Logion 10
| 10.Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and behold, I guard it until it blazeth." | Lk 12:49: "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" (NEB: "I have come to set fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!") |
In logion 10 instead of seeds we have fire that Jesus is casting on the world. He wishes the fire to catch hold and blaze up. In Luke we have Jesus expressing a certain impatience that it is not catching fire more quickly (12:49). As we see from the New English Bible translation that one modern interpretation is that Luke is referring to the fire which Jesus brought as the Holy Spirit, which he intended to give the disciples in a more dramatic fashion afterwards on the day of Pentecost (Lk 3:16; Acts 2:4; cf. Jn 16:13). This interpretation puts the Holy Spirit directly in the path that leads to truth. If the Spirit of truth is like spontaneous combustion, the fuel of the word of God would need careful tending for that spirit to continue in the world.