Idea & Reality

We don’t grow to independence from Jesus, we grow into complete and total dependence on Jesus. What on earth where the disciples doing while Jesus was on the mountain? Jesus’ response to the situation is the only evidence we have in Luke. He calls them faithless and twisted. What ever they were doing they were not trusting God in it and they where twisted. I think they were trying to operate in their own strength. Matthew identifies that Jesus had told them that they could not cast out the demon because of their little faith. So the issue here is ministering by faith. Trusting God for his strength and his power. We never outgrow our need for Jesus. We never get to the point when we can stop praying. We never get to the point when we have the power in us independently of the Holy Spirit. No, the Christian life is not a matter of growing into independence but of learning complete trust and dependence on God. This is hard for us because we tend to picture growth in life as characterized by independence. The mature man or women is independent, strong, self reliant. We hear people tell us that Christianity is a crutch for the weak. Of course the strong are those who don’t need Jesus. This is all a bunch of nonsense. It assumes a world in which we where not made for God. The bible tells us that God made us for himself. We where made to know God. We where placed in a world created by God. We are more dependent on God than we have ever thought. Have you ever pondered the ‘givenness’ of creation? Truly we are dependent on God for everything from food to water to air. What is shocking from a Biblical worldview is the very idea of the independence of any part of God’s creation.

We need to pause here for a clarification. This is not a loss of personality. There is no idea in the Bible that we stop being ourselves. I am not saying that all is one and that we lose ourselves eventually in the oneness of the universe. I am pointing out the Biblical truth that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. We are dependent on God for everything physical and spiritual. Again, this is not a lose of personality. Instead we are established and enabled by God’s provision to be ourselves as he has created us to be. The fact that we are ourselves and not one another or God does not mean that we are ourselves apart from God.

This is not a negative thing, it is reality. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. There is no path in Christianity that is you growing to eventual independence where you don’t need or trust Jesus for strength and power and help and everything. Remember that we are fickle creatures. Jesus walks up the mountain and as he receeds from sight the disciples start to trust themselves. Stay close to Jesus. Remember him, bring him to the front of your thought’s as often as you can. Trust him, lean on him, draw strength from him, pray in his name, pray to him.

But why don’t we rely on him in everything? Sometimes it’s because I don’t believe that he is in charge of everything. I doubt his Kingship, so I take things into my own hands and get them done. I think we see this most vividly in the instance of Abraham and Hagar. Abraham wants a male heir, and so does Sarah. They take things into their own hands and attempt to accomplish God’s promise on their own. Maybe this is where you are at with God. Maybe you are impatient with him or you just don’t believe that he is actually in control of all things so you feel the need to do things on your own.

Sometimes I don’t rely Jesus because I don’t believe that he wants to help me. I doubt his priesthood. How can Jesus actually want to help me? Haven’t I sinned again, in the same way that I have so many times? How could he help me? How many days and weeks have you spent on your own, far from God, because you have doubted his love? Maybe you have come to doubt God’s love, or maybe you are overwhelmed with a sense of your own sinfulness.

Sometimes I don’t rely on Jesus because I think I know better. I doubt him as my teacher, as my prophet. Have you ever avoided prayer because you knew what God was going to say to you? Have you ever knowingly sinned because you were sure that what you had in mind was better than what God said? Or how often do we go through an entire day not praying only to realize in the evening how incredibly arrogant we have been?

But Jesus is in control of all things. He is our King, and he rules in power. He upholds the very universe you see and move through by the word of his power. He has authority even to humble himself as a servant to the point of death in becoming our priest. He came and died on a cross for us. He died there on that cross for me, propitiating the wrath of God by taking my sins upon himself. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. And he rose again, God has declared him to be the Son of God in power according to his resurrection from the dead. He had spoken the truth, he had interpreted Scripture rightly, he is the one who reveals the Father. He is our prophet, the one who teaches us.

