18. Who is Jesus?
December 19th, 2010
The Cost of Discipleship
Jesus has been traveling around Galilee preaching, healing, casting out demons, and performing many miracles. He has dedicated Himself to doing the work of God and He has often done so without sleep or a proper meal. For three years He has been traveling from town to town preaching about the kingdom of God and preparing people’s hearts for what was to come. He has been lifting the curtain between our world and the kingdom of God so that we will be able to enter in to life through Him.
Now in Luke 9:51 we reach a turning point in our text. The stage is set and the hero’s journey begins. It is time for Jesus to do what He came to earth to do. This is the transition of Jesus ministry from preparation to determination. Where Jesus sets His eyes on the destination and begins the journey to the cross.
Lk 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
The Gospel of Luke focuses on the city of Jerusalem. It is the capital city of the people of God and ultimately the location where Jesus work of salvation will come to fruition. It is an impressive city built on a hill and carved out of stone. It is home to around 100,000 people which is especially impressive when you consider the towns that Jesus has been traveling to were around 40-50 people. This city is extremely important to the Jews. This is their holy city which housed the temple of God which is where God’s presence was said to rest. Jerusalem is an important city for it is here that God’s redemptive work is done. For through Jesus death and resurrection, life would be offered not just to the Jews but to all who believe.
Jesus has been traveling around ministering to people in Galilee. Now He is determined to go to Jerusalem where ultimately He will be crucified. We get nervous going on rollercoaster or going to the dentist but Jesus bravely charges towards His own agonizing death. Jesus came as a man to die as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could have life with God. His life is a testament to the love that God has for us. That God would send His only Son to suffer and die so that we could be saved from our sins. Jesus ministry is coming to a close and now it is time for Jesus to become the savior of the world and to complete the mission God has given Him.
This is the turning point in the Gospel where Jesus marches to Jerusalem to face the cross. He has come to do away with that sin on the cross so that we can have life. The coming months are Jesus journey to Jerusalem. He doesn’t arrive in Jerusalem until Luke 19 because along the way He is stopping to teach and to heal people. Even on the road to His death Jesus is not preoccupied with His own situation. Even His pending death does not deter Jesus from loving others.
Lk 9:52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; Lk 9:53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. Lk 9:54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them ?” Lk 9:55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, Lk 9:56 and they went to another village.
Jesus is traveling from Capernaum in the North to Jerusalem in the South. He has to travel from the region of Galilee to Judea. Doing so would require passing through Samaria. Samaritans were interesting people. They had once been Jewish but then had intermarried with pagans. As a result they were rejected by the Jews. So they decided to reject the Jews right back. “Fine, you wont let us play with you anymore, we make up our own game.” So they built their own temple, picked out their own holy mountain, followed their own teachers, and even came up with their own bible and religion. Jews hated Samaritans and didn’t really know what to do with them. They were like Palestine’s version of the Christian Scientist. They aren’t really Christians but they aren’t really scientists either. So no body really knows what to do with these people. These two groups did not get along at all. They had a bloods vs. crips sort of relationship. For one side to travel into the territory of the other might result in a walk by stoning. Normal Jews would walk around Samaria. Jesus walks right through it.
The Samaritans liked Jesus and wanted Him to be their Messiah. When they found out He was determined to go to Jerusalem they realized Jesus wasn’t going to be what they wanted Him to be. So they didn’t want Jesus to come. The Samaritans reject Jesus because they care more about their politics then about a relationship with Him. They put their values above Him and reject Him when He fails to follow them.
We all are guilty of putting things above Jesus because we want things to go our way. Whether its health or wealth or comfort or success we come to Jesus with expectations of what He will do for us. It is not uncommon for us to put causes above Jesus. So long as He supports our cause we are with Him, but if He calls us to repent from that we reject Him. We do this with ethics, politics, and religion. Everyone wants Jesus on their side. This is why so many denominations cant play nice together. Jesus isn’t religious. Jesus is God. We want Jesus to follow us, to do things our way, to play by our rules. Jesus says “No, you need to follow me.” We don’t get to tell Jesus to follow us because Jesus didn’t come to take sides. He came to take over.
James and John being the civil and understanding men that they are respond by asking Jesus to let them call down fire from heaven to consume the entire village. It is a very Christian attitude. Destroy everyone who doesn’t agree with you. Their thinking fine you wont let us come we will have a little Samaritan Barbecue, some roast village. James and John were the first fire and brimstone preachers. Jesus says no. See we often want to cast judgment before the proper time. If someone rejects us once we think it is all over for them. The truth is if a person is alive, there is still time. Jesus doesn’t want people to be whipped out He wants to offer them life.
Lk 9:57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Lk 9:58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Lk 9:59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Lk 9:60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Lk 9:61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Lk 9:62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Three men seek to follow Jesus. Each of them has a certain area of their life they are still holding onto. So Jesus rejects them as disciples. A relationship with Jesus is all or nothing. You cant go in half way. All three of these guys have something in common: they want Jesus to be a part of their life. They just don’t want Him to be all of it.
