“THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAD”: The disciples still had some questionable ideas about what the Kingdom of God was like.
- Luke 9:45.
- Luke 9:46-56.
- This is an eventful chapter. We have the Transfiguration - an amazing event. We have an exorcism so difficult that the disciples couldn’t do it - an interesting situation. That section ends with another notation that the disciples didn’t understand all this talk from Jesus about the Son of Man being betrayed (v. 44-45).
- We’ve talked in previous sermons about the desire Jesus had to get the disciples ready to take the lead after He ascended. And we’ve talked about the fact that they weren’t ready.
- Our passage for tonight is going to give us some specific examples of that “not ready” reality. There are basically three sections in this passage. Each provides us a different way that the disciples weren’t getting everything yet.
- This is useful for us today as well, in two senses.
- First, the specific things that this passage brings out are things that we may well need instruction or reminders on. So hopefully this sermon will be worthwhile.
- Second, there is the more general point that sometimes people who claim to be part of the Kingdom of God don’t really get the details of that Kingdom.
- It’s worth remembering that Jesus’ Kingdom is unlike anything else. You won’t guess and get it right. You won’t follow your natural instincts and figure it out. You won’t do what seems right to you and figure it out. It’s unlike anything else.
WHAT THE KINGDOM IS NOT:
1. The Kingdom is not about pandering to the powerful.
- Luke 9:46-48.
- The first of the three sections here is vv. 46-48.
- We start with “greatest.”
- I think it’s worth mentioning before we get deeper into this issue that Jesus is not against people wanting to be great.
- Here and elsewhere, Jesus says to us, essentially, here is what it looks like to be great in the Kingdom. He is not against someone wanting to live a great life. What He is against is someone trying to be great in the Kingdom by means that look like a secular pursuit.
- It begins with the disciples arguing over who was going to be greatest. Why are they doing this?
- I think it reflected their Kingdom expectations, which were that what Jesus was bringing about was going to be about what they expected. Rome was going to be vanquished, the Temple was going to be elevated, and they were going to be (along with Jesus, of course) in charge. This was not a surprising set of presumptions given the baggage that most Jews of that day hung on the title “Messiah.” The Messiah was going to set things right politically, he was going to win militarily, and he was going to raise the nation of Israel back to its honored status. Or, at least, that's what most Jews thought.
- So when the disciples thought of their hope that Jesus was the Messiah, they thought that power came right in behind that.
- So when the disciples are arguing over “greatest,” they’re arguing over who is going to have the most powerful positions in the new Israeli government that will be led by Jesus.
- This all leads us to our first point.
- Pandering to the powerful is generally the way to get power. Our current political system is a prime example. Politicians pander to those with huge amounts of money, so they will get donations during the next election cycle, so they can keep their office. It’s a vicious cycle.
- Presumably Jesus’ Kingdom would be the same way - the disciples themselves being among the powerful to whom others would come for insight and favors. Or the disciples would buddy up to the financial powerhouses of Jerusalem and see their connections bear fruit.
- What is Jesus’ response to this?
- We have the disciples squabbling over who is going to be the greatest, in the sense of traditional earthly power within what they think taking over from Rome is going to look like.
- Jesus responds by putting a little child in their midst.
- Now we need to pay attention to what He says next because when we think of Jesus and little children we tend to think of “childlike faith.” So we would presume that the child is there for an example and Jesus is going to say, “Don’t grasp after worldly power. Have childlike faith.” But that's not what He says. And what He says is very specific to the “greatest” conversation they had been having.
- First Jesus gives us a statement in two parts. First part: if you welcome a child, you welcome Me. Second part: if you welcome Me, you welcome God the Father. So by the transitive properties there, when we welcome a child into our lives we welcome God the Father in our lives.
- This is fascinating. How would you answer this question? “How can I invite God’s presence into my life?” We might think of things that have to do with power. Jesus tells us to look to the little children. Look to the weak. Look to the helpless. That's the access point for inviting God into your life.
- It reminds me of the statement Jesus made about Final Judgment (Matthew 25). What have you done for the hungry, the thirsty, the prisoner, the lonely?
- Jesus points us in an unexpected direction.
-Then He continues by saying that the one who is least is the greatest.
- That's a hard one to understand. What does that mean?
- First of all, it’s important to state that it does mean something. It’s not a nonsense phrase. It’s not an empty phrase. Jesus is giving us insight into how the Kingdom works.
- Second, to try to explain it, I would paraphrase it something like this. “The one who is least in the power of the world, the one who isn’t worried about grasping after what the world says is important, the one who is pouring their life into the least of these, the one who is overjoyed to help a child (even though that child can’t do anything to advance your career), the one who is oblivious to the power structures of the world, the one who is delighted to go and do things My way - that one will live a life that will be great.”
