Jesus Commissions the 70, Part 1 - 30 September 2018

“Sheep Among Wolves”

Luke 10:1-12 (SBC, Sligo IE)

30 September 2018

INTRODUCTION:

            In the years when Jesus walked among us, it was a common custom for a king or a nobleman to send out a herald ahead of him to prepare the way by announcing his coming. This person was called a kérux (Greek, κῆρυξ pronounced kay'-roox). Towns and villages would also often have such a person in the employ of the city government. They would walk through the streets ringing a bell and shouting out the news of important upcoming events happening in the town. In ancient Rome, they typically proclaimed public notices during the market days. Later, especially in the cities of Europe, this role was taken over by the “town-crier,” proclaiming critical news for the public. Prior to widespread literacy, town-criers were the primary means of communication with the people of the town, since many people could not read or write. Proclamations, local statutes, market days, social events, and advertisements were all proclaimed by the town-crier.

            In our passage for this morning, Jesus sent out 70 men to do a similar job, to prepare the way for His upcoming visits to towns and villages throughout Israel. Jesus sent these men out 2-by-2. He gave them a message to declare and a mission to fulfill. This morning we are going to try and see if the instructions He gave them have any bearing on what we Christians are supposed to be doing here in Sligo.

TRANSITION:

            Luke is the only one of the four Gospel writers who includes this story in his narrative, although Jesus gave very similar instructions to the Twelve when He sent them out as recorded in Luke 9:1-6, which we studied several Sundays ago.

           

MAIN BODY:

Verse 1: Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two and two ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

·         “Now after this…” After what? This probably means: after Jesus started on His journey to Jerusalem, as recorded in Luke 9:51, which says, “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem.” Pastor Kirk did a great job of explaining this last Sunday.

·         “…the Lord appointed seventy others…” Why does Luke say this? Up until now our attention has all been focused on the 12 Apostles, but we need to remember that those fellows were not Jesus’ only converts. Jesus had been teaching and doing miracles all over the country and many people had come to trust Him as their Saviour and Messiah. By this time there was a whole movement of people who had come to believe in Him. Proof of this fact is that now He could command the loyalties and services of these 70 dedicated men for a preaching mission to the cities of Galilee and Judea. It was time now for them to step up and begin to assist Jesus in the work of the ministry. 

·         But who were these men? Frankly, we have no idea who they were. We do not know their names or their home villages. We do not know whether they were single men or married. We do not know how they met Jesus or came to be hand-picked by Him. They are nameless, faceless servants of God, who in obedience to Christ, went out preaching the Gospel and doing the work of the Kingdom. As far as we know, not a single one of them ever achieved greatness in the way the world measures greatness. There are no statues or memorials erected in their honor. But I believe their names are etched into the walls of Heaven for all to see, and for all to remember for eternity.

·         We all know that the Twelve Apostles held a unique place in the Early Church and they were certainly blessed to witness the miracles and receive the personal attention by Jesus. These Seventy though, were sent out to preach on His behalf, telling us that the Apostles were not the only ones with a responsibility to proclaim the Gospel and the coming of God’s Kingdom in Jesus Christ.

·         He sent them out in pairs on this dangerous mission. There are several reasons that have been suggested for this arrangement:

1.    The two together would provide moral and spiritual support and encouragement for each other.

2.    Old Testament Law required that a matter be settled by the testimony of at least two witnesses (Deut. 19:15).

·         Before we go any farther I might as well address a thorny textual problem right now rather than wait until later. Some of your versions say that Jesus appointed 70 and others say 72. This is not a doctrinal issue. It should not undermine your trust in your Bible. It is a textual issue, almost certainly resulting from some scribe getting drowsy over his work. It just happens to be something that we cannot explain. Most of the oldest and best Greek manuscripts say “seventy,” but a few others say “seventy-two.” Personally, I believe the correct number is 70 but either way it makes no difference to the validity or integrity of the text.

Verse 2: And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.”