The first guy who comes to Jesus promises to follow Jesus wherever Jesus goes. His claim is not accurate with his commitment. This guy values comfort more than Jesus. Following Jesus is not always easy. Sometimes we promise people that it will be in order to get them to accept Jesus. When we promise people that life will be easier with Jesus we are lying to their faces. Jesus is up front about the fact that following Him is difficult. We need to stop selling Jesus as if He is a genie in a bottle who will grant you all your wishes when you come to Him. The best life you can have is one where you follow Jesus. That doesn’t mean it will be the easiest life. Potential disciple number one leaves because the cost of follow Jesus was too high. If difficulty deters us then we are putting comfort before Christ. If you are looking for easy you have come to the wrong place. That does not mean the road is always hard, but that there is no guarantee. If hardship and discomfort causes us to waiver then we are not committed to follow Christ.
Enter man number two. He wants to make Jesus second string in his life. Jesus let me put other things before you. I will still follow you, I just have some other stuff I want to take priority: school, work, family, finances, friends, entertainment. He is saying: Jesus I want you, I just don’t want you in control. I want to follow you when I please and when I find it convenient. What he wants seems pretty reasonable. He wants to go bury his father. Jesus says no which seems pretty inconsiderate, and a little rude. This is a difficult response to understand. Jesus is not trying to detach people from a healthy family community. The Jews had lots of traditions for preparing a funeral. If this guy’s dad had already died, he would have been at the funeral. Funerals in Palestine were typically performed on the day of the person’s death. It is unlikely this guy’s dad is actually dead. He is either asking for time to go make preparations for his dad who is on his deathbed or his dad may not even be dying yet. We read this story and Jesus comes off like an insensitive jerk but we forget Jesus knows the heart. We don’t.
This guy is saying: Jesus I don’t know how my family will respond to me following you. I want to, but I need to wait for them to die off first because I don’t want them to be ashamed of me. Perhaps more importantly, Jesus if I follow you I could lose my inheritance. I want to but it’s too big of a sacrifice right now. I’ll come later when I have their money and I can give some of it to you. Sometimes we use good intentions to justify really bad decisions. Jesus let me get my life taken care of then I will follow you. We say: I want to be a Christian but I have other things I need to do first. I want to follow Jesus, just not right now. It’s like we put Jesus in our back pocket. When the times comes Jesus I am ready for you. This guy has a chance at life. He can do something that matters. He misses Jesus because he values security more. The problem is the idea of: one day. I will follow Jesus I just have to get this done first. If you cant find time for Jesus now, you are not really ever going to.
There is always something happening, something going on, some reason to distract our attention from following Jesus. Life is distracting. How much of your life are you going to waste doing things that don’t matter? How long will we wait, what do we have to do before we are ready to truly follow Jesus? Jesus doesn’t want us to follow Him someday. He calls us to follow Him today.
Then disciple three. He wants to follow Jesus but first he wants to go say goodbye to his family. If that is first where is Jesus? He is second or later. This guy is waiting to follow Jesus because he is holding on to his past. He has other things he is not willing to let go of. Some of us are like this guy. We have something in our past that prevents us from moving forward. Maybe it’s an unhealthy friendship, a relationship that went bad, a mistake, or something someone else did to you. Our past can become like an untreated wound that just infects everything we are. This guy cant follow Jesus because he is too busy looking back. Farmers at this time would plow their own fields by pushing a plow across it to prepare the dirt. When plowing your field you want nice straight lines for planting seeds. If a farmer were to look back while planting his rows would be crooked and his harvest would not be as good.
All of these people have something they are treating as more important than Jesus. They want to follow Jesus they just don’t want to give up everything else in their life. So long as Jesus is ok being a part of their lives they will accept Him. They want to put Jesus in back seat and bring Him along for the ride. They just don’t want hand over control to Him. We are fine with Jesus so long as He is second. We want Jesus so long as He is not in control. We want Him so long as He does not demand to be first priority.
What we should learn from this: the only thing that really matters is Jesus. Not our politics, our nation, our comfort, our family, our past, or our earthly responsibilities, only Jesus matters. If He is all we have and we lose everything else to get Him He is still worth it. Jesus doesn’t want to be number two. He doesn’t even want to be number one in your life. He wants to be the only one. Security, comfort, planning for the future, social or family obligations, even family ties are not excuses Jesus will accept for our dual allegiances. He wants us to follow Him completely.
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He is inviting us to be a part of what He is doing. He is giving us the opportunity to do something that really matters in this world. Is it is easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes. If we are going to follow Him then we can put other things in front of Him. We cant say well: someday Jesus, because someday never comes. Jesus says no. No excuses. No someday. Today. Follow me today and you can be a part of what I am doing. You can help me bring life to the world and share my love with everyone.
