1
The Great Divide
Luke 12:49-56
A sermon given to Trinity Christian Fellowship,
Pinehurst, North Carolina on Sunday the 7th of
August 2016, by the Pastor Emeritus, Dr. Larry H.
Ellis
Holy Father, May the words of my mouth and
the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Thy
sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
The Gospel text this morning, is, to many
people, one of the most troubling in all of Scripture.
And the reason it is so troubling, is that it confronts
us with the true nature of Jesus. It shows a side of
Jesus most moderns rarely consider and it does so in
such direct language that there is no wiggle room.
Also, who could deny that it is absolutely prophetic,
for no person in all of history has generated more
division and conflict than Jesus of Nazareth. There is
no one in the annals of human society more loved or
more the object of animosity and fury than the self1
2
educated, poor, powerless, itinerant preacher named
Jesus.
The text does not stand alone as the only time
Jesus spoke in such incendiary language, for indeed,
one can scarcely find any more scathing public
denouncements than the famous eight Woes to the
Pharisees in Matthew 23. Publicly, Jesus attacks the
acknowledged, revered religious leaders of His day,
accusing them of uncleanness, blindness, hypocrisy,
extortion, self-indulgence and much more. Further,
Jesus overturns settled religious practice with His
assertion, followed by a convincing miracle, that the
Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, for the Sabbath
was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Many of these confrontations were deliberately
fomented by Jesus Himself. It is true that to the
powerless, weak and needy, Jesus showed great
compassion and understanding.
2
3
However, in many of these passages, especially
those directed toward the powerful, Jesus was
nothing like the popular misconception. We, because
we are uncomfortable with confrontation, are able to
blind ourselves to the aggressive, confrontational
practice of Jesus without noticing or understanding
the dynamics involved. Consequently most people
are able to maintain the false picture of Jesus as
always meek and mild, which may be comforting, but
is not true.
The people of Nazareth, Jesus’ home town, did
not try to kill Jesus because He was meek and mild.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were not furious
because Jesus did not threaten them, nor did the
people of the Gadarenes entreat Jesus to leave them
because He was an innocuous healer. No, those who
confronted Jesus were filled with fear and awe. They
were struck dumb by Jesus’ wisdom and His
willingness to break the settled understanding of the
3
4
law of Moses. They feared the obvious
manifestations of the supernatural power of God in
Jesus’ life. And they resented, were furious, over His
claim to Lordship and dominion.
All of this is so counter to the general
understanding of Jesus in popular culture, that it
shows most of us have not really read or understood
the gospels.
One of my favorite poems is a little known piece
by Ezra Pound, entitled “The Ballad of the Goodly
Fere.” Fere, in the poem, means mate or companion.
The speaker in the poem is Simon Zelotes, speaking
after the crucifixion. The poem is in dialect which I
have modified to make the poem more easily
understood. Please listen:
Ha’ we lost the goodliest fere of all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O’ ships and the open sea.
4
5
When they came with a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
“First let these go!” quo our Goodly Fere,
“Or I’ll see ye damned,” says He.
And he sent us out through the crossed high
spears
And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
“Why took ye not me when I walked about
Alone in the town?” says he.
Oh we drank his Hale in the good red wine
When we last made company,
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere
But a man o’ men was he.
I ha’ seen him drive a hundred men
Wi’ a bundle o’ cords swung free,
5
6
That they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury.
They’ll no get him all in a book I think
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere
But He loved the open sea.
If they think they ha’ snared our Goodly Fere
They are fools to the last degree.
“I’ll go to the feast,” quo our Goodly Fere,
“Though I go to the gallows tree.”
“Ye have seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead,’ says he,
Ye shall see one thing to master all:
“Tis how a brave man dies on the tree.”
A Son of God was the Goodly Fere
6
7
That bade us his brothers be.
I ha’ seen him cow a thousand men.
I have seen him upon the tree.
He cried no cry when they drave the nails
And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue
But never a cry cried He.
I have seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills of Galilee,
They whined as he walked out calm between
With his eyes like the grey of the sea,
Like the sea that brooks no voyaging
With the winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
With twey words spoke’ suddenly.