- Jesus is turning things upside down.
- All of this points us in an unexpected direction.
- The disciples are playing traditional power games - wondering how they can be on top. Jesus is pointing in a completely different direction - stooping to help the least of these, the weak and the powerless.
- The Kingdom is not about pandering to the powerful.
- If we want to be “great,” we have to pursue that according to the rules of the Kingdom.
2. The Kingdom is not about policing the lines.
- Luke 9:49-50.
- The second story in this passage has the disciples complaining that they saw someone using Jesus’ name to drive out demons. He wasn’t part of their group so they told him to stop.
- They are trying to police the lines. Who is in? Who is out? Who is really with Jesus? Who is not?
- Jesus responds with an unexpectedly broad statement.
- First, his answer indicates that policing the lines is not one of the disciples’ jobs. He doesn’t say to them, “Here’s the standard to use to do that.” He doesn’t say, “Good job.” He doesn’t say, “This is an important part of your ministry.”
- This is important because this is something that some sectors of the church can get obsessed with. They consider themselves to be the ultimate judge of doctrine and belief and they spend all their time loudly proclaiming who is in and who is out.
- Now, I am not saying that this is of zero value. Obviously it is important that we hold to the core of our faith. It’s not alright if I get up this morning and say, “You don’t need Jesus - just believe in yourself.” If I preach that, the church should fire me.
- But that's not what often happens. Instead, Christians spend an inordinate amount of time dividing up minutiae of Bible passages in order to prove to everyone that we’re right and they’re wrong. Religious conversation becomes an endless debate, generally without anyone actually having their minds changed.
- That leads to a lot of mostly wasted time. Instead of doing ministry and trying to see lives transformed, we fuss and fight.
- This is also a terrible witness to the unbelieving world around us. Rather than focusing on what we agree on and emphasizing our shared mission, they think that we can’t agree on anything.
- The second thing that is striking about Jesus’ statement is how broad He makes it. “Whoever is not against you is for you.” Interesting.
- Now, we obviously go back to the “narrow path” passage in the Sermon on the Mount and note that Jesus is not saying that there are a majority of people on the right side. There are certainly a lot of people working against Jesus. Still, rather than giving a narrow definition or an extensive doctrinal test to administer, Jesus gives a broad statement: those who aren’t against you are for you.
- This leads us to know that the Kingdom is not about policing the lines.
3. The Kingdom is not about destruction.
- Luke 9:51-56.
- The third piece of this passage has Jesus trying to go through Samaria. The animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans is well known. It’s most famously found in the statement “the good Samaritan.” It’s an ironic statement. Jesus used a Samaritan as the hero of that story precisely because the Jewish audience He was speaking to would find it so difficult to accept. It would be a little like us today saying “the good Hezbollah fighter.”
James and John want to respond to this insult from the Samaritans by calling in the air power. Let’s call fire down on this town.
- Jesus responds by rebuking them.
- Why does He do that?
- That's not the nature of His mission. He is not here to bring destruction. He’s not here to bring judgment, even. He is here on a rescue mission.
- John 3:16 is the better known verse, but v. 17 is especially applicable here. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved. Jesus is on a rescue mission.
- Does this mean there will never be judgment? No, there will be. But that's not the mission right now.
- What are they to do instead? Just go on to the next town (v. 56).
- When you get rejected as a Christian, you just keep moving. Some will reject you. That's ok. Don’t worry about justice or judgment. God will handle that at the appropriate moment. You just keep moving on, keep sharing, keep offering hope.
- This is also a problem with certain sectors of the church today. Someone says something or does something against us as Christians and we are ready to fight. We will engage them in arguing. We will trash them. We will complain about persecution. We will make a big deal about our rights.
- What should we do? Just move on and witness to the next person.
- How can you say that, preacher? We need to make those wrongs right! We might even need to pursue legal remedies.
- How about if we just move on?
- Destruction is not what the Kingdom is about. Don’t waste your time on that. Trust that God will ultimately right the wrongs.
- The other factor here that comes into play is that we don’t know who might end up changing sides and choosing to believe in Jesus.
- We are on a rescue mission. And those who are our enemies now and might trash us may become our brothers and sisters in Christ.
- Our goal is not to win arguments; our goal is to win people.
- Some of the most fruitful Christians in church history have started out as steadfast enemies of the cross. The first and most obvious example is the Apostle Paul. Aren’t you glad the early church didn’t call down fire on him before he had a chance to repent and begin to follow Jesus?
