Law. Look again at that last verse of the Jeremiah reading. God says His Word is “like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.” Like a powerful hammer blow, Jesus came to smash sin and destroy it. He came to smash the power of the devil. He did that on the cross. Jesus knew that it was going to cause conflict for all those who cling to the sinful rebellion of the devil. And it was going to cause a clear division between those who cling to Christ and those who cling to evil.
Let’s be perfectly clear though. This conflict and the divisiveness of the Gospel are not God’s fault. This conflict and the resulting divisions are caused by rebellious sinners, not God. He is not to blame. St. Paul makes it very clear in Romans chapter 7 that just because we are condemned for breaking God’s Law, it’s not God’s fault. We are to blame. Think of it this way: If you throw a rock up in the air and it lands on your head, is the Law of Gravity to blame for bringing it back down on your noggin? Is it God’s fault for creating the Law of Gravity? Of course not. It’s your own fault for violating that simple law. God put that law into effect for our benefit. If we ignore it or resist it, we must accept the blame for the pain which follows. In the same way, the Gospel in and of itself is not divisive. But when sinful people resist and ignore it, conflict and division is going to happen, even among family members. But that conflict and division is not God’s fault. God is working to save souls, not in order to cause pain and divisions.
This is also true as we struggle with sin in our own lives. Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” You see, God’s Word will also cause division even within your own heart. Like a surgeon’s scalpel, God cuts out the cancer of sin that’s in us. Imagine a patient laying on the operating table with a huge tumor. But as the doctor tries to cut it out, the patient wraps his hands around the tumor and holds on for dear life. How ridiculous. Under those circumstances, the doctor has only one choice: Skip the operation—which means a guaranteed painful death for the person.
I had a seminary professor who told us about a young man that came to him for counseling. This man was caught up in the sin of homosexuality and he was miserable. The professor showed him that the Bible says his lifestyle was an obvious sin against God’s Law, even if the rest of the world was telling him it was okay. As they spoke, the scalpel of God’s Law was cutting deeper and deeper into this man’s heart. Finally, he literally cried out, “Stop it! You’re killing me!” Yes, I’m sure he felt like God’s Word was going to cut him to pieces and kill him. But do you see what his problem was? He was holding firmly onto the cancer of his sin. And as God’s Word cut away at that sin, he felt his life coming apart. He felt like God was going to carve away until he was completely gutted with nothing left to live for. Sadly, that man left the office clinging to his sin. He jumped off of God’s operating table. And if that’s the way he stayed, then the cancer of his sin probably kept spreading until it totally consumed him in spiritual death.
Friends, that’s not the way it has to be. When God comes with the scalpel of His Word to cut out the sin in our lives He’s not doing it to harm us. No, He’s there to help and heal us. What that homosexual man didn’t realize is that when God cuts and divides away the sin from within us, He doesn’t leave us with huge holes in our lives. He promises to fill those voids with the love and goodness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, God loved us so much that He refused to allow us to live in our sinfulness undisturbed. He broke through the seeming peacefulness of our sinful world. He brought conflict as He went to war against the devil and sin. That’s a good kind of conflict. Maybe this illustration will help you grasp that concept. Imagine if you were in a prisoner of war camp run by the Nazi’s in World War II. Wouldn’t you be thrilled to hear the tanks and gunfire of the allied troops? Wouldn’t you be happy if that noise shattered the peaceful calm in the air? The noise of that conflict would mean that your freedom was at hand. You certainly wouldn’t call your rescuers “Conflict-Makers.” No. You would thank them for being “Peacemakers.”
Well, in a very real sense, Jesus invaded Satan’s death camp. He brought His divine fire from heaven to smash and destroy the bonds of sin which held us captive. And now that we are free, He wants us to stay that way. He wants us to come to Him daily and confess our sins so that He can cut away anything in our lives that is evil and threatens to harm our souls once again.
Yes, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Always was, and always will be. And His Gospel is the good news of peace between mankind and God. So, let’s thank God that Jesus came to cause division—division by separating us from our sin. There’s a saying that goes: “No God... No Peace. Know God... Know Peace.” Thank the Lord that you know Him by faith in His Son, Jesus. And may God now inspire us to share that good news with everyone so they too can experience the end of their spiritual conflicts as they embrace God’s Prince of Peace—Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!