·         We hear Jesus saying similar things in several places: in Matthew 9:37-38, John 4:35, etc. Jesus was a trainer of men. He sent out those seventy men to prepare the way for His upcoming visits to the villages and towns of Judea. He gave them a burden for the souls of men. He told them that the harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. He sent them out two-by-two to help meet this need. This specific mission was for a limited time, and their office was temporary, but the work of sharing the Gospel did not end. It goes on, right up to this very day.

·         “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few…” Jesus is of course referring to the spiritual harvest, the reaping of souls, and He says that this harvest is “plentiful,” meaning rich and bountiful. Today, especially here in Ireland, we tend to think of the harvest as rather slim pickings, and we get discouraged because we do not see much fruit. But we need to pray and ask the Lord to let us see the harvest field through His eyes, because He obviously sees things that we are not aware of.

·         Something else: The best way to discover that you need more harvesters is to get out there and get to work in the field. Then you will know how shorthanded your crew really is. The armchair Christians sitting in their comfortable pews seldom get worried enough to even pray this prayer because they never feel the pinch.

Verse 3: ^“Go your ways; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

·         Wow! This is a real encouragement! Nothing here to make a guy nervous, no sir. “I’m sending you out and you might not make it back, because some of the people are probably going to try and kill you. But no worries. That’s the worst they can do.” Jesus warns them that they can expect hardship and danger—they will be “lambs among wolves.” Jesus used this sheep vs. wolf motif more than once. For example, in Matthew 10:16 when He sent out the Twelve He said to them, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” And of course, you remember Jesus’ warning to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

·         Jesus was warning these men to be on their guard so as not to be taken in by people who were not what they seemed to be or even claimed to be. This is good advice for us as well. We need to recognize that there are real wolves out there. That should not make us fearful, but it should make us cautious.

Verse 4: “Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.”

·         Astonishing! Jesus tells them not to carry a “purse,” meaning a “money purse,” like a wallet or money belt. “And do not take a bag.” By this He means a suitcase or a satchel. They were to go only with the clothes on their backs. “No shoes,” means no extra shoes, just the ones on their feet. These messengers were to travel light. Their mission was so urgent that they were not to take the time to gather provisions for their journey. They were not to carry extra money, provisions or sandals. They were to trust God to meet their needs as they traveled about in this itinerate preaching ministry.

·         Furthermore, they were to “greet no one on the way.” That does not mean that they were not to speak to people they met on the road or to be rude to people. Rather, they were not to engage in lengthy greetings and conversations even though that was customary for that time and region. Middle Eastern cultures, including the Jews, had some very elaborate rituals and social rules for interacting with people. But these fellows had an urgent job to do and they were to get on with it, not waste precious time on things that did not matter.

Verses 5-6: “And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ⁶ And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you.”

·         Jesus is here referring to taking up lodging when they come to a town or village. They are to give the greeting of peace. If the people of that home are truly people of peace, the greeting of peace will rest upon them and a state of harmony will exist. This is figurative language that Jesus is using, and it assures the disciples that they will not be trying to convey a blessing to someone who does not wish to receive it. You can only do so much in reaching out to people.  

Verse 7: “And stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the labourer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.”

·         In other words, “Wherever you find a kind soul who will give you room and board, accept their gracious hospitality with thankfulness and do not be thinking of finding better lodging and meals somewhere else. That would be an insult to the person that took you in.” Jesus told the 70 preachers that they were not to spend time looking for the best accommodations in each town. They were to accept whatever home was first opened to them. They were to bless that household and ask God’s peace to rest on it. They were to accept the hospitality and food of that family. The 70 were to receive what was needed to sustain them. They were entitled to sustenance, not luxury. 

Verses 8-9: “And whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

·         Wherever you land, see that place as your field of ministry. Look around and do what can be done there. Be a blessing to them. Fellowship with them. Eat with them. Make friends with them. Heal their sick and tell them the Good News of the Gospel and of the Kingdom of God that has come near to them. Tell them about the Saviour who loves them. Give them hope. Show them love. Lift them up. Treat them the way Jesus would if He were there.