7
8
A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think that ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
I have seen him eat ‘o the honey-comb
Since they nailed him to the tree.
Why is it, that Jesus, who never harmed a soul,
went about doing good, healed the sick, proclaimed
good news and manifested the power and inspiration
of God; why is it that Jesus created such division and
animosity? Why is it that others hated Him so much?
And why does He caution His disciples so sternly,
telling them that they will be hated as Jesus himself
has been hated. They will be bound and “delivered up
to synagogues and prisons…brought before kings and
rulers for My name’s sake…you will be betrayed
even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends;
8
9
and they will put some of you to death. And you will
be hated by all for My name’s sake.” Luke 21:12-17
The answer is that those who follow Christ have
accepted Him at His word. They have come to
believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the revelation of
the nature of God, to be worshipped, obeyed, loved
and followed. No one says it better than John’s
gospel: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth…And of His fullness we have all received, and
grace for grace. For the law was given through
Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ.” (John 1:14-17)
C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity tells us
that Christ drives us into a corner. His life and death
and resurrection are so powerful; His insistence that
He was the Son of God so uncompromising; His
9
10
claims so outrageous, that we are driven to decide
that He is either a liar, a lunatic or the Son of God.
The whole crux of Christianity hinges upon the
question first voiced by Pilate: “What then shall I do
with Jesus who is called the Christ?” Either one
submits to Jesus as the Christ, or finally they answer
as the crowd did Pilate, “Crucify Him!”
The great divide in human culture, that which
separates humanity, as Jesus said, father against son,
mother against daughter; the divide between
righteousness and evil; between those seeking God
and those in rebellion against Him, finally come to a
point in the person of Jesus.
When Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and
the life, no man comes to the Father except through
me” many people were offended. Jesus knew that
they would be offended. Thus, the prediction that He,
Jesus came not to bring peace but rather division.
When Peter tells us, (Acts 4:11-12) that “This is the
10
11
'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has
become the chief cornerstone” he was simply quoting
Jesus as recorded in Luke 20:18 and Matt 21:44. The
leadership of Judah rejected Jesus and Jesus
pronounced their judgment: “Whoever falls on that
stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will
grind him to powder."
Peter’s following comment is without
compromise. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among
men by which we must be saved."
Some protest that that is not fair. What about
those who do not know of Jesus? Some are worried
about the righteousness of God, but we need not be
concerned. For God’s righteousness exceeds our own
as the brilliance of the Sun exceeds the flicker of a
candle. Abraham was absolutely correct. “The God of
all the earth will do right.” God will save, through
Christ, those who are worthy in His sight of the
11
12
redemption provided by Jesus, irrespective of our
human perspectives. But the fact remains, Scripture is
very clear, salvation, forgiveness, righteousness
before God, comes only through Jesus, the Son of
God.
In a world which likes to believe that there are
many paths to God, Jesus gives a resounding No!
“No one comes to the Father, except through me.”
And when we understand that, we stand before the
great divide. Jesus becomes for us, either a liar, a
lunatic or the Son of God. We cannot halt forever
between two opinions. And if we cast our lot with
Jesus, we may be sure the world will not meet us
with approval or approbation.
In our day, even in the church, many are
reluctant or unwilling to face the hard choice. But
finally all of us are driven to cross the Rubicon, to
choose the road we will follow at the great divide.
And for those with much knowledge, who have been
12
13
exposed to the truths of Scripture and the witness of
the Holy Spirit, much has been given, and of them
much will be required.
As the winds of secularism blow with increasing
strength across our culture we may expect the
warning of Jesus to be driven home in our personal
lives. It is best we make our choice now, clearly,
firmly and with all our hearts.
At one point in Jesus’ life, after a particularly
hard teaching, many of the disciples deserted Jesus.
He turned to His inner circle and said: “Will you also
go away?” It was Peter who spoke for those who
love Jesus. Peter said: “To whom shall we go, You
have the words of eternal life.”
Pilate’s question is a question to us all: “What
then shall I do with this Jesus, called the Christ?” All
of us must answer. What is your answer?
They that have ears to hear let them hear what
the Spirit is saying to the Church. Amen.
13