Luke 9 Part 1

Luke 9:1-17 (1)

Luke 9:1-6

The Lord Jesus sent out his twelve apostles to preach, proclaim, drive out devils, and heal sick people. He gave them specific instructions on what equipment to use, where to stay, and how to respond to people who rejected their ministry. The Lord did not leave out any details when he instructed his apostles in their ministry.

My take here is that I need to be ready to receive specific instructions from the Lord on how to conduct myself, on how to serve in ministry, and how to live for him. He is my provider, my protection, and my portion forever. Therefore I should listen to his instructions even when it comes to such mundane things as equipment used in ministry and how to conduct myself in ministry.

This principle holds for the faith of the Christian. We should live in accordance with God's instructions to us through the Holy Bible. We are to carefully read the instructions in the New Testament on how we should live and then conform our lives to those instructions.

The following passages provide some straight forward instructions on Christian living: Romans 12-15, Galatians 5:16-26, Ephesians 4:17-6:9, Philippians 4:4-9, Colossians 3-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22, 2 Thessalonian 3:6-15, Titus 2-3, James (the entire book). These are just samples. There is a lot more in the New Testament, including the teachings of the Lord Jesus in the gospel accounts.

Luke 9:7-9

Herod killed John the Baptist. He heard rumors about the Lord Jesus and was told this might be John the Baptist risen from the dead, or it might be Elijah come back from heaven, or it might be one of the other prophets. Notice how people in those days believed the same kind of things people do today. They believed people could rise from the dead. This was seen clearly in the ministry of the Lord Jesus because he raised people from the dead. The widow's son from Nain, Jairus' daughter, and Lazarus were just three examples I can think of.

Herod was perplexed. This is how the world feels about Christians. They are perplexed. This explains the anger, the mocking, the minimizing and unbelief. You can't really put a Christian into a box, but unbelievers do this non-stop. They can't be happy until they have labeled and categorized a Christian. Why? Because Christians perplex them. It causes unbelievers mental anguish to think about Christians. Almost always the world reacts to Christians with a negative response. Rarely do you find someone who does not believe in God who has something positive to say about Christians. When you do, it is because they are trying to pretend they are magnanimous in order to feel good about themselves.

Herod was perplexed. I've suffered for a long time with the confusion of other people around me. Unbelievers just do not know what to do with a real Christian. They can feel the spiritual life in the Christian. They can smell the fragrance of the Lord in the Holy Spirit filled Christian. It is not an aroma they like very much. It reminds them that they are going to die. It reminds them they will give an account for all of their sins. It reminds them they have appointment with God to keep.

Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again on the third day. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved.

Luke 9:10-17

When the apostles returned to the Lord Jesus after their missionary journey he brought them aside privately to a desert place near Bethsaida. However, the general population heard of his location and came out to him. He taught them about the kingdom of God and he healed people. Eventually the disciples came to the Lord Jesus and asked him to send the crowds away so they could get food and shelter. The Lord Jesus turned this around and told the disciples to give the crowd food. They protested and said they only had five loaves and two fishes. The Lord Jesus told the disciples to make the people sit down in groups of fifty. Once this was done the Lord Jesus took the bread and fish, blessed it, and with it he fed all of those five thousand people, and there were twelve baskets of food left over which the disciples collected.

There are multiple thoughts and lessons which we can glean from this account of the Lord Jesus feeding the five thousand people. One thought I have, first of all, is a simple fact: God is my Provider. The Lord Jesus is my Provider. Psalm 23:1, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want".

The Lord Jesus taught his disciples to pray to the Father and say, "Give us this day our daily bread." God is our provider. He gives us everything we need in order to live on this earth. The Lord Jesus taught his disciples to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things (material things we need for life) would be added to us.

Another thought I have is that those who were in the ministry serving the Lord Jesus did not really have much compassion for the people. They wanted them to go away. Perhaps this lack of compassion arises from a lack of faith. They did not see the five loaves and two fish as enough food to feed the multitude of people. However, in the hands of the Lord Jesus, that little bit of food became enough to feed that entire multitude of people. When we give the Lord Jesus what we have then he can take it and multiply it and feed many people. Don't ever feel like you don't have anything to offer the Lord or other people. Sometimes just a word of encouragement or comfort can make all the difference.

This account described a miracle of God's provision. Do you need a miracle today? Do you need God to provide a need in your life? Ask the Lord Jesus and see what he will do for you.