·         And by the way, this is how we should approach our witnessing as well. Wherever we find ourselves we should seek to bring joy and light and help into that setting, helping people, encouraging them, sharing Jesus with them and telling them why we love Him. This is what witnessing is all about. As Christ’s disciples today, we are also sent out to find those who are receptive to the Gospel message, and wherever we are received we are to minister. We are to minister by meeting the physical and material needs that we see. But we are also to witness to them and give them the Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Verses 10-11: “But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’”

·         Jesus told them, “If you find yourself in a place that refuses to receive you, where you are treated badly and where they refuse to listen to your message, do not waste your time beating your head against a stone wall.” He solemnly spoke of the seriousness of rejecting His messengers—He said that to reject them was to reject Him! In those days, shaking the dust from the feet was a symbolic action that showed divine displeasure. In this case it was reserved for those who refused the Gospel, thereby shutting themselves out of God’s kingdom and ultimately out of Heaven. The Lord told these Seventy men to warn the people about the consequences of their rejection of Him.

Verse 12: “I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.”

·         Jesus was telling them, “Just know that I see everything that is happening to you. Know that if they reject you, it really means that they are rejecting Me.” Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities in Palestine during Abraham’s time. Sodom was known for its vile wickedness (Gen. 18:20). In fact, the word “sodomite,” referring to a citizen of Sodom, came to denote the sin of homosexuality. God judged Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed the two cities with “brimstone and fire” (Gen. 19:24). Jesus’ point was that God’s judgment on these cities would be mild compared with what would befall those who rejected the Gospel message.

CONCLUSION:

Here are several conclusions that I draw from these verses:

1.    Bottom of FormThe life of a Christian witness should not be cluttered and weighed down with non-essentials. We should travel light and not get caught up in material things. We are to love people and use things; not the other way around.

2.    TThThe Christian witness needs to focus on the job to which he was called. Winning souls is the mission, and the Gospel is the message. Everything else is of lesser importance. We are to be witnesses 24/7/365, not just on Sundays.

3.    The Christian witness is to have pure motives, not looking to benefit from the ministry. There is no place for greedy preachers who fleece the flock.

4.    It is a serious thing to reject God’s invitation. He sent His Son to be the sacrifice for sin. To reject Christ is to reject the Father and any hope of being saved.

5.    This passage tells us that knowledge of the truth brings greater responsibility. This is a biblical principle. “For to whomsoever much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). When a person has heard the Gospel and knows what is at stake, to reject the truth and walk away will bring a stricter judgement than for those who did not know. This truth applies to believers as well.

A Lesson in Servanthood - 16 September 2018

“Who is the Greatest?”

Luke 9:46-50 (SBC, Sligo IE)

16 September 2018

INTRODUCTION:

            In the 90s, there was a craze in the USA and in many other parts of the world of Christians wearing brightly colored plastic bracelets with the initials, “W.W.J.D.” It stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” The movement was fueled in large part by a rediscovery of Charles Sheldon’s wonderful old 1896 novel, In His Steps, which was subtitled, “What Would Jesus DO?” It is the story of a Christian man who decided to live his life always asking that question before making any kind of decision. After reading the book millions of Christians started wearing those bracelets and trying to have their behaviour guided by that probing question.

            Now I am not trying to make light of that, but I would simply point out that perhaps the real question should be, “What would Jesus THINK?” For you see, attitude determines action, and belief governs behaviour. What we do is an extension of what we believe to be true. In other words, Jesus’ doing was always predetermined by His clear vision of who He was and His unshakable understanding of what He believed.

            This morning we will see Jesus trying to straighten out His disciples and help them see that being great in God’s Kingdom looks differently than being a great person in this world. He will try to correct their thinking, which, in turn, will correct their behaviour. Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 9:46-50.

TRANSITION:

            Last Sunday Matthew explained the fact that the four Gospel writers seldom if ever include all the same details in their accounts of the teachings and miracles of Jesus. An illustration of this could be four different people standing on four corners of an intersection when a parade passes by. Each observer watching the same parade would tend to notice different details, and their writeups of the parade would be colored by their own experience and the things that caught their eye. In the same way, only by comparing the various Gospel accounts do we get the full picture. That was true of last week’s study and it is true of the passage we are looking at today. And again, as with last week, Luke’s account of these events is the briefest of the three.