Next, Jesus tells the disciples that he is going to be delivered into the sons of men. He is going to be killed. This would have run contrary to their expectations. They would have expected a conquering Messiah, not a crucified one. The disciples have a basic misunderstanding about what Jesus is doing, and their expectations are going to be crushed. A couple of them would later confess on a road outside of Jerusalem that they had thought that Jesus was going to be the one to redeem Israel. But they were sure at that point that he had not done so, for he had been crucified. Maybe we should take a moment to note that the disciples were not wrong in thinking that Jesus would rule as king. Nor were they wrong in believing that he would one day conquer the enemies of God. They were confused though about how he would do it. They could not see it.

What is so interesting here is that Luke mentions that the disciples don’t understand what is going on and they are afraid to ask. The disciples needed to know that Jesus’ plans were different than theirs, and that Jesus’ plans would be painful and hard. They would not understand until Jesus had risen from the dead. He had to explain to them how it all worked. And they were afraid to ask about what Jesus had told them. Where they afraid to face the truth of Jesus’ death? Where they just afraid to ask because they felt stupid? As we look back on this story already knowing the end what do we learn?

A couple of things:

1. Having expectations is not wrong. If you don’t have any expectations for the Christian life then I am confused. There are those people who give up on having any expectations at all in life. But having expectations is not wrong. There is nothing in scripture that tells us we should not have any expectations for this life, but there is plenty in scripture that tells us to hold our expectations lightly. We so often get it wrong. I hope you have expectations for Christ’s return. But there have been many who have believed that Jesus would return by a specific date or on a specific date. We don’t know when Jesus will return so we hold firm to the fact of it but lightly to our understanding of when it might happen. And especially when it comes to personal issues, we can be so far off. I never expected to be living in Quebec, pastoring a church. I never expected to go through losing most of our stuff in a hurricane. I just never expected it. You have examples from your own life. Times when you have felt afraid to even ask God about what he was doing.

2. Jesus will not break your expectations because he came to hurt you, but because quite honestly we don’t know want is best for ourselves or the world. I know this sounds like daddy knows best. But in this case it’s true. Our Father really does know what is best. Not just for us, but for the whole world. We have such a tendency to see only ourselves. Is it at all possible that some of the difficult situations we have endured have resulted in good for others? Is it at all possible that we cannot understand why God does some of the things in this world because we cannot see the whole? I think so. I can imagine that the disciples would have thought the idea of Jesus dying on the cross to be last thing that they or their nation needed.

3. Jesus does not lead us into hard situations and then leave us to work it out on our own. Notice how he does not drop his disciples and tell them to get real. Notice how he doesn’t dismiss them because they have such a long way to go in understanding God’s plans in the world. No, he is there with them, teaching and leading them all the way up to the cross. And then immediately after his resurrection he is there teaching and leading them. Jesus does not leave us or forsake us, not for anything. If you have sinned and feel far, come and confess and get on with following Jesus. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He is faithful to erase our unfaithfulness and righteous in declaring us forgiven. I don’t know about you, but I am encouraged by the pattern of growth, with all it’s stumbles and mistakes, that we see in the disciples lives throughout the Gospels and Acts. Not that I think I am okay because they were also sinners. I am okay because Jesus died for me. No, I rejoice that God sticks with us, carries us, teaches us, he does not let us go even when we have so much to learn, so much growth left. And honestly, there is not a person in this room who is so far along in the Christian life that they could live up to the example of Jesus. If you asked the holiest, most Christ like person you know if they have a long way to go in becoming like Jesus they would most definitely say Yes!

Side note: If you are experiencing deep depression, I am not saying that there is an easy fix. Please don’t hear that. If you are in clinical depression, which is a disease, please consider getting medical help. There is no shame in going to the doctor to have a broken bone set and put in a cast. There is no shame in going to the doctor to have a severe infection treated. There is no shame in my book in going to the doctor for treatment for severe depression. And for those of us who know someone who is in depression: be gentle. Be easy on them. Help them. Do not condemn them. Do not fall into the temptation of thinking that they just need to get their act together and trust Jesus. If they are clinically depressed they need help.

