Following Jesus

This morning we continue with our series in Luke’s Gospel and we have got to chapter 9 verse 46. And in this study with its title Following Jesus my headings are, after an introduction, first, JESUS’ WARNING AGAINST PRIDE; secondly, JESUS’ WARNING AGAINST VIOLENCE; and, thirdly, JESUS’ WARNING AGAINST CHEAP GRACE.

But first - something on the need for warnings for those following Jesus.

There was a media report last month about a recent incident on a British transatlantic plane. The problem was this: both pilots fell asleep in the cockpit at the same time. So the plane was flying on autopilot. This was not supposed to happen in case of an emergency. If sleep was needed they should have taken it in turns. Of course, following this incident there were a host of warnings for other pilots.

Well, that is something by way of a reminder (or a parable) for this Advent Season. For the great Advent message of Jesus to his followers regarding his Second Coming and those four Advent themes of death, judgment, heaven and hell, is the message to “stay awake”. So Jesus says in Luke (21.34):

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap … But stay awake at all times.”(Luke 21.34-36)

You see, the Christian life should not be lived on autopilot but being “awake at all times.” But too many Christians think that once they have committed themselves to Christ, the Holy Spirit acts like an autopilot and they can spiritually go to sleep and all will be well.

So Jesus warns, “No!”, because the sin of the world is so seductive. That is why you need to be alert to Jesus’ warnings for your spiritual health and take action accordingly. And there are three very relevant warnings in our passage.

First, there is JESUS’ WARNING AGAINST PRIDE

Look at verse 46:

“An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among all of you is the one who is great.’” (v46-48)

The disciples of Jesus and others had been thrilled and amazed at Jesus’ healing ministry and supernatural powers, as we are told earlier in this chapter. However, look back to the second half of verse 43,

“But while they were all marvelling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.’”(v43-44)

And the problem is there in verse 45: “they did not understand this saying.” You see, these disciples probably thought Jesus was going to be a new military Messiah and defeat their hated Roman over-lords. So what did they do? Answer: like politicians before an election scrambling for cabinet positions, they were arguing over who was going to be not just great, but who was going to be the greatest in the new government. But Jesus says they have completely the wrong ideas. For true greatness, in God’s eyes, is not seen in outward greatness, but in lowly service and doing what the world may think insignificant.

As an example he refers to children. For children in the ancient world were often considered quite unimportant. But Jesus says, if someone receives a child in his name, that person receives not just the child. He also says, he or she “receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” Amazingly, in some way that person opens themselves to Christ and receives him through that service.

Such humility, the opposite of pride, was and is so counter-cultural. But in warning against the pride of these disciples this is what Jesus is encouraging - humility.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle praised self-sufficiency and not humility. And the post-modern German philosopher Nietzsche saw Christianity as “decadent” for it, I quote, “has taken the side of everything weak, base, ill-constituted” and so “thwarts the law of evolution”. But Jesus, in effect, says “rubbish” in the last part of verse 48:

“For he that is least among all of you is the one who is great.”(v48)

And how we all must take this on board – not least in our run-up to Christmas. It means that the great are not to be assumed to be those in the pulpit or upfront in the church. Jesus implies here that those serving in his name behind the scenes in the candle factory or the marquee or the crèches or wherever they are (and out of the limelight) are “great” if they are doing things for Christ and God’s glory. So how are you doing in this warning against pride? How do you compare with John the Baptist who said of Jesus, “he must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3.30)?

However, pride is not just wanting to be superior to others. It can be in thinking your group of Christians are always right and others not in your group always wrong. Look at verses 49-50:

“John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.’”(v49-50)

This man was not like some Jewish exorcists that you read about in the Acts 19 who clearly were not believers but just using Jesus’ name as magic. In Jesus’ name he really was having victory over the devil. But he was not part of the disciples’ group. So these disciples tried to stop him. But Jesus said, “No!” and the reason was that this man was not against them. Jesus said:

“the one who is not against you is for you.”

And down the centuries that has been an important principle for Christians and churches. It means you should not oppose other faithful Christians who are not part of your church structure.

But when other so called Christians directly oppose you and are (in Jesus’ words) “against you”, that is different. Nor does that mean you should wrongly tolerate people who need to be opposed, as in Thyatira, where members of the church in that city tolerated “that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice immorality” (Revelation 2.20). No! What Jesus is warning against is the pride that wants to forbid other Christians acting legitimately. The disciples should not arrogantly have thought they were all right and he, who was seeking to follow Christ on the edge (so to speak), was all wrong.

So much for the warning against pride, in wanting to be in the chief place and also in wrongly judging others.

The second warning in this passage is JESUS’ WARNING AGAINST VIOLENCE

Look at verses 51-55:

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.”(v51-55)

This is the beginning of a great section of Luke’s gospel that leads up to the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. Notice that word in verse 51:

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

Luke emphasizes that the Cross and Resurrection were not the end, for then came the Ascension. So Christ is now ascended and at the right hand of the throne of God and is ruling over all. And knowing this about the future motivated Jesus.

So, do you face trouble and difficulty as Jesus did? He went to Jerusalem knowing that he would “be delivered into the hands of men.” But as Hebrews says,

“for the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12.2).

Perhaps there are some present this morning also, for one reason or another, facing the reality of death. Well, Advent reminds us all of the wonderful hope and joy of heaven for those who trust Christ as Saviour and Lord. So let that joy of heaven be set before you. It will be the best you can think of, multiplied to the “nth” degree, with the glory of God and his purposes seen for how good they are, and now with the true fulfilment of everyone and everything.

