LUKE 9

Well, we may have to dig a little into the theological today, some really good stuff in Luke 9.

Jesus sends the twelve out to do some community outreach. Actually, it was more like town-to-town, door-to-door evangelism. They would be received better in some places than others; one might be more receptive of the Good News than another. Jesus could not, however, compromise the message to be more “acceptable”. When the twelve were told to “shake the dust off their shoes” when they left an unreceptive house or city, it was implied that those rejecting the message were bringing judgment on themselves. The shaking of the dust was symbolic, in that a Jewish person was not to bring in that which is “unclean” to the “clean” holy land. The disciples could not carry with them even the residual dust from those who rejected the Savior.

Herod certainly takes note of all that is going on, as he hears of the miracles being done by this Man and His group. He wants to meet Jesus, but he will have to wait for that meeting.

Jesus goes to retreat with His disciples to pray, but crowds follow Him, so He teaches them. We are told there are around 5000 men in this crowd. Factor in women and children, and the number is significantly higher. And we know the familiar story of what He was able to do with the five loaves and two fish. All were satisfied, and the word used is the same as used in Luke 6, when talking about those who are in the kingdom of God. “Satisfied”, what a peaceful existence.

So Jesus finally gets some quiet time to pray, and He asks the disciples who people say He is. Peter gets it right. And since He is the Christ, following Him comes with responsibility and effort, which Jesus explains as well. “Deny yourself”, He says, meaning drop your self-interest. Take up your cross – that is, be willing to be committed, even unto death. This is actually not the idea of deal with life’s struggles and burdens (you know, having a cross to bear), but to make a life-changing decision for Christ, and do it every day, as Luke emphasizes. Finally, there is the call to follow Jesus, continually.

OK, yet another favorite NT account of mine, that of the transfiguration of Jesus. He had just eight days prior told the group that some there would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God. So Peter, John, and James are with Him when He shows them His glory (I can’t even come close to grasping this!), and thus they are the “some” who saw the kingdom in that way, and had not yet died. It’s deep, but actually simple. Regardless, Peter makes a big to-do about Moses and Elijah, wanting to put up tents for them and Jesus, and the Father speaks from the cloud to remind Peter and the others that Jesus is the focus. Peter will later rehearse this account in 2 Peter 1:16, when he declares his message to be truth, based on having eyewitnessed Jesus’ majesty.

Twice in this chapter, as the disciples are finally getting the idea that Jesus is the Messiah, He tells them that He will have to die. They were afraid to ask for any details.

So, who is the greatest in the kingdom? The disciples seem to like this question. When you consider that a child was almost insignificant in the culture at that time, Jesus nails it when He tells them that whoever receives or welcomes a little child, that is who is greatest. It takes a humble spirit to welcome the “insignificant” in a culture. It was a great reminder to the disciples to stay humble.

Last here, we see excuses not to follow Jesus. The first is the same as placing religious duty over all else. Culturally, parents would want a child around to bury them when they died, and this seems a convenient reason not to follow. The second is a play on words, where He essentially says let the (spiritually) dead bury the (physically) dead (New American Comentary). So if that man decided not to follow, he was equated with the spiritually dead. Third, He is saying that God’s kingdom has come, and the call to follow Jesus takes precedence over anything else.

SO WHAT…?

So, in the words of my son (from camp), I must tell myself daily “DIE, SUCKER!” Each day I must be dead to my own self-interest and fully alive to the interest of Christ.

So, there will be those who choose to reject the message of Christ. Yet all those who reject it cannot taint the sweetness of those who accept it. Keep sharing Christ!

So, humility, humility, humility. Jesus places such an emphasis on this. The twelve had every human reason to be prideful; yet when you look at epistles written later, they reflect on just how humble Jesus was. Humble enough to go to the cross, for me, for you.