4. Notice how the disciples stick with Jesus, even when confused. Here is the great secret that really is no secret at all. Stick with Jesus. Trust him. Dust yourself off and keep following. Get up out of the guilt you are sitting in and start walking. Confess your sins and move on. Get back in your bible, get back in prayer, start living each and every morning with the intention to honor Jesus in all you do even when you go to bed each night knowing how much and often you have failed your Lord. But he has not failed you! He has conquered sin through his cross, death through his resurrection, and he will never leave you or forsake you. Stick with him!

5. The very thing that the disciples were afraid to ask about was what they needed most. Our faithlessness is sin. We need to see that. We want to go easy on the disciples because we see ourselves in them. But God has not lowered his standards. Faithlessness is sin, an offense against a holy and righteous Judge. Instead of lowering his standards God raised up his son on a cross to bear the sins of the world. And after Jesus had turned away the wrath of God by substituting himself in our place on that cross God raised him up from the dead victorious. Trust him! He has provided forgiveness for you. He has provided righteousness for you. When we trust Jesus we are given his righteousness. We stand before the Father clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, which includes his perfect faithfulness. Repent, turn away from your faithlessness, trust in his death and resurrection.

• I had originally intended to preach through verse 45 but at the last minute focused on the transfiguration. As such, this is a highly condensed manuscript.

1. Jesus is our prophet, priest, and King.
The revelation of Jesus’ glory on the mount completes our picture of Jesus’ identity. Jesus here is seen in glory talking with Moses and Elijah. The Biblical allusions are thick and many. Jesus goes up on the mount to meet God as Moses and Elijah both did, Jesus’ appearance is changed as Moses’ was, Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah about his coming exodus at Jerusalem, Jesus and the disciples are engulfed by the cloud (the presence of God) and the disciples are reminded that Jesus is the Son of God, God’s chosen one, Listen to him!

We have already seen the connection between Jesus’ being the son of God and being the coming Davidic King in Luke 1:31-32. Jesus is the Son of God who is given the throne of David to rule as our King. He is the king we need, the King who comes in fulfillment to the promise given to David to establish righteousness and peace on the earth. We saw this in Isaiah 11. If the ongoing conflict in Gaza has reminded us of anything it is that we need universal peace and righteousness. How far we are from the hope of a world where shalom permeates all that we see, touch, taste, enjoy!

The Chosen One refers to Isaiah 42:1-4 where the Servant of the Lord is the Lord’s Chosen One. We saw in our advent sermons that the Servant of the Lord is referred to in Isaiah in a number of songs that we unsurprisingly call the Servant Songs. The last Servant Song is Isaiah 52:13-53:12. In this last song the Servant takes on the role of a priest: he makes an offering for sin and intercedes for the transgressors. Jesus is our priest. The chosen one, our priest, indeed does bring salvation, but he does so in an unexpected way that the disciples will not grasp until Jesus is raised from the dead and explains it to them personally. The offering that Jesus provides is himself. He substitutes himself for us on the cross, he bears our sin that we might be accounted righteous when we believe in him. Although we have substituted ourselves for God in our lives, God in Christ substitutes himself for us on the cross taking the eternal punishment that we deserved. Jesus is the priest we need, the only one who has made final and full atonement for our sins.

This last phrase listen to him is from Deut. 18:15 where God promises to raise up a prophet like Moses for the people, one to whom they must listen. What this means is that Jesus is our prophet. He is the one who teaches us, to whom we must listen. All mistakes in Christian theology, life, and practice can be traced back to a refusal or inability to hear Jesus’ words in Scripture. The most fundamental action that a disciple of Jesus takes is to listen to him. You would be tempted to tell me that the most fundamental action is obedience. But how can you obey that which you do not know to obey? We must listen. But is not listening to Jesus obedience itself? Yes, but now we are splitting hairs. To listen to Jesus in it’s true sense is to obey him. So we must listen. Why is this so important? Jesus is the one who reveals the Father, he is the one who knows perfectly the Father’s will. Jesus is our prophet, the one who teaches us what we need to do and how we need to think and believe. By the way, all scripture is about Jesus and for Jesus. All scripture is to be believed, but it must be believed in light of Jesus. Jesus is the one who interprets scripture properly, he is our prophet. The voice of God the Father out of the cloud says listen to Jesus. Will we? I wonder what we listen to each day more: television or Jesus? Our spouse or Jesus? Our children or Jesus? The world or Jesus? If you are going to be his disciple you must listen to him, don’t fool yourself.