           

MAIN BODY:

Verse 46: An argument started among the [disciples] as to which of them might be the greatest.

·         Luke does not give us any background information or lead-in. He just tells us that an argument broke out between the twelve apostles about which of them was the most important. However, Mark’s account in 9:33-34 gives us a little bit more information: “They came to Capernaum; and when [Jesus] was in the house, He began to question [the disciples], ‘What were you discussing on the way?’ ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.” As strange as it might seem, this was apparently a common topic of conversation among these guys (cf. here and in 22:24; Matt. 18:1-5; Mark 9:33-37). We would like to think that this bunch of “spiritual giants” would be better than that, but they had feet of clay like the rest of us. Only later, after the Resurrection and the Day of Pentecost, do we see them really begin to show the mature spiritual character that we have come to associate with them. But at this point in the story, as Matthew pointed out so well last Sunday, they were fumbling the ball at every turn.

·         Notice that Mark says, “…and when [Jesus] was in the house, He began to question them…” While we don’t know for sure whose house He entered, you will notice that the text says He entered “the house.” Mark deliberately uses the definite article. I believe, as do many others, that there is a very good chance that it was Peter’s house in Capernaum. That would make perfect sense because Jesus and the fellows had stayed there on other occasions.

·         Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” I have told you before that whenever Jesus asked His disciples questions it was never to gain information. There was nothing they could possibly tell Him that He did not already know. However, Jesus posed this probing question to open the door for Him to teach them a very important spiritual lesson. You can bet your hat that He already knew exactly what they had been arguing about as they had walked along the road.

·         Mark says in 9:34, “But they kept silent…” Yes, they certainly did, and it is obvious why. As soon as the Master asked that question their consciences were pricked. In that moment I think they must have looked like the little boy who was caught with his hand in the biscuit tin. The instant that Jesus asked them the question they knew that they were in the wrong. Jesus asked the question out loud, but all He got from them was guilty looks, their sheepish silence, and a whole lot of foot-shuffling. I think they were suddenly ashamed to admit that rather than being concerned with His coming death, they were more interested in jockeying for positions of personal greatness in His coming Messianic Kingdom.

Verse 47: But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side,

·         Jesus did not need to hear their excuses to sort out what was going on. He could look deep into their hearts and minds and perceive what was there. Nothing was hidden from Him, just as nothing we do, think, or say escapes His notice.

·         There is an old familiar saying that goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Object lessons function in the same way. According to Mark’s account, Jesus, the Master Teacher, first sat down because He had something very important to teach His disciples it was customary for a rabbi to sit down to teach. Then He reached out His arms and beckoned a little child to come to Him. Where did the child come from? Maybe it was from that household. Maybe he was Peter’s little grandson. Maybe he was a little boy who had been watching Jesus from the doorway. We do not know. But Jesus called the little boy over and had him stand there beside Him. Then Jesus began to teach them about real love. The disciples’ conversation on the road revealed that their love was puffed-up, self-seeking, self-serving, and me-centered. Jesus’ love, on the other hand, is selfless, focused outward rather than inward, always looking out for the best interests of others. And that is the way we should love too, whether we are talking about loving our spouse, our parents, our Christian brothers and sisters at church, or the people out there in the world who do not yet know the Lord Jesus and are sometimes rather unlovable.   

Verse 48: …and [Jesus] said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

·         What does Jesus mean by all that? Well, it’s kind of like this… If you love my grandson, Lucas, it shows that you love Lucas’ daddy, Christopher, which shows that you love me because Chris is my son and Lucas is my grandson. We are a package deal. We go together. In fact, don’t ever try to convince me that you love me while you are saying horrible things about my son. And don’t even think about bad-mouthing Lucas! I love my son and my grandson, and they love me, and we go together. You can’t have one without the other.

·         Jesus loved that little child standing by His side. He told the disciples that by truly loving and showing love to that child they were really showing their love for Jesus. On top of that, to receive Jesus and to love Him means that they love the Father who sent Him. Bottom line… you can’t love Jesus and hate the people that Jesus loves. You cannot say that you love God and yet reject the Son whom the Father sent to be the propitiation for our sins. If you really love God, then you will love Jesus. And if you really love Jesus, then you will love the people that He so loved that He was willing to die for them. According to 1 Corinthians 13, real love, genuine Christian love, agape love, “suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own.”

