KEEP QUIET: Proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ would create a lot of wrong expectations.
- Luke 9:18-21.
- It’s an odd thing to hear Jesus telling His disciples to not tell people that He is the Christ. You would generally think that He would want it proclaimed often and loudly from every rooftop.
- The most frequent explanation I’ve heard to explain this concerns the timeline. There were a lot of dangerous things swirling at this time. There was a particular timeline for the passion of the Christ. You don’t want the situation getting too “hot” too early and so Jesus told His disciples not to share that He was the Christ to keep things from getting ahead of schedule.
- I think there is something to that view and I have preached that myself.
- This passage, though, I think points us to another explanation. It’s not that this is contradictory to the timeline explanation. They both can be true and contain parts of the reason but this passage’s last verse I think clearly points us in another direction. I need to unpack the rest of the passage first but we will close with that last verse.
- In v. 21 we see Jesus telling His disciples not to tell that He is the Christ.
- The preceding verses give us some helpful context to that statement. Jesus asks them who the crowds are saying that He is. They have guesses and they are all wrong. (In defense of the crowd, no one could have figured out on their own the nature of the Christ - who would have imagined God Incarnate?!)
- So what we see in vv. 18-21 is that the people don’t understand who Jesus really is.
- Peter - and presumably by extension the disciples - accurately understand that Jesus is the Christ. So they are one step further down the road. But then Jesus immediately sets out to show them that beyond getting the title right they don’t have an accurate understanding of the Christ.
- This is probably a good moment to stop and define “Christ.”
- A lot of people just think of it as Jesus’ last name. That's not what it is.
- It’s a title.
- It means that He is the Messiah, the Anointed One. It means He is the one who everyone has been waiting on to change things.
- What follows in vv. 22-26 is Jesus letting the disciples know that they basically don’t know anything about what it means that the Christ has come. In a moment I want to unpack what Jesus reveals to them about the true nature of the Christ’s Kingdom.
- For right now, though, I want to make the opening point about why Jesus does not want the disciples proclaiming He is the Christ: because proclaiming it would do nothing but create wrong expectations.
- There was a list of expectations that the Jewish people had of what the Christ would do when He came on the scene. Those expectations were inaccurate but the people sincerely believed them.
- For the disciples to go forth loudly proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ would not help the mission Jesus wanted to accomplish. In fact, it would work in exactly the opposite direction because of all the additional baggage the people had heaped on that title.
- So let’s get into the specifics that Jesus tells His disciples about this Kingdom.
THE UNEXPECTED NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST:
1. The Christ didn’t come to conquer Rome but to conquer sin.
- Luke 9:22.
- One of the major expectations that the Jewish people had of the Messiah was that He would free the Jews from Rome’s oppression and create a strong, independent nation of Israel once again.
- In other words, the Messiah would conquer Rome.
- Jesus says something in v. 22 that points in a different direction.
- Now, we know what He’s talking about: it’s obviously about His path to the cross and His resurrection three days later. It makes sense in hindsight because we know the whole story. It made no sense to the disciples at all.
What was Jesus talking about? Suffering? Death? Those aren’t words associated with the Messiah. Words like victory and independence are Messiah words.
- The disciples’ (and the Jewish people’s) expectations about the Messiah didn’t match up to the actual mission that Jesus the Messiah came to fulfill. Jesus didn’t come to conquer Rome; He came to conquer sin.
- Of course, this is a bigger, more impressive mission. It’s far more important. It’s far more expansive. But they didn’t have a vision for that.
- This is one reason why Jesus told them not to say that He was the Messiah: it would only lead to people looking for a political revolution rather than a spiritual one.
- It is worth noting, just for the sake of clarity, that Jesus’ vision of the Messiah was in line with Old Testament prophecy. He is the fulfillment of all that was promised by the prophets. But clarity on that only came after Jesus’ ascension.
- There was no vision of the Son of God Himself coming to be an intermediary between God and humanity. That was something no one would have had the audacity to expect. But God’s plan was much bigger than people expected.
2. The Christ-ians must sacrificially obey His teaching.
- Luke 9:23.
- Note that I have spelled it “Christ-ians” in the outline because it’s important to understand that we are to live our lives in the pattern of Christ, which is one of the reasons He says what He does in vv. 22-25.
- We are “little Christs” and that filters down to the way we live our lives.
- As we just discussed, the vision was for the Jewish people to have victory and enjoy all the benefits that would come with that.
- What Jesus says in v. 23 points in a wildly different direction. It’s not a vision of a golden era of ease. It’s instead an echo of v. 22 and the sacrifice that will come to each one who decides to follow Jesus.
- We have to deny ourselves. What’s that mean? Instead of getting to do whatever you want to do, you submit yourself to the leadership and authority of Jesus and follow His teaching. When you have to decide to do what you want to do and what Jesus is calling you to do, you deny yourself. It is an act of sacrifice, but one that will lead to somewhere worthwhile (more on that in the third point).
- We have to take up our cross. What’s that mean? It means that there are sacrifices required in order to obey Jesus’ teaching. This is not an easy path, though it is the best path. It doesn’t mean that we will literally die, though many Christians over the century have had to do that for the name of Christ. But we are willing to make sacrifices, including that if necessary, to obey Christ.
