On the Edge of Time [11-30-25]

November 30, 2025

Luke 12:49-53

“On the Edge of Time”

We’re now at the final section of chapter twelve that we’re going to delve into. The overall theme of this section could be best described as follows, and I quote:

“GET READY…STAY READY.”

We’ve carefully gone through chapter twelve because of its pivotal nature. Remember back in chapter nine. We read, “Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem.” In other words, Luke emphasizes Jesus’ unwavering determination to travel to Jerusalem, knowing it will lead to his torture and crucifixion. That’s the underneathness to these chapters that follow. We are in the midst of an extended call to salvation. It’s a call to come to Jesus…to enter into the kingdom of salvation…to receive the forgiveness Jesus gives…and to be embraced with the promise of heaven. It starts in verse one of chapter twelve, running all the way to verse nine of chapter thirteen. With the exception of a few sidetracks for questions asked of Jesus, these verses are one long teaching. And the essential part to this teaching is a call to repentance. It’s a call to enter into the kingdom of salvation…to receive forgiveness…to rest in the assurance of eternal life.

This long discourse fits perfectly with the first Sunday of Advent. It’s a call to be ready. To be prepared for God’s gift of salvation. Jesus uses images we all understand. Keeping lamps lit. Doorkeepers maintaining watch. Masters returning unannounced. Burglars attempting to break in. Managers doling out food rations. Faithful servants rewarded. Harsh punishment for lazy and dishonest servants.

The big picture is that death may come at any time. So be prepared. And that’s what Advent is all about. Are you doing what God has called you to do? Are you believing what God has called you to believe? Are you ready to meet Jesus?

In order to jump into the flow of things, we’re going to read through all of 

Luke 12:

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

“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! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 mother-in-law.”

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

There’s no better way to begin Advent than with the real Jesus. Not the secular version of the sweet baby Jesus, meek and mild.

Alex O’Connor is a prominent British skeptic. He recently said:

“I’ve realized Christianity is more plausible than I thought…the undeniable thing is that there’s this extraordinary historical figure who did something extraordinary.”

O’Connor now identifies as agnostic. May God continue to move him along.

Here’s where these verses take us. Advent isn’t primarily for preparing to welcome a sweet baby, meek and mild. Here’s something you might want to write down:

WE ARE ON THE EDGE OF TIME.

We have to be ready to meet Jesus. Jesus spells it out throughout his ministry:

• I have come to seek and save the lost.

• I have come that they might have life in all its abundance.

• I have come not to violate the law but to fulfill the law.

• I have come to be the light.

Jesus says these things over and over.

Remember that Jesus has set his face for Jerusalem. What awaits him there? Right…betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion. The fulfillment of the prophetic promise, “By his stripes we have been healed.” These verses are in the service of the trajectory of salvation history. Jesus is getting us ready. And he’s telling us to stay ready.

Let’s look at Luke 12:49-53 once more:

“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! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, 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 mother-in-law.”

How’s that for the first Sunday in Advent?

It is so appropriate.

Let’s first look back at the birth narrative. What gifts did the Wise Men bring to Mary when Jesus was born? Right…as Matthew tells us, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And what was myrrh used for? Right, again… anointing bodies for burial. Remember, Jesus was born to die. That’s the meaning of Christmas. Jesus was born to die for our sins. Amen?

Our last look will be at these brief, but often misunderstood verses:

“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!”

The first verse is the easiest. There are two kinds of fire. There’s judging fire, which will engulf nonbelievers. And there’s cleansing, purifying fire. That’s the one Jesus is specifically applying to himself. The fire has already been kindled in his public ministry. When he gets to Jerusalem, the fire will engulf him. He will bring redemption to all sinful people who believe.

The trajectory of his life brings clarity to the next verse. “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” That word, distressed, doesn’t mean what we think it means. We under-stand the word to mean “suffering from anxiety, sorrow, or pain.” But that’s not it at all. The Greek word literally means “I am pressed.” Jesus is pressing on toward the fulfillment of his purpose. Born to die. That simple word, pressed reflects:

JESUS’ INTENSE FOCUS THAT OCCUPIES HIM TO ACCOMPLISH THE URGENT TASK SET BEFORE HIM.

That is the meaning of Christmas. Jesus is pressed…compelled by the reason of his birth. Think about that. From the moment of his under-standing of why he was born…most likely at a very young age…Jesus…your Savior… was totally governed by his birth destiny.

Jesus was ready to meet his death out of deepest love and affection for 

you. Will you be ready to meet Jesus? Sometimes death comes like a thief in the night. Will you be ready? Unless you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it will be too late to prepare. It will be too late. Walk with Jesus. Worship Jesus. Embrace love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those things need to be our Christmas gifts shared wherever we go. Let these be expressions of our guiding truth - our names have been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

One last thing. And it’s the last thing you might want to write down:

THERE WAS NEVER A TIME IN HIS LIFE, IN HIS CONSCIOUS LIFE, WHEN JESUS WASN’T AWARE OF WHERE HE WAS GOING.

Jesus Christ suffered for us. He took our punishment upon himself so we could live eternally with him. How beautiful is that? Divine judgment for our sin fell upon him so it wouldn’t fall upon us. That is what Christmas is all about.

Make no mistake. Life is challenging. Difficulties abound. Jesus doesn’t 

mince words. Faithfulness to him doesn’t mean an absence of hardship. Quite the contrary. It can mean added burden. People can be unkind. Life doesn’t always go the way we want or expect. But when Jesus is your            Prince of Peace…even when there’s difficulty…you will enjoy a peace which passes all understanding. When you embrace Jesus Christ, peace comes now and it is forever.

Let’s affirm God’s Christmas promise with these words from Charles Spurgeon:

“Come and welcome, come and welcome, sinner, come! Come as you are, sinful as you are, hardened as you are, careless as you think you are, and having no good thing whatsoever, come to your God in Christ! O may you come to him who gave his Son to bleed in your stead, and casting yourself on what Christ has done, may you resolve, ‘If I perish, I will trust in him; if I be cast away, I will rely on him.’ You shall not perish, but for you there shall be the feast of all good things…The Lord bless you very richly, for his name’s sake. Amen.”