·         Luke does not tell us how the disciples responded to Jesus’ admonishment and His lesson about serving others. My impression is that there was a stunned silence in the room. According to Mark 9:35 Jesus had just said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.” That must have rocked them back on their heels and left them sputtering, especially considering the argument they had had just a short time before.

·         You may have noticed that often when people are left speechless and feel embarrassed or threatened by something that has just been said to them, they will try to change the course of the conversation, to switch subjects. I believe that is exactly what happened here.

Verse 49: John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.”

·         Astonishing! Immediately after Jesus’ lesson about the true nature of being a servant and having the godly attitude of seeking to serve, rather than to be served by others John comes up with this as his best response. Right after Jesus used the little child as an object lesson to teach them that really loving God also means loving the Son of God; and that, in turn, means loving the people that Jesus loves, right on the heels of those powerful lessons about servanthood and humility and genuine love, and then John pipes up with this zinger comment! Amazing! How obtuse can you get, John?

·         We do not know what caused John to want to change the subject so abruptly. Maybe he was feeling convicted by Jesus’ words. Nevertheless, John took the conversation in another direction by bringing up these folks who were casting out demons in Jesus’ name but were not part of their little group. John’s comment fairly bristles with hostility, bigotry, intolerance, and self-righteousness. He was thinking, “How dare they do stuff in Jesus’ name but not submit themselves to us, the real followers of Jesus?” This sounds like a Pharisee talking, doesn’t it?  

Verse 50: But Jesus said to [John], “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”

·         What is Jesus saying here? The first part is clear: “Leave him alone. Do not hinder him. Quit trying to stop him.” Then Jesus explains the reason: People doing miracles in His name and by His power and by His authority obviously believe in Jesus! And they are only going to have good things to say about Jesus, not bad things.

·         “…for he who is not against you is for you.” John and the others would have turned that around: “By George, whoever is not exactly like us and hangs out with us and does everything the way we do it is obviously not part of our group and therefore should be stopped at all costs!” That is what the disciples believed. What a contrast to Jesus’ way of thinking!

CONCLUSION:

I suspect that we, often, more closely resemble John and his mates in some of our attitudes toward fellow believers, than we do Jesus. Among Christians there is a great deal of “brand loyalty” to denominations, creeds, traditions, worship styles, and hobby-horse doctrines. Although people seldom verbalize this attitude, if they did it would sound something like this: “We are from the First Church of the Heavenly Handshake and we have the most accurate theology, the most biblical way of conducting worship services, the most powerful praying, and the most authentic New Testament way of doing church in general. That puts us at the top of the hill and everybody else somewhere down below us. Jesus must be very proud of us. So, if you want a good church, come see us!”

Now there is nothing wrong with being connected to a denomination or an association of churches. In fact, it is a good thing in my opinion, for a variety of reasons. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with having a well-thought-out doctrinal statement and definite positions on biblical issues. We should know what we believe and be able to explain the “why” of it. Likewise, there is nothing in the world wrong with having a style of worship with which we feel comfortable and that aids us in connecting with God. The Bible leaves the door wide open as to worship styles, and we have a lot of wiggle-room there.

The problem arises when we take our denomination, our worship style, our doctrinal slant, and our modus operandi and make them the norm for every Christian or Christian group to follow, under threat of excommunication if they fail to live up to our homemade theological litmus test. That is Pharisaism at its worst! And sadly, I have observed that it is common among Christians, and I have even occasionally been guilty of it myself, which really troubles me.

The two big take-aways from this morning’s teaching are…

1.    If you want to be great in God’s Kingdom, learn to be the servant of all. Jesus is our model, our example to follow. He came, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for others. That should be our attitude as well.

2.    Do not think that you have a corner on truth and that your way is the best way or the only way. Recognize that the Body of Christ is bigger than our church or our denomination. Be open to the fact that other believers might just have something to teach you about piety, godliness, zeal, and service.

