Focusing in on Discipleship (Luke 9)

In Luke 8, Jesus taught the disciples about hearing the Word and obeying it (8:4-25) and demonstrated how the weather, spirits, and life itself listens to and obeys His command. Continuing on in Luke 9 it is now the disciples' turn to carry out Jesus' ministry by His authority.


Luke 9:1-6
We see that Luke 9 naturally follows on from Luke 8 not just because it is the next chapter, but the first word is "and," a continuation or equivalence word. Luke 9-

1And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

2And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.

3And He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.

4"Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city.

5"And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."

6Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Verses 2 and 6 illustrate the continuing theme of listening and obedience. The Jesus sent them out (v2), so they departed(v6). They were to proclaim the kingdom (v2), so they preached the gospel (v6). They were to perform healing (v2), so they did everywhere they went (v6). Luke writes it in such a way that the language and the structure illustrate that the disciples are listening and obedient to the Lord. Am I beating this into the ground? Maybe I am, but this is so important. King Saul was removed from the throne because he did not listen and obey God's Word. Read 1 Samuel 13 and 1 Samuel 15 to see for yourself!

Luke 9:7-9
"Now..." (9:7) hmmm... something is going to happen!

But why does Luke suddenly mention Herod here? It seems out of place. Well at minimum word of Jesus was getting around for the (supposed) King of the Jews, Herod. Luke 9:7b, 8-

7Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

8and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again.

Something to keep an eye on... Let's move on for now.

Luke 9:10-11
So the disciples return from their really short term mission and tell Jesus all they had done. Then Jesus "withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida," (9:10) taking the disciples along with him. The word "withdrew" tells me that Jesus probably wanted some alone time; maybe w/ the disciples to talk about how their missions trip went. But the crowds came to Jesus again and He compassionately teaches them about the kingdom and continues to heal people. (9:11) The Master discipler shows the disciples what to do (teaching and healing). He tells the disciples what to do - teaching and healing. And He continues to teach and to heal. As disciplers we should all long to be as Jesus was- a life of 100% consistency: His Words always matched His actions.

We can see this plain as day if we line the verses up next to each other:

Luke 9:2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.
Luke 9:6 Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Luke 9:11 But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

Remember, when the disciples returned, Jesus' intention was to withdraw with them. But the crowds followed Him to Bethsaida and what is His reaction to His plans being messed up? He welcomes them! I know I've fallen short here many times. Sometimes after a long Sunday of ministry, or in the middle of a hectic Sunday morning, someone desires some of my time to ask me for some counsel. Sad to say, I don't always have the attitude as Jesus had here. I'm too concerned about my own to-do list to welcome someone who is probably seeking me out for some Biblical advice or perspective on some issue they are grappling with.

By the way, to say Jesus' intention to withdraw with the disciples and be alone, yet He was met by a crowd seeking teaching and healing, I am not at all suggesting that Jesus' (God's) sovereignty was subverted. Just wanted to make that clear.

Luke 9:12-17
"Now..." (9:12) The feeding of the 5000 (men) plus the women and children!

Jesus wanted to have a mini-retreat with his twelve disciples, but here we see that the crowd was actually 5000, only counting the men! So after a long day, the people have to eat and Jesus miraculously feeds them with five loaves of bread and two fish. A great spiritual principle I've heard drawn from this is that we only have to bring God what we have and He will multiply it to be more than enough. I think that is pretty awesome! The disciples didn't respond in doubt in 9:13, they just said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people." Just the facts. But we also see that their thinking is limited to the physical reality, "unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people." They thought there'd only be enough food if they only had enough money. With the Lord, "money is no object" and here it is quite literal for there was no money in hand! In the end, they ended up with much, much more than what they started with. (9:17)

Another thing to note here is that Jesus produces more bread from nothing. This reminds me of His confrontation with Satan in the wilderness, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." (Luke 4:3) Jesus' response, "It is written, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) In this very story in the feeding of the 5000, the crowd feasted on the word that proceeded out of Jesus' mouth so they could spiritually live and then He give them bread to physically live!

Luke 9:18-27
Luke 9:18 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?"

Finally, Jesus gets some alone time to pray and then He asks them the key questions, "Who do people say that I am?"

