Lesson 3423

 (Lesson 3423)(05-18-21) Luke 12:49-50

    “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!”

    In today’s quote, Jesus related that He had come to impose His wrath upon those who would reject Him. He also made it clear that, through His own mortal sacrifice, His mission was to provide a refuge of eternal salvation for those of us who have accepted, and will accept, His forgiving grace through faith in Him.

    NOTE: There is another very important lesson in today’s quote having to do with the meaning and intent of the word “baptism” and it’s grammatical variations, as they are applied throughout the New Testament. The word “baptism”, as it is applied herein, is not in ANY way a reference to the immersion in water as was practiced by John the Baptist, But rather, it is in reference to the sacrificial ordeal to which Jesus was about to be subjected. Yet, the word “baptism”, as it is applied in both instances, was transliterated from the same greek word, ‘baptizo’, that is applied to also difine the water immersion that John the Baptist practiced and was ingrained in Jewish law.

    The point here being that the actual meaning and intent of the word “baptize”, or it’s derivatives, is directly relative to the context within which it is applied.~