The Call to Discipleship - 26 August 2018

“The Most Important Question of All Time”

Luke 9:18-27 (SBC, Sligo IE)

26 August 2018

INTRODUCTION:

            We all live with unanswered questions. We are all plagued with questions that come to us in the night and rob us of sleep. Questions like…

Ø  Why are there Braille signs on drive-up ATM keypads?

Ø  Once you are in Heaven do you get stuck for eternity wearing the clothes you were buried in?

Ø  Why is it that people say they “slept like a baby” when babies wake up screaming every two hours, all night long?

Ø  Why do people pay to go up to the top of tall buildings and then put money in those stupid binoculars to look at things down on the ground?

Ø  Why do doctors always leave the room while you change clothes? They are going to see you naked anyway.

Ø  Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

Ø  Why do we say something is “out of whack”? What is a “whack” anyway?

Ø  Why is it you can be “overwhelmed” and “underwhelmed,” but not simply whelmed?

Ø  Why is the word “phonics” not spelled the way it sounds?

Ø  Speaking of that, if a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

TRANSITION:

            Those are questions that make us go, “Hmmm” but they are not really all that important in the grand scheme of things. But let’s think for a minute about some of the really important questions of life that most of us have to answer:

Ø  “What are you going to be when you grow up?”

Ø  “Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse…?”

Ø  “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Ø  “What do you believe in so strongly that you would be willing to die rather than back down?”

Ø  “Why did you become a Christian, anyway?”

This morning we are going to look at a question that Jesus posed to His disciples. I believe that it is the most important question in the world, the most important question of all time. In fact, the answer that we give to this question will determine where we go when we die. It is that important!

           

MAIN BODY:

Verses 18-19: And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” ¹⁹ They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.”

·         This story is told by three of the Gospel writers: in Matthew 16:13-28, in Mark 8:27-9:1, and in Luke 9:18-27. Luke’s account is the briefest of the three, so we will be supplementing some details from the other two Gospels. For example, Luke does not tell us where this conversation between Jesus and His disciples took place but both Matthew and Mark tell us that it occurred in the district of Caesarea Philippi. The city of Caesarea Philippi was situated in the far north of Israel, about 30 miles above the Sea of Galilee and located on a terrace on the southern slope of Mount Hermon, about 1150 feet above sea level. The area had an unusually beautiful setting. Fertile and lush, it is one of the main sources of the Jordan River. The ancient Canaanites built a sanctuary to Baal there. Later, the Greeks and Romans both built sanctuaries there because of the Cave of Pan. Inside the cave was a seemingly bottomless pit with an unlimited quantity of water, which made the pagans marvel. It was to this beautiful yet spiritually dark center of pagan worship that Jesus led His disciples to pose to them the most important question of all time.

·         Notice that Jesus was praying alone, but the disciples were nearby. Jesus would often get alone by Himself to pray. He knew that the day was approaching when He would go to the cross and He drew His strength from those times alone with His Heavenly Father. I have always wondered what the disciples thought of His prayer life. It didn’t seem to occur to them that they, too, should be in prayer.

·         Seemingly out of the blue Jesus asked His men, “Who do the people say that I am?” I’m guessing that this question took them all by surprise. Remember, Jesus never asked questions to gain information. He already knew all the answers. He asked questions to prod the disciples into thinking about what was really going on around them.

·         To His question the disciples responded, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” The disciples answered truthfully. In fact, we saw this same answer back in verses 7-8. The people knew that Jesus was special, but they did not yet understand that He was their promised Messiah of Israel. They thought that He was just a very powerful miracle-working prophet.

Verse 20: And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

·         Here is where Jesus posed the question that is the most important question of all time— “But who do YOU say that I am?” Every man, woman, and child will one day, sooner or later, be forced to answer that question. The answer that we give will determine whether we go to Heaven or Hell for eternity!