The culmination of these different roles comes together in Jesus’ mission. Moses and Elijah talk with Jesus regarding the exodus that he is about to accomplish.  This hearkens back to the Exodus that Moses lead. What was the exodus that Moses lead? The exodus was the leading of the people Israel out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in service to the living God. Jesus likewise at the cross has lead us out of slavery to sin into freedom in service to the living God. Jesus has brought us to God by his substitutionary, sacrificial death for us. Jesus came to save sinners. That’s why he came. He accomplishes this as our prophet, priest, and king.

And by the grace of God I am hoping that we are catching a glimpse of his glory. He is not just another religious teacher or hero or role model. He is our everything. Our life is in him. Only he can teach us truth, only he has accomplished atonement, only he can bring us shalom. When we as the church sing worthy is the Lamb it’s because he is worthy, so very worthy. There is none like him.

Read text.

In one of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips Calvin is complaining to Hobbes that while his parents are always telling him to make his life an example of the principles he believes in, every time he does so his parents tell him to stop. Hobbes retorts that he is not sure if total self indulgence is a principle.

I wonder though how far from this we actually are. To be certain, we all make numerous, inconsequential sacrifices each and every day. For example, I may have to skip milk in my coffee because we are almost out and one of the children needs milk to drink. And to be sure some of us make much larger sacrifices than this on a daily basis. And a few of us have had our lives shaped by large sacrifices we have made. But who would really wish to stand up and claim that they had lost their life for Christ’s sake? Would anyone like to come give testimony to how they have taken up their cross each and every day since hearing the gospel, denied themselves, and followed Christ? And there is the rub, this passage is a haunting passage, not just because of the warning. If you are a Christian, you read this passage and immediately know it is right, and, if you are not to distracted by television or the internet or the latest toy or the kids or your job, you know you should live this way. I would dare say if you are not a Christian and you are with us this morning, welcome by the way, that this ideal of self sacrifice might be powerfully appealing. To not live for oneself, to really put others first, to break the grind of always trying to make yourself maximally happy with the constant realization that you only are disappointed. We feel the “rightness” of this passage but seldom, if at all, live like it. How on earth can I presume even to preach this sermon?

This will be a in some ways a more a meditation than anything else. Lets look together at two things. First, the clarion call of discipleship. Second, becoming something we are but aren’t yet.

1. The Clarion Call of Christian Discipleship

We start off by asking maybe the most obvious question: what does Jesus mean by bearing a cross? What does he mean by losing my life to gain it? Am I to run into gunfire, sustain a mortal wound, and then find that I am really alive? The reference to the cross refers to crucifixion, in which a criminal was nailed to a cross. The Romans would often make the criminal carry the cross bar of the cross to the crucifixion site. To carry the cross through the streets was a symbol of rejection and accountability to the state and death. To this is coupled the ideas of denying oneself and following Jesus. We are faced with a call to face rejection and death while being accountable to God in all our ways. In case we have missed the point, Jesus makes it crystal clear that this is a call to lose your life as you have lived it for Christ’s sake. To deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Christ means that your life is no longer yours in the living. This does not refer merely to the biological fact of ongoing life, but to the actual life we live in all it’s interactions, possessions, relationships, joys, fears, and commitments. To take up my cross means that I am no longer the one in charge, I don’t make the decisions by myself and for myself. I have lost my life for Christ’s sake.

We see this so clearly in other cultures. Someone might be rejected by family members for becoming a Christian. Some actually face death for choosing to follow Jesus. What about us? Do we how do we take up our cross? Are things in our lives which we must renounce, walk away from, deny ourselves if we are to follow Christ? Is it at all possible that we should expect to change our television habits? While I am the last person to blindly recommend Christian music, is it possible that some of our favorite albums should really be placed aside as we deny ourselves? What about our pocketbooks? Can we make any claims to denying ourselves when we indulge our every desire at the mall? When we buy not just good food, but the best food? I have a particularly hard time here, as I am a bit of a bon vivant. I like really good food. I buy the salted cultured butter because it tastes better, I buy good beef, I buy bacon even though it is expensive. Basically, does your life lived reflect any real sort of self-denial? The sort of self-denial that actually involves sacrifice? I am afraid my self-denial is a bit like Bill Gates giving someone 5 thousand dollars. Giving 5 thousand dollars is a real gift, but for a person like Bill Gates it is not exactly sacrificial. I can point to all sorts of things I have done and given, but they are not exactly “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.”