They answer, Luke 9:19-

They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again."

!!! Deja vu !!! Luke 9:7b, 8-

7Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

8and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again.

The disiples answered Jesus in the exact same way that Luke recorded Herod's curiosity about Jesus! Come on- this has got to mean something!
Who is this Jesus? John the Baptist? Nah, can't be- he's dead. Elijah? Some other old prophet risen from the dead?

Jesus, the great teacher, focuses the question some more, "Who do you say that I am?" (9:20) Peter gives the modern day classic, and safe Sunday School answer, "The Christ of God!" (I'm just making fun. Good going Peter!) But Jesus says something that is completely unexpected, Luke 9:21, 22-

21But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,

22saying, "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."

Why in the world does He say this? Now, remember, Jesus is saying this to only the twelve the disciples. The crowd of people are not there with Him now.

From Luke 7:7b, 8, and 19 (see above), not everyone "got it" that Jesus is the Son of God. Some thought He might be John the Baptist, or Elijah, or some other resurrected prophet from the Old Testament. Jesus' instruction to the disciples to not tell anyone (9:21) that He is the Christ is key. Jesus thinks that the crowds that have been listening to Him teach and those He's been healing, they should in fact get it. Why do I say this? I go back to Luke 8 and the parable of the sower and the seed- When faced with a huge crowd of people, Jesus taught in such a way that the disciples would get it, but the crowd wouldn't. Here in Luke 9, it's clear the crowd doesn't get it. After feeding the 5000 miraculously, there are those who are still perplexed as Herod was, "Is this John, Elijah, or some other prophet back from the dead?"

Now, speaking to just the twelve disciples, He really gives it to them, those who get who Jesus is, the Christ-

23And 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.

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.

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

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.

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."

DENY. In order to be Jesus' disciple, I gotta be completely self-less. I have to give it all up. Everything. MY wealth. MY friends. MY family. MY dreams and ambitions. MY pride and dignity. EVERYTHING. In reality, everything is His anyway. As we saw in the story of Job, it can all be gone in an instant. It is the sovereign God that owns and controls everything. So I'm just fooling myself to think that it is "mine."

CROSS. Now that I'm totally empty, I don't have anything. I'm basically dead, as Jesus was going to be on that cross. Why dead? Because you can't take anything to the grave.

FOLLOW. Now that I have nothing, I'm ready to have everything by following him.

I love how Jesus puts true discipleship into terms an investment banker, venture capitalist, entrepreneur or CEO would understand. Luke 9:24-25, "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. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

Finally in Luke 9:26-27 it comes full circle. If we are ashamed of Jesus and His words, then He will be ashamed of us at His 2nd coming. Remember the seed in the good soil? Luke 8:15-

"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance."

If we do not obey, if we do not bear fruit with perseverance, Jesus tells us that we are in fact ashamed of Him. That is something that we should all ponder for a long time. From MasterLife, we memorized John 15:8, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." A true disciple is not ashamed of Jesus, the discipler, and so he will bear fruit, glorifying the Father.

Luke 9:28-45
I have always wondered about the Transfiguration. Why is it important?

What does it mean to be transfigured? Here's the definition from Merriam-Webster:

give a new and typically exalted or spiritual appearance to : transform outwardly and usually for the better

This is a really weird word to use here and the word is not even in the text. It is the word used in most Bibles as the heading for this section. From the definition, we see the transfiguration is not that Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah, but that His appearance changed. Luke 9:29-

29And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

So that is the transfiguration! I actually used to think that the transfiguration was Jesus appearing with Moses and Elijah in some weird way. Hard to explain.

But this story is significant for it testifies to who Jesus is.

Who do the people say Jesus is? John the Baptist or Elijah or a risen prophet? (Luke 7:7b, 8, and 19)

The appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus on the mountain dispels the crowd's notion that Jesus was Elijah, for John the Baptist was the 2nd coming of Elijah, nor that He was a great prophet returned from the dead, a la Moses!

Who do the disciples say Jesus is? The Christ of God! (Luke 9:20)
Most importantly, who does God say Jesus is? That is the answer that really matters! Luke 9:35-

35Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!"