·         Peter’s answer is correct in every sense. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. These are not names, but rather, titles. And He came from God’s right hand to be our Saviour. The word “Christ” is the anglicized form of the Greek word, “Christos,” which means, “Anointed One.” The Hebrew word, “Messiah,” or “meshiach,” means the same thing, the “Anointed One.” The English form of His proper name, Jesus, comes from the Latin form of the Greek name, Ἰησοῦς [pronounced Iēsous]. However, His Hebrew name is actually “Yeshua” (ישוע‎) meaning “salvation.” Variants are Joshua or Jeshua.

·         Matthew’s account gives Peter’s complete answer while Mark and Luke give only the shortened version. Matthew 16:16 says, “And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘Thou art the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Living God.’” YES! THAT’S THE RIGHT ANSWER! Peter finally got it! Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, the Anointed One, the Promised Messiah who came to be the Sacrifice for our sin, the Lamb of God, the Redeemer, Saviour, Lord of All, and the Righteous Judge of both the living and the dead. Jesus is all that, and more. He is the King, the Healer, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

·         So here for the first time we have the disciples understanding fully that Jesus, was their promised Messiah, God in the flesh, fully God and yet fully Man. It seems like in that moment the full import of that truth hit the Apostles for the first time. I don’t know what they had been thinking up until then, but now they knew for sure.   

Verses 21-22: But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ²² saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

·         This is hard to understand until you realize that these guys did not yet have the whole story. Starting in verse 22 we see Jesus beginning to fill them in on the details of what they could expect to see, but He did not want them going off half-cocked, telling half the truth.

·         Jesus yet had many miles to go and much to do before His work on earth would be finished. Without a doubt Jesus wanted everyone in the world to eventually know who He was but He knew that He had a schedule to follow for all the pieces to fit into place before He faced the cross. Here He gave the disciples a hint of what was to come in the weeks and months ahead. This must have shocked them. The idea of such suffering and rejection and death were more than they could comprehend. Yet Jesus knew exactly what He was facing and how it would all play out.

·         This is where Jesus turned a corner with His disciples. At this point in His training of the Twelve He began to be very specific about what He had come to earth to do and what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. He told them that He would be arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, and that He would then rise from the dead on the third day.

·         “The Son of Man must…be killed…” Jesus almost always used this title to describe Himself. It emphasized His humanity in the midst of His divinity, but more importantly it was the ancient OT title which referred to the suffering Messiah. The cross was a necessary aspect of Messiah’s work. He must suffer and die in order to fulfill the many OT prophecies concerning His death, burial, and resurrection.

·         Imagine what the disciples must have thought about such talk. They were undoubtedly shocked and could hardly believe their ears. Up until this point they believed that He was just getting His ducks all lined up in preparation for defeating the Romans and setting up His Messianic Kingdom on earth. Now He is talking about being rejected, suffering, dying, and rising again. None of that fit in with their understanding of who He was or what they thought He was supposed to do and it left them very confused. So much so that Mark 8:32 tells us, “He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.” You might remember that Peter’s response didn’t go well for him. Mark 8:33 says, “But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ He said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” I’m guessing that Peter was looking for a hole to climb into about then.     

Verse 23: And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

·         Up until this point in His ministry Jesus has called people to repentance and to believe in Him as their Sin-Bearer. But now He changes the appeal somewhat and begins to call them not only to believe in Him but to follow Him as disciples. Up until now His emphasis has been on proving that He was the promised Messiah, the One who was to come as the perfect Sacrifice. He called people to salvation through faith in Him. But salvation is just the first step in the Christ-follower’s life. Discipleship is the life-long commitment to obey and to serve Him.

·         So here Christ gives a call to discipleship, and it has four important components:

1.    “If anyone wishes [desires] to come after Me…” First there must be the desire to become a true disciple. The Lord does not drag anyone into His service against his will, kicking and screaming. This is an all-volunteer army.

2.    “…he must deny himself…” This is very difficult. By nature, we are wired up to serve ourselves and to look out for our own selfish best interests. Christ calls His followers to humble ourselves and put God and His Kingdom purposes as first priority in our lives. Self-denial speaks of readiness to suffer for someone else. Christ is the pattern in this. He calls us to follow in His footsteps.