We must be careful on two points here. First, we must resist any and all attempts to make this easier. This is hard. We cannot get on with discipleship if our first reaction is to deny not ourselves but Jesus’ words. Well, he doesn’t really mean that I should really renounce my whole life. He just means that I should do better.
Second, We must realize this is not self denial for the sake of self denial. This is self denial for Jesus’ sake, and it has rewards. We lose our lives to gain the only true life there is to have. Jim Elliot wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” That is the logic here, there most definitely is a reward here. Jesus expresses it in an offhanded way in his warning, which must be heeded. To be ashamed of Jesus means he will be ashamed of you when the kingdom comes in fullness. In other words, we must understand that this is not optional, we will be shut out if we do not act in faith. But realize that if we do deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus he will not be ashamed of us, we will experience the joy of God himself. Do not be ashamed to seek the reward of true life in losing a life that is not true. Now this reward may not be present, save for joy in the Spirit. Jesus himself for the joy set before him endured the cross. Not that the cross itself is enjoyable, but that which comes as a result of the cross is enjoyable to the point of eclipsing and pain we have had in this life. Romans 8:18 says that the sufferings of this present time are not even worth comparing to the glory about to be revealed to us. How cynical we have become if we cannot even imagine that the joy of heaven, the joy of knowing Jesus face to face, will make the sufferings of this life as nothing!

2. Becoming what we are in Christ.

How shall we think of this? How guilty I have felt as I have meditated on this passage this week. It’s a bit like “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind.” Shall we let our guilt drive us to taking up our cross anew? Shall we all solemnly resolve to do better? I don’t think that will work.

First, we must realize that there is reward here. Look to the reward! There is no shame in looking to the reward. I had the lie practically programed into my very being that if a good deed benefited you then it was not truly good. How ridiculous! As if we should tell someone who enjoys feeding homeless people that they should not look forward to the enjoyment of the task!

Second, we must realize that God gives what he demands, and that we are now called to become what we are. 1 Cor. 5:6-8 illustrates this truth for us quite well. They were to become clean as they already were clean. For Christ has been sacrificed. Jesus went to the garden and prayed not my will but yours Father. Jesus took up his cross, bearing your sins, and took the punishment for those sins on the cross. He always loved the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He perfectly poured himself out to death in love for others, submitted to God the Father. He did that for you. He paid the price for your not taking up your cross and he did take up his cross for you. When we trust in this good news, that Christ has been substituted for us on the cross, we are given his righteousness and he takes away our sin. We have no more guilt for not taking up our cross, for Christ Jesus has taken it. We have the righteousness of Christ Jesus imputed to us, counted as ours. In God’s sight, in Christ, you already have perfectly taken up your cross, followed Jesus, obeyed fully, loved absolutely. You are called to become what you are in Christ Jesus. This truth, this grace does not take away motivation for cross bearing and self denial, it establishes it. The righteousness of Jesus that is mine does make cross bearing optional or unnecessary, instead God’s gift of justification makes it possible. This is good news: what you cannot do by your own effort, God did. What the law could not do, God did. God provides what he demands, he does not ask you for something that he himself has not already done, and indeed given to you. Become what you are in Christ! Take up your cross and follow him!

Philipians 3:7-14 gives us an example of this theology at work in Paul’s life. We struggle to come to grips with passages like this because we often lose the link between the grace that God has given and the striving, hard working, cross bearing, self denying attitude it produces in the life of the believer. If you have confessed Christ as the Messiah, if you have come to believe in him, trusting in his death on the cross for you, believing in his ressurection: that he really is the son of God, victorious over sin, death, and the devil: deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Jesus!

