A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 24
“Classic Problems That The Disciples Faced”
Luke 9:11-17, 28-32, 37-42, 46-52
Jesus had revealed that the following him will involve a radical change of perspective. The life of a disciple is different from that of the world or even what the world expects for the Christian. Last week we examined the teaching of Jesus concerning what it means to be a Disciple. You will remember that the disciples had been sent out to preach in their first public ministry alone. When they reported back they reported that they had successfully preached, conducted healing and even cast out demons (9:1).
This morning I want us to examine the same text (Luke 9) to glean several classic mistakes that the Disciples made in the process of learning what it means to truly be a follower of Jesus. We will see that the initial instinct of the disciples of how they should respond to certain events is usually wrong. They need to listen and learn and so do we. The text reveals several problems that the disciples had to deal with, they are not only problems they had to face, but are problems that have plagued the church all down through the centuries.
1. Suffered From A Lack of Vision (vv. 11-17)
Jesus taught and healed, just as He had always done (v. 11), and as the disciples had done in the villages. As the day wore on, the disciples in verse twelve, asked Jesus to send the crowds home, so that they could obtain food. “… "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." On the surface this appears to be a request based upon the disciple’s compassion for the crowds (though I doubt that it was such). It seemed a very reasonable solution. It even seemed to be the only possible solution.
How shocked the disciples must have been to hear Jesus’ response: “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13). The disciples thought that acquiring food was the people’s problem. Jesus told the disciples it was their problem. Jesus’ command to feed this crowd reminds us that faith is seldom learned in the classroom, but is learned in the crises of life, when we must obey God without all the visible means available to do so. The disciples need to see that they can accomplish things they never dreamed of doing through their association with Jesus.
The two greatest faith killing phrases heard in the church of today is “We have never done it that way before,” and “We could never do that.” These statements have a way of limiting our vision and squashing our ability to see with faith because of practical concerns or because of traditional ways that things have been done in the past. When we are in a pressing situation we often tend to focus on what can not be done and so the disciples respond in verse thirteen, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people." (14) For there were about five thousand men…. ”
Perhaps the saddest thing is that the disciples who have witnessed Jesus perform many miracles, had no expectation that he would be able to meet this current need. How like us they are. We too remain dull to the power of Christ, no matter how many times he may have met our needs in the past, the next crisis always seems to cause us to question God’s ability to meet our needs. How silly!!!
Jesus then had the disciples seat the crowd into groups of fifty (v. 14) and he blessed the five loaves and two fish (v. 16) he broke them and “gave them to the disciples.” The words he “gave” is literally “kept giving” – (imperfect tense) them to the disciples. Jesus kept producing bread and fish in his hands with the supernatural power of the Creator. Jesus kept on creating tons of barley cakes and fish between the palms of his hands until all of the thousands were fed. Verse seventeen concludes the story by saying, “So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them” The lesson is that Jesus does not demand what we cannot supply, he only requires disciples through whom he can work!
They Suffered From A Lack of Vision and
2. Suffered From A Lack Of Perspective
(vv. 28-32)
In verse twenty-eight we are told that Jesus takes three of the disciples (Peter, James and John) up the mountain to pray. Because they are weary, they fall asleep. While the three privileged disciples sleep they miss a glorious display of God’s power and glory.
“Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. (29) As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. (30) And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, (31) who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (32) But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him”
Four men had scaled the mountain but when the disciples awoke (v. 32) they found Jesus in the company of two more men (Moses and Elijah) who had appeared out of nowhere. These two Old Testament witnesses highlight that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope, as representatives of the law and the prophets.
For a moment the veil of Jesus’ humanity was drawn back to reveal His divine glory.
Peter in his excitement asks Jesus if three booths should be built. In verse thirty-three Peter says, “Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. (34) While he was saying this, a cloud came and over-shadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. (35) And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Unfortunately Peter seems to put Jesus and Moses and Elijah all on the same spiritual level, which of course they are not. Peter wants to preserve this magical moment. The Father interrupts Peter when he bathed the scene in a cloud of glory and speaks out of the cloud commending his son. In addition to telling them that Jesus is his beloved son, part of what the father reminds the disciples of is their responsibility to, “hear him” – that is that they must pay attention to what Jesus is saying. There is no need for three booths, they just need to listen to one voice, that of Jesus. We still have the timeless challenge to listen to the voice of Jesus today. How Peter’s desire to remain on the mount is dealt with is a reminder to us that as with all wonderful spiritual experiences, they are not intended to the basis of our Christian walk. Experiences come and go but the word of God remains. That is why the Father said “Hear Him” and it is a lesson the apparently Peter never forgot. For in his retelling of the experience in 2 Peter 1:16-21 it leads him to reiterate the importance of the word of God. Peter suggests they build three booths and stay forever, he wanted to preserve this spiritual high point, instead the very next day they returned to the valley and the needy crowds below. This is exactly what Peter wanted to avoid, contact with needy people. But Jesus moved from the mountaintop to the valley of need, because that is where the gospel is really relevant. The only real way to preserve the value of a spiritual experience is to use it, and that is what Jesus is doing when he comes down from the mountain. True faith is meeting God in the private place and then serving God in the marketplace. We dare not try to stay on the mountain top when there is a battle going on down in the valley. Mountaintop experiences are only given to us for strength and encouragement to continue the battle to meet the daily needs of a needy world in the plains below.
