Luke 9 Part 3

Luke 9:46-62 (3)

Luke 9:46-50

The natural man compares himself with his peers to see if he is better than others. This is natural human nature. Comparison leads to pride or envy. It leads to strife and division. In God's kingdom there is no strife, or envy, or division. How is this accomplished? The one who is least of all is the greatest. The weak, the base, and those who are nobody are chosen by God.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29, "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence."

The natural human desire of wanting to be great caused people to want to exclude others. Whereas the Lord Jesus says "come unto me" it was the attitude of natural man to say "go away" and to exclude people. This is what we see happening in the next verses where the disciples tried to stop someone else from participating in ministry work because they were not part of their group of disciples. This attitude is still with us today. It is why, in my opinion, so many people leave the church and never come back. They find no place where they can participate and express the gifts which God gave them.

We need a radical change in our church culture. We need to see things from the perspective of God's kingdom. Those who are least among us are the greatest. We should not seek to exalt the names of men. We should not seek to elevate men with titles and positions. Instead, we should all pull up a chair in a circle and seek to edify and exhort and comfort one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Luke 9:51-56

The Lord Jesus rebuked his disciples for asking if they should call down fire from heaven and destroy a village. The Lord Jesus told them that he did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. The Lord Jesus saves lives. They did not understand his mission at all. This showed that his own disciples who were with him for those three years of ministry did not really perceive his true mission and goal.

The Samaritans resisted the direction which the Lord Jesus headed. They put up a roadblock. His disciples did not understand his mission and they offered alternatives which were contrary to his purpose. However, the Lord Jesus continued to go forward in obedience to his heavenly Father.

Underline the phrase "when the time was come that he should be received up". What does this mean? A simple application here is that there is a season for everything in our lives. In the life of the Lord Jesus he had one short season to accomplish all God wanted to accomplish through him. He did God's will. His mission was to save lives. This is still his mission today, and it is the mission of the church as well. We are the hands and feet and mouth of the Lord Jesus on this earth. We are to preach the gospel so that men can be saved.

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

Luke 9:57-62

The Lord Jesus talked to three different people about discipleship. He was approached by two people and one person he approached.

In the first case a man offered to follow the Lord, but the Lord told him that he lived like a homeless man. Does the man still want to follow? The Lord challenges us to consider how he lived and count the cost. Are we willing to suffer like he did in order to be his disciple?

In the second case the Lord Jesus exhorted someone to follow him. But the person made an excuse related to family obligations. The Lord Jesus told him to let the dead bury the dead but for him to go and preach the kingdom of God. Interesting how the Lord called people "dead" in this verse. I think this is echoed later in Paul's letter when he said that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. In other words, unbelievers in this world system have their place and their job. Let them do what they do. But our goal and purpose is to obey the Lord and preach the gospel.

In the third case another person volunteered to follow the Lord Jesus but with certain conditions. He also wanted to fulfill some kind of family issue. The Lord Jesus told him that no man who put his hand to the plough and looked back was fit for the kingdom of God. In this case we see that to serve the Lord we must be whole hearted and not look back. Remember Lot's wife. She looked back and lost out.

We should seriously consider each one of these conversations and ask ourselves if this applies to us. Are we making excuses for not following the Lord with our whole heart? Are we truly living as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Examine yourselves to see if you are really in the faith or not.