3. Practical Considerations

What practical advice do I have for you? What should you do? What does this look like?

First, meditate long and hard on the gospel. Stare at the cross, worship at the cross, rejoice in the cross, rejoice in the resurrection. The cross comes before the crown, you cannot save your life, lose it for Christ’s sake.

Second, self denial is not just you sitting around somewhere not doing something you would like to. We make it so banal that it is no wonder that neither we nor anyone who sees us is interested in following Jesus. Read Isaiah 58: the fast that God wants is not just us denying ourselves food, but then taking that food and/or resources and helping the poor and helpless. Start actually helping those around you, pouring your life out for others. That’s what Jesus did, that was the pattern of his life, his cross bearing. In case there remains the doubt that loving people is not loving God, Proverbs 14:31, 19:17. Matthew 25:31-40.

Third, meditate long and hard on the gospel, repeat. Fix your eyes on Jesus. You will never deny yourself and take up your cross until you see and understand how he has already done it for you, how he has provided for you in his self sacrifice.

We have come to the climax of the first section of Luke. This section, which runs from 4:14-9:50 has a dual climax, with Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ and with Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain. We will get to Peter’s confession today, and in two weeks the Transfiguration. The passage before us is Luke 9:7-22. This passage has two themes running through it. First, Jesus is the Messiah. The question of “who is Jesus?” is about to be answered by his disciples. The implications of this answer will be spelled out for us much more clearly as Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem in 9:51. Second, the disciples have need of endurance, specifically in ministry. This is a discipleship issue for them. Ministry is what Jesus has called them to. The disciples are challenged to continue in ministry even when tired and out of resources. From the beginning today, even if you are not involved in ministry directly, you still have need of endurance in what ever areas Christ has called you to.

1. First, the question is before us again: who is Jesus?

Herod the tetrach is wondering who is responsible for all the news that he is hearing. This question has been asked many times already in this section of Luke. Starting with chapter four verse 14 and continuing through 9:50 we have the ministry Jesus around the area of Galilee. In this section Luke highlights a number of things from the growing opposition to Jesus, the call and training of the first disciples, and the question of who is Jesus? In verses Luke: 4:22~4:34; 5:21-22; 7:16~7:19; 7:49; 8:25~8:28 we have seen these questions. First, the people from his home town ask about him if he is not Joseph’s son. He are amazed at his teaching and can’t believe it is actually Jesus! A few short verses later in 4:34 we see that Jesus in the very next story related casting out a demon. The demon knows and says who Jesus is: that he is the Holy One of God. Second, after Jesus forgives the sins of the paralyzed man who had been lowered through the roof the scribes ask who is this man who speaks blasphemies? They understood that forgiveness was given by God alone, and for them that meant going to the temple and making the proper sacrifices. Who does he think he is to speak for God? God has already spoken through Moses in the law and given us the sacrifices for sin. Third, after Jesus raises the widows son and the report of him goes through the surrounding area John the Baptist sends messengers asking: are you the One to come? Fourth, after Jesus pronounces forgiveness of sins to the sinful woman who came and anointed him the scribes again ask: who is this man who even forgives sins? Fifth, after Jesus calms the storm on the sea of Galilee his own disciples ask: Who is this, that he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him? And in the very next story the demon possessed man confesses Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. This theme is coming to a climax hear in the book of Luke in the confession of Peter that Jesus is the Christ, but we will be there in a few minutes.

Let’s pause right now and consider the importance of Jesus’ identity. We have focused much in our study of Luke on Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed Redeemer of God’s people. He is the one who brings to fulfillment the promises that God had made in the scriptures. Specifically the promise of the Spirit-Anointed Deliverer from Isaiah 61:1-4. Luke emphasizes over and over again that Jesus fulfills the promises of God, Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the very Son of God. Could there be a more important question to ask yourself? Is there anything more important to know? Shall we compare the knowledge of Jesus as God’s Son, our Lord and Savior, with a knowledge of how computers work, or how to cook a good beef stew, or how to tie your shoes, or how to best grow flowers, or how to eat well, or how to be a good husband, or how to be a good parent, or how to succeed in this life. If you could only have knowledge of one thing in this world, would it not be most important to know Jesus? Luke has been inviting us to consider the evidence, to look at the life of Jesus, his teaching, his miracles, and his character and provide an answer to that question. Be careful: Jesus is not just a prophet, he is not just a miracle worker, he is not just another messenger in a long line of messengers. But more on that in a moment.