That should settle any doubt who Jesus is. The Father's final words are really interesting, "listen to Him!"

Jesus and the three (Peter, James and John) come down from the mountain and immediately Jesus is asked to heal a boy possessed by a spirit. For some reason, the other disciples were not able to cast out the spirit. In Luke 9:41, it appears that Jesus is rebuking the man for his unbelief, but I think it is actually directed at the disciples:

41And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

I'm guessing that it was the disciples unbelief that caused them to be unable to cast out the spirit. For in 9:44, Jesus says to the disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." Jesus is saying, in effect, "You guys, please really pay attention to my words, for I am going to be taken away soon."

Note that in this section there are two commands to listen to Jesus' Word. First from the Father in 7:35, "Listen to Him!" and here in 9:44, "Let these words sink into your ears..." Luke 9:45 tells us that they didn't understand what Jesus' was saying, but also that the meaning was concealed from them.

Luke 9:46-56
Luke 9:46 An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

The heading in the NASB says "The Test of Greatness." I would title this "Determining the Real Disciples"
Jesus gives three indicators:
First, the greatest disciple is the one who receives the one who seems the most insignificant. Jesus used a child as an example.

Second, John asks about someone who is casting out demons in Jesus' name and he tried to stop him for he was not one of the twelve. Jesus answers, "Do not hinder him, for he who is not against you is for you." Sometimes we take Jesus' word out of context and take it to mean something else. I think John may have been getting an elitist attitude- he was one of the three to witness the transfiguration! They tried to stop that other demon caster for "he does not follow along with us." The sense I get is that if you weren't part of the twelve you weren't elite enough to be casting out demons is Jesus' name. Jesus rebuts John.

Third, on their way to Jerusalem, the Samaritans would not let them pass through one of their villages. James and John, one of the "elite three," asked Jesus, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" They must of felt pretty self-righteous being in Jesus' personal entourage. Perhaps they were thinking, "Who do these Samaritan's think they are? The Messiah is passing coming to town!" Again Jesus rebukes them and they continue on to another village.

Luke 9:57-62
This is an incredibly beautiful passage that closes out the chapter in an amazing way. The heading in the NASB says, "Exacting Discipleship." I think that is pretty accurate!

The central issue in this passage is that of following Jesus. Let's look at the statements by three prospective disciples and Jesus' responses:

The first one:

57As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go."

58And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

The second one:

59And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."

60But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."

The third one:

61Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home."

62But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

After pondering these three responses, I think Jesus' responses are a parallel of Luke 9:23-

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Here are the correlations:
Luke 9:58- "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Luke 9:23- "He must deny himself"
Foxes and birds have homes, but the Messiah is homeless!! Jesus is asking the this prospective disciple, "Are you ready to deny your wants? Even your needs? Are you ready to give that all up?" This is a tough one for us. In America, especially Chinese, we pride ourself in home ownership. In church, the members pride themselves on owning a church building. It seems that if a church doesn't already own a church building, it almost never fails that that is one of the prime topics on their mind- How can we own our own building?

Luke 9:60- "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:23- "Take up his cross daily"
This guy wasn't ready to die to himself. He was waiting for his parents to die first. I've met some Christians who just can not die to themselves because they are unknowingly waiting for their parents, who do not approve of their faith, to die before they can be fully devoted to God!

Luke 9:62- "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:23- "Follow me"
Once you follow, your eyes have to be fixed on the leader- the one in front, not the one behind. If you're apparent, you know this from just walking through the supermarket with your young children. If you're walking on ahead of them a little, and they are to follow you. Once they take their eyes off of you, within seconds they won't be following anymore. They are lost!

Conclusion:
In Luke 9, Jesus focuses intently on the training of the disciples. He is not on the journey leading to His death in Jerusalem. "Let these words sink into your ears," He tells them. He lays out what it is to be a disciple in cold hard terms, no more elaborate parables. Luke 9:23, the 1st MasterLife memory verse says it all: Deny, Cross, Follow. The chapter closes with Jesus' elaboration on what it is to truly follow in relation to denying oneself and carrying the cross daily. This is God's Son, His Chosen One; and this is how we're supposed to listen to Him.