3.    “…take up his cross daily…” What cross is this? Does it mean that we must die on a cross just like Jesus did to be His follower? For many Christians in the first century that was exactly their fate. However, the cross is a symbol of suffering. Jesus told His followers on several occasions that to follow Him would mean suffering for sure, and that has proven out in history countless times. Jesus was telling His followers that suffering was part of the package. Whoever would come after Christ must walk the path that He walked, the path of self-denial and cross-bearing.

4.    “…and follow Me.” The form of the verb Jesus used indicates continual following with no stopping or turning back. The disciple is to keep on following Jesus (Greek present imperative).

Verse 24: For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

·         Wait a minute! Now He’s talking crazy stuff! If you want to save your life, you’ll lose it. But if you want to lose your life, you’ll save it. Is that what He said? That can’t be right, can it? That just sounds too weird!

·         Let’s back up the lorry and unload this cargo box by box. This verse is the one that led Jim Elliot, one of the five MAF missionaries killed in 1956 in Ecuador by the Auca Indians, to write these immortal words in his journal: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” The Bible says in James 4:14 that our life is but a vapor, a little bit of fluffy cloud. The more we try to grasp on to it the more it slips through our fingers.

·         The Apostle Paul gives another insight from his personal perspective in Philippians 1:21, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Verse 25: For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

·         In school many of you were forced to study Goethe’s “Faust.” Although you’ve probably tried hard to forget, the story concerns the fate of Dr. Faust in his search for the true essence of life. Frustrated with learning and the limits to his knowledge and power, he attracts the attention of the devil, represented by Mephistopheles, who agrees to serve Faust until the moment he attains the pinnacle of human happiness, at which point Mephistopheles may take his eternal soul to hell. Faust is pleased with the deal, because he believes the moment will never come. But to his surprise, the devil follows through on his promises and Faust finally must face up to the deal he made with the devil. Now this is a fictional story, but it illustrates what many people do. To gain the shiny objects this world offers they put their souls in hock to Satan—not in a direct, “let’s make a deal” kind of way, but by going after the things the devil offers us, the way a fish goes after a shiny lure.

·         In Luke 12:15-21 Jesus taught a lesson about this. Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” 

·         God is not against us having money and shiny objects as long as they do not come between us and Him, which they so often do.

Verse 26: For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

·         Who is Jesus talking about? The word “whoever” takes in all people from all time. However, I believe that He was speaking particularly of those who claim to be His followers but do not pass the four-fold “Disciple Test” of verse 23.

1.    Truly desire to obey and follow Christ

2.    Deny self and selfish ambitions in favour of God’s Kingdom

3.    Take up Christ’s cross daily

4.    Follow the Master without turning back

·         “…when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Here Jesus pulls back the curtain of time for just a second to give His disciples (and us) a peek at what it will look like when He returns someday in power and glory to claim what is rightfully His. On that day the Lamb of God will be recognized as the Lion of Judah, and the Saviour will be seen by all to also be the Righteous Judge.

 

Verse 27: But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God.”

·         Most of the people standing there hearing Jesus’ words lived through the remainder of Jesus’ earthly ministry, including His crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension. Most of them were present on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God came upon the Church to impower her to carry out the Great Commission. And most of them witnessed the birth of the Early Church and the spread of the Gospel to all the major cities of the Roman Empire. This is what Jesus was talking about. The Church is the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God. Christ is the Head and the whole thing exists to bring Him glory and to spread the Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus to the ends of the earth. Jesus said, “I will build MY CHURCH and not even the powers of hell will not prevail against it.” We too have the privilege of being part of His Kingdom. 

CONCLUSION:

Christ’s four-fold call to radical discipleship is still a challenge to us today. It messes with our heads. Oh, we want His salvation. We want Heaven. We want forgiveness of sins and a nice life here and now. But we don’t want unqualified obedience, suffering, self-denial, daily cross-bearing, or continual followership. Yet those are what Christ asks of us today.

What will be your answer to Him? Just how serious are you about being a genuine follower of Jesus?

There is an old chorus that most of you know that sums up this text we’ve examined this morning. It goes like this…

I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me still I will follow, no turning back, no turning back.

Will you decide now to follow Jesus? – No turning back, no turning back.

Sing it with me. It is number 602 in your hymnal.