2. Second, Jesus challenges us to endurance in ministry.

The disciples ministry had raised the question of who is Jesus. They return and Jesus invites them to withdraw with him for rest. No doubt they were tired. They would have spent many days on the road and nights in unfamiliar surroundings. So they are tired, and Jesus withdraws with them for rest. Rest is a good thing. But the crowds find them. They are tracked down. Notice how the disciples disappear for a few moments in the narrative. Jesus welcomes the crowds, Jesus preaches to them, Jesus heals them. Where are the disciples? Have they not just arrived home from a ministry outing? Are they not experienced now in ministry, able to help Jesus and minister to the crowds some themselves? But they are there, and when they pop up again they are asking to send the crowds away. This is simply to much! We are out here in a deserted place, the crowds have tracked us down, they won’t leave us alone. The sun is setting, they need to go somewhere so they can eat, they need to leave us alone a bit. Send them away Jesus, send them away. Jesus does not coddle them, instead he challenges them with the command: you give them something to eat! Well how are they going to do that? They only have a few loaves of bread, for five thousand people! I doubt if five loaves of bread would feed us right here! But Jesus does not leave them where he does not provide for them: he orders them to have all the people sit down. I wonder what they were thinking. Okay, lets get them sat down and then what? But they trust him and have the people sit down. Notice that this takes place before Jesus takes the bread and blesses and multiplies it. After he has blessed the bread the disciples handed out the bread and it kept coming until all five thousand had ate, and then there was a basket for each disciple left over.

This is gives us a picture of the love of Jesus and the Kingdom. Jesus welcomes the crowds when he and his disciples are tired. Jesus does not turn them away or tell them to come next week. Instead he welcomes them, heals them, teaches them, and then feeds them until satisfaction. What a glorious picture of the love of Jesus, how he takes care of those who do not deserve it! What a picture of the Kingdom, when all will know the truth, will be healed, and will be satisfied forever! How fitting this miracle is right in the midst of the climax of this first section. There is a summary of themes in this passage, themes of love, compassion, healing, knowledge of God, satisfaction.

This also gives us a challenge in endurance. For the disciples it was a challenge to continue in the path that Jesus had given them in ministry. Will we endure in following Jesus? Will we continue to trust Jesus, stepping out even when we are tired? Will we follow his leading, allow ourselves to get involved when he challenges us beyond our limits and tests our faith in him? Will we step out even when we have not yet seen God’s provision yet in a particular situation?

What gives us this sort of endurance? Shall we try really hard? Shall we just grit our teeth and bear it? Certainly endurance in ministry is hard, and involves hard work. I do not want to suggest that endurance is something that just happens. It is not. Discipleship, the process of obedience to Jesus, is a lifelong, hard fought pursuit. We must have the proper motivation for walking the path.

3. Jesus is the Christ.

First, this is what this whole section of Luke has been leading up to. This is the confession of the Christian: Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah, God’s chosen one, God’s Anointed Redeemer. He is the one who fulfills the promises that God made to his people. Jesus as the Messiah is our confession. Notice that this is not Jesus as a good teacher or a prophet or life coach or nice guy. Jesus is the Messiah, the King. He is the Lord of all, the Redeemer of God’s people.

Second, Jesus is not the sort of Messiah that was expected. He is going to be rejected. He is not the political ruler the people where expecting. He was not going to rise to the throne by way of popularity, politics, and war.  Jesus is the Messiah, but the Messiah is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, the one who gives his life for our lives.