However, the disciples were light years away from having that in their consciousness. Let me explain.

They were travelling through a Samaritan village. Jesus knew that this was a sensitive thing to do because the Jews and Samaritans hated each other. Possibly that went back to the exiling of native Samaritans by the victorious Assyrians who brought in foreign settlers with foreign gods in the 8th century BC. Also the Samaritans had their own temple at Mount Gerizim. So Jews going to the Temple in Jerusalem were not popular. Imagine today a coach load of Israelis on a pilgrimage to Israel wanting lodging in a village in Saudi-Arabia near Mecca.

So Jesus tried to be as courteous as possible. He did not arrive with a crowd of disciples and ask for rooms. His messengers gave the village a warning. However, it made no difference. The villagers …

“did not receive him, because (verse 53) his face was set towards Jerusalem”.

But then Jesus’ disciples showed more Old Testament zeal than New Testament grace. Whether remembering Elijah or not, they were reacting just like Elijah had reacted to Samaritans (as you read in 2 Kings 1). That was when centuries earlier the king of Israel based in Samaria had rejected the God of the Old Testament in favour of the worship of the demonic Baal-zebub with its child sacrifice and worse. So Elijah demonstrated God’s judgement on such rejection by calling down fire from heaven to consume the king’s armed henchmen. At any rate, verse 54 says:

“when his disciples James and John saw it [this rejection of Jesus], they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ 55 But he turned and rebuked them.”

You see, Jesus was working from a totally different divine economy. Yes, these disciples may have thought they had the Bible on their side and the example of Elijah. But Jesus came, as he says as recorded later in Luke 19.10, “to seek and to save the lost [not destroy them]”. In John 10.10 he says,

“the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

So this present reign of Christ is to be a reign of peace. That was the Angels’ Christmas message as Luke had reported it in chapter 2.14:

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”

As Isaiah had prophesied, Christ would be the “prince of peace”. This was, indeed, a sea-change in God’s economy. The Old Testament had been a time of direct judgment. That was when God was teaching the human race basic moral lessons. In Old Testament times God particularly had to underline that he was moral and righteous and hates evil and so punishes those who sin. In New Testament times Jesus came to underline that truth but then to underline and expand the good news that our God is also all loving as well as all holy. He so loved the world that he sent Jesus Christ, the Divine Son, to bear that punishment the Old Testament underlined, in our place who all sin.

So you and I, in what is now called this time of God’s Grace (and the other side of the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus), must repent and receive the forgiveness that Christ offers. And we must pray positively for, and urge, our enemies or those that oppose us to do the same. But – and this is an important “but” - as we remember at Advent, God will not withhold his judgment and punishment of the impenitent forever. For those Old Testament principles of God’s holiness still obtain. So many forget that.

But unlike Islam and some other religions, where violence to promote beliefs or to prevent opposing beliefs, is still permitted, this incident of Jesus has ruled all that out. So until his return we must be as much as possible at peace with everyone. And certainly this is a fundamental “No!” to all religious persecution. Holy War is not for the present. Yes, it was in Old Testament times, but “No!” it must not be in this New Testament age.

But when Christ returns for final judgment, then again there will be emphatic and just punishment. It will then be seen that God’s holiness, as revealed in some of those terrible Old Testament times, has not been diluted. Such is his hatred of sin. Christ warns about that in his parables and teaching about hell, which at Advent you are to remember as well as his teaching about heaven.

But supremely, at Advent, you are to remember that in this day of Grace, God is withholding his judgment and giving you time for repentance for forgiveness. As we were learning in Home Groups, “Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1.10).

So who needs to receive that forgiveness this morning from Christ? Perhaps you have been challenged by the Holy Spirit recently. And remember no one is too bad to be saved from the guilt, power and ultimately in heaven, the presence, of sin; and no one is too good to need saving. If you genuinely confess, God will always forgive through Christ. That is the good news. And he will give you the Holy Spirit to help you start to live a new life.

So Jesus warns against Christians believing that you can still use violence to spread Christ’s Gospel, for such judgment is for the future.

And thirdly, JESUS WARNS AGAINST CHEAP GRACE.

Look at verses 57-62:

“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Yet another said, “’ will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ (v57-61)

I must be brief.

The first warning here is against thinking that following Jesus, by God’s grace, is the way to an easy life.

Yes, it is a wonderful life with a wonderful future. But this first man had to realize that being a follower would not be an easy ride but costly. It will involve uncertainty and sometimes hardships.

The second warning is both against putting something else good first in your life, such as your family, before Jesus Christ, and also delaying following Christ. This is a different sort of cost.

Who is tempted in either of those two ways this morning – for these are real temptations? Perhaps Christ is asking you to do something now and you are putting it off, with all manner of excuses. Or perhaps in some way or another you are putting your family before Christ. Yes, you have obligations to your family. But be aware of this warning.

And the third warning is against being half-hearted and trying to follow Christ but still having your heart in the world and the world’s way of life. This is likened to someone ploughing and looking back. If you do that, you will not (with a hand-held plough) plough a straight furrow. So if you are always hankering for a pre- or post-Christian life style, you are no good for God’s kingdom.

The folly, of course, of not following Christ, or fully following Christ, because of these costs is clear from the promise of Jesus in verses.23 and 24 of our chapter 9:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

In God’s economy you are never a loser, but always a winner.