Baptism on the Cross - Luk_12:49-50

Baptism on the Cross - Luke 12:49-50.

"I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? (49) But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" (50) With Christ's presence on the earth, a fire was kindled; the fire of human hostility that would stir up separation and persecution against He and His followers. The fire was ignited by John the Baptist when he announced to Israel, "...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." - John 1:29 The self righteous scribes, lawyers, and Pharisees sought to persecute Him, all through His earthly ministry and to the Cross, with undiluted hatred and hostility. Hebrews 4:12 gives us the effect of God's Word on the human mind.

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword,..."

Yes, standing for our Savior will always cause division with the world, and with friends and close relatives who reject Christ and His Word.  Often a fire of opposition will be kindled as a result of witnessing to your parents, brothers and sisters, or other relatives.  That is when we realize that the relationship is not the same as it used to be.  As a Christian grows, it soon becomes evident they have a much closer relationship with other Christians than they do with their own relatives.  Christ prepared His followers for the inevitability of just such occasions in Luke 12:51; Luke 12:53.

"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division ... (51) The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." (53) Are you standing in silence with the match in your hand; or have you started a fire with a burning desire to proclaim God's Word, and identify yourself with Christ? Yes, the Word of God does divide, as does the sharp two-edged sword. We might well remember Christ's words on the Cross, while bearing your sins and mine.

"...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Christ was separated from the Father, while on the Cross; so you and I would never be separated from Him in eternity. This is the baptism He was referring to in Luke 12:50; used, metaphorically, of the Cross, "But, I have (yet future) a baptism to be baptized with."

He was identified with the sinner, being immersed into death with the sins of the world upon Himself.  Notice the words, "I have." His water baptism had already been accomplished by John the Baptist; thus, this baptism was yet future, upon the Cross.  It is interesting to note the reason our Lord spoke the words, "How am I straightened till it be accomplished" (Luke 12:50).  Here the Greek word for "straightened" is "SUNECHO," and out of twelve occurrences in the New Testament, is used nine times by Luke.  It means "constrain, hold in, or pressed in."  For example, in Luke 22:63, the Greek word "SUNECHO" is translated "held."

"And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him."

What was constrained, or held, concerning Christ, prior to His going to the Cross?  We believe this was the power of His deity; which He could have exercised to prevent His being placed on the Cross.  As Christ was Perfect God as well as Perfect Man, He possessed all the attributes of deity (God).  Revelation 1:18 makes this clear.

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell (the position) and of death (the condition)." The Lord Jesus Christ has the power to take any life at any time He so desires. No power on earth could have put Christ on the Cross; or kept Him there, had this not been His will. In Matthew 27:40; Matthew 27:42 they challenged our Lord on the Cross with these words,

"...If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross ...(40) He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." (42) Not only could He have come down from the Cross, He could have struck everyone of them dead in an instant! Only because of His love did He restrain, or withhold Himself from doing this. There is no question as to the power of His deity; if He could resurrect a dead body back to life, He could surely take a live body and render it dead! Which is more difficult, to kill a live body or bring a dead body back to life? Our Lord had this to say of Himself in John 10:17-18,

"...I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (17b) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (18a) His divine love for the Crown of His Creation, humanity, was what restrained Him from destroying all who sought His destruction. His love is the answer to our verse in question.

"How am I straightened (restrained, or His power withheld) till it (the Cross) be accomplished?" (Because of His love!)

" See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." --Acts 8:36-3