Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 12:50

"But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" — Luke 12:50 (ASV)

A baptism. See Barnes' notes on Matthew 20:22.

Am I straitened. How I earnestly desire that it were accomplished! Since these sufferings must be endured, how anxious I am that the time should come! Such were the feelings of the Redeemer in view of His approaching dying hour. We may learn from this:

1. That it is not improper to feel deeply at the prospect of dying. It is a sad, awful, terrible event, and it is impossible that we should look at it rightly without feeling—scarcely without trembling.
2. It is not improper to desire that the time should come, and that the day of our release should draw near (Philippians 1:23). To the Christian, death is but the entrance to life; and since the pains of death must be endured, and since they lead to heaven, it matters little how soon he passes through these sorrows and rises to his eternal rest.