- We have to follow Him. What’s that mean? It means that we read the teaching of Christ and obey it. We are disciples of Christ. We are followers of Christ. We are apprentices to Christ.
- All of this adds up to v. 23 echoing v. 22.
- This echo is not what Jews looking for the Messiah were expecting. Not at all.
- And so, once again, using the word “Messiah” or “Christ” would have sent people’s thoughts in the wrong direction.
3. The Christ-ians making those sacrifices will find a full life.
- Luke 9:24.
- At this point, those with the traditional expectations for the Christ would probably think, “Um, no thank you! I’ll stick with the old way.” That's understandable, given the difficult words that Jesus is sharing.
- So why should we see what He’s said not only as true, but also as a good thing.
- Verse 24 tells us.
- These words are difficult to understand and many don’t know what to do with them. But a little explanation puts the verse into perspective.
- It’s important to note that v. 24 comes after v. 23. Jesus has just spoken words about sacrifice. Now He tells us where that sacrifice leads.
- Yes, following Jesus’ teaching can feel like “losing your life.” It goes back to “deny yourself” (v. 23) and the difficulty of that. You are giving up what you want to do in order to be obedient to the teaching of Christ.
- But as the second half of v. 24 teaches, when we lose our life we save it. That means when we give up doing what we want and following our own desires and instead commit ourselves to obeying Christ’s teaching, we will find that new vistas of spiritual depth open up to us. It’s a surprise pathway to real, deeper life.
- Christians who believe Jesus and follow His teaching will find themselves walking into an abundant, fruitful, full life. There is some sacrifice, but the reward is tremendous.
- Conversely, if we hold onto our own way of doing things, then in trying to save our life we will lose it. We will do things our way and, in so doing, lose out on the depths that Jesus was offering to us.
- There is a price to our disobedience. We lose out on all that Jesus wants to bring into our lives.
- This goes back to the theme of wrong expectations that we started with.
- There is a full, abundant life that this leads to, but not the military and political victories that most people associated with the Messiah.
- Again, the expectations of the people were off, making a proclamation of Jesus as the Christ one that would point people in the wrong direction.
4. The Christ-ians living that way will find the sacrifices wildly worth it.
- Luke 9:25.
- Some of what Jesus has been saying can come across as pretty harsh and demanding. Is that what those who choose this path will think? “I know I had to do this, but this is the worst thing I’ve ever been a part of?’ Is what Jesus is demanding something that those pursuing it will see as a “necessary evil”?
- Not at all. In fact, Jesus tells us that they will find any sacrifices made to be wildly worth it.
- Jesus lays it out in v. 25. What good does it do someone to get everything that the world is offering if the ultimate end to that is losing your own soul? That's a Faustian bargain. No, what Jesus is offering is one that leads to real, deep, meaningful life.
- I have to stop here to note that a version of this verse (Matthew 16:26) is my life verse. For me, this goes back to the painful decision to put aside law school and instead pursue the call to ministry. But, again, what seems like a horrible sacrifice at the time turns out to be a generous gift from God.
- One way to put what we’re talking about here is that while Jesus is interested in the Kingdom of God, our participation in what He is doing will lead to joyful things for the person as well.
- It makes me think of a huge project like the building of the Great Wall of China or the Panama Canal. It was something that was good for the country (the Great Wall) or the world (the Canal) but not for the individual workers, who died in massive numbers as part of the work to complete the grand project. The larger vision was big and impressive but the individuals got nothing but negative out of participating in it.
- Not true here. Sure, there will be sacrifices that individuals will have to make to participate in what Jesus is doing, but they will nonetheless find it deeply worth it.
- I am reminded of John 10:10 and the abundant life that Jesus offers.
- We live in a time when we neglect the soul in favor of the material.
- Jesus is offering us something meaningful for the most meaningful part of us.
ASHAMED OF JESUS? This verse is not about being evangelistic, but about being proud of Jesus’ unexpected Kingdom.
- Luke 9:26.
- This verse is one I have heard exclusively taught as a prod for being more evangelistic. “We shouldn’t be ashamed of Jesus. We should witness to those around us. After all, Jesus said if we are ashamed of Him now He will be ashamed of us later.”
- I’m not going to say that there isn’t a little of that in that verse but I don't think that's the main point.
- Again, it’s reading in context that opens things up for us. The whole passage is about misconceptions and misunderstandings about the nature of the Christ. As we come to the end of it, Jesus has clearly taught His disciples about what the true nature of the Christ’s Kingdom will be.
- In light of that news that the Christ’s Kingdom is nothing like what they were expecting, it would be easy to see people saying, “No thanks. I don’t care for that vision. I’ll take military victory over Rome, thank you very much.” In other words, there would be people who would reject Jesus’ vision of what it meant to be the Christ.
- Here in this last verse, Jesus is saying, “Blessed are those who hear this radical vision of what the Christ’s Kingdom will be like and don't reject it. Blessed are those who hear it and say that they want to be a part of it.”
- This isn’t just about being evangelistic. It’s more so about embracing this radically unexpected vision of the Christ’s Kingdom and saying, “Sign me up for that!”