Third, our confession of Jesus as the Messiah is our only sufficent motivation for endurance in discipleship. We believe that Jesus is the Christ because it is true, not because it is useful or helpful or motivational. But precisely because it is true we find motivation for endurance in discipleship. Notice the pattern of welcome and rejection here. The question comes up: Who is Jesus? Then the feeding of the five thousand. In the feeding, Jesus welcomes the people, he preaches to them, he heals them, he satisfies them. And then the revelation that Jesus will be rejected. The one who welcomed the crowds would be rejected by the crowd. The one who preached grace to them would stand silent as he was accused by them. The one who had healed them would bear their infirmities. The one who had satisfied them would pour out his soul to death, not pleasing himself but others: Romans 15:2-3. Jesus would be rejected, accused, and die for those who deserved themselves to be rejected, accused, and crucified for their rebellion that they might be truly welcomed into the Kingdom of God, that they might come to a true knowledge of God, that they might be fully healed, that they might be fully satisfied with God himself, that they might be saved. The only endurance that lasts is a gospel centered endurance, an endurance that is lived out of the truth that Jesus died for me. How can I turn others away? How could I say I need to protect my time, my resources, my life when Jesus gave his time, resources, and life to save me? If I have everything in Christ Jesus, if he has really provided by his death on the cross for me every spiritual blessing, what am I doing holding myself away from ministry to others? Unless I don’t really believe that Jesus has given all for me that I might have all in him. If not, I must protect my time. I must not give to much of my money, for it is what I have. I must not give my time, for I only have so much. The truth that Jesus is the Christ, and that he was rejected for me, is what drives a gracious, loving endurance in ministry and discipleship.

Some of us have been doing ministry/have been a disciple for a long time. Fix your eyes on Christ Jesus! Resist any temptation to find your joy and satisfaction and motivation for endurance in anything but Jesus.
Some of you are tired, new to this, wondering if you can’t get a break. Now might not be the time, I don’t know what God has for you. Look to Jesus, meditate on his pleasing others first, that includes you! Trust that God will provide for your ministry and discipleship and for you personally. Notice a basket of food for each disciple is left.

Some of you are not even Christians. You might be thinking about Jesus, the claims he made, the life he lived. He is the Messiah. He was rejected, he did die on a cross for the sins of all who will believe on him, he did rise again from the dead. God said amen to his Son’s “it is finished.” I invite you to trust him, to come to him, to find life in him, to embrace him.

Luke 9:1-6, Jesus sends out his disciples.

Intro

-sets tone for the New Year

-All of us are the result of somebodies ministry

-We gather for fellowship, joy, obedience.

-Jesus is getting his disciples started in ministry. Announce Kingdom/Picture Kingdom.

-Read Passage.

1. Jesus is Sovereign.

-What do I mean by sovereign? I mean he is in charge, but not like a boss, he is the King!

A. He commands his disciples and decides what they do. He does not question if they want to go, he tells them what to do.

B. He gives authority over demons and disease.

i. He is Lord of all.

ii. He equips us for what he calls us to do.

C. Are you serving King Jesus or an idol of your own making?

i. Is Jesus always there to help you with what you want to do with your life?

ii. Jesus is not applying to be your Lord, there is no following Jesus without obedience.

iii. But isn’t salvation by grace through faith? Yes!

-We trust God’s word that we are sinners, God is Holy, Jesus died for us, Jesus rose again, we must repent and believe.

-There is no such thing as a disobedient trust!

-Grace does not exclude obedience, it makes it possible in the first place.

2. Jesus initiates their ministry.

A. Grace!-don’t miss this!

B. Jesus’ plan for ministry is proclamation and mercy.

i. Proclamation: we preach the gospel, we teach what Jesus commanded

ii. Mercy: we help others, we bear one another’s burdens, we love the poor, we visit widows and orphans

*I think this pattern is clearly seen in the book of Acts

*Our biggest challenge this year: loving the poor.

*We must  not fall off on either side.

C. Jesus desires pure ministry.

i. Trust God for provision

ii. ministry is not for personal gain.

3. Jesus is the only way.

-Why? He alone is the God-man, our prophet, priest, King

-To insist on this is not unloving, but greatly loving

-We must not lose our nerve

-We must not be smug or feel superior to those who refuse

Will we…?

If you are feeling guilty- Go to Jesus, believe the Gospel, you cannot minister or work your way out of your guilt.

Let’s be a church that faithfully preaches the Gospel and loves the poor.