They Suffered From a Lack of Perspective and
3. Suffered From A Lack Of Power (vv. 37-42)
The Problem of Self-sufficiency
In verse thirty-seven a very interesting scene greets the disciples return from the mountain. While three disciples were on the Mount with Jesus observing the transfiguration the other nine where down below failing miserably in ministry. A father has brought his demon possessed son to the disciples to be healed. They have been unsuccessful. Their failure was not because they had not tried. In fact I have wondered if all nine of the disciples had tried their hand at exorcising the boy. Why had the disciples failed? We will never know for sure but it is possible that the disciples sought to do this depending on their own strength. Or it could have been that had attempted to turn this into some kind of showy demonstration, but what ever the reason they just could not heal this young man.
According to Mark’s account (Mark 9:14) the teachers of the law took advantage of this opportunity to harass the disciples. Verse thirty-seven reveals the scene that greets Jesus and the other three disciples as they rejoin the disciples left at the foot of the mountain. “Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. (38) Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. (39) And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. (40) So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."
The disciples who had been left in the valley had faced the challenge of casting out a demon and had failed miserably. The fact that the disciples are defeated proves that they still had much to learn.
Verse 41 tells us that Jesus was grieved by the failure of his followers. And in a remarkable display of divine power Jesus heals the young man in verse 42 and restores him to his father.
Finally, when they are alone later as recorded in Matthew’s account (17:20), the disciples ask him, "Why couldn’t we cast it out? We’ve cast out demons before. We expected to be able to do it this time." Jesus’ answer to them is that in that situation they should have prayed. What they ought to have done when they ran into circumstances which contradicted their expectations, where they failed when they didn’t expect to fail, where things didn’t go the way they thought, was pray. When faced with a situation like that, the disciples should have prayed. Instead of defending themselves they should have prayed. They had a choice: pride or prayer, defensiveness or dependence, and they made the wrong choice.
They Suffered from a Lack of Power and
4. Suffered From Lack of Unity. (vv. 46-48)
The Problem of Self-Seeking
Verse forty-six introduces us to an argument that had arisen among the disciples, “Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.” People are strange they want the front of the bus, the back of the church and center of attention. Luke tells us that the disciples began disputing among themselves concerning who was the greatest. What brought the disciples to such a point? Perhaps this debate began because of envy (only three of the disciples had been on the mount with Jesus) or because of pride (the other nine disciples had been unsuccessful in casting out a demon). At any rate the disciples were arguing over who should have the greatest position in the “Disciple’s Hall of Fame.” They were a special lot, no doubt about it. They had enjoyed the elite status of a intimate relationship with Jesus, but they had forgotten it was all due to the grace of God.
Jesus drops a bombshell on them when knowing of their dispute takes a small child and points out to them the principles of true greatness.
In verse forty-seven tells us, “And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him,” Jesus uses as an example of greatness is a little child, dependent, teachable, and trusting. A child although cherished in Jewish society was the smallest and most powerless individual in Hebrew culture. In verse forty-eight he says, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great."
He is not saying that the disciples or anyone else could find him through being nice to children. But He is saying that how they relate to a child and anyone of lowly status would indicate whether they had a relationship with Him. By a willingness to receive the lowly we demonstrate that we have received him.
Pride is an unusual sin, in that we cannot see it in ourselves but is detected and detested in others. We can even become proud that we are Christians. When we are saved there are positive changes in our lives. We can over time become proud of how spiritual we are. Sometimes this is seen in a air of condescension of others or smiling hostility of the world. Although pride cannot be seen it certainly can be smelled, especially by those outside the church. The stench of pride among Christians has kept untold multitudes away from the church and a true knowledge of Christ.
They Suffered From A Lack of Unity and
5. Suffered From the Lack of Tolerance
(vv. 49-50)
To add to their humiliation while they were not able to cast out a demon from the boy, they came across a man who was successfully performing exorcism, and he wasn’t even a part of their group (v. 49). There is more a hint of jealousy in the fact that this man was successful in doing what they had so recently and conspicuously failed to do.
Sometimes we think that the disciples were different from us, a look at the competitiveness and jealousy of the disciples show us that they are just like us!
In verse forty-nine we read, “Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." (50) But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."
It is probable that the disciples expected Jesus to be angry but he was not. Instead he said, “It does matter to me if he is a part of our group our not. All that matters is he doing what God wants him to do.”
The disciples displayed a surprising lack of love for those outside of their group. It is a dangerous thing to presume that God uses no other work but ours. It fosters pride and pettiness. The ministry is not a copyrighted monopoly. Believer’s that think that their little group is the only group that God recognizes and blesses are in for a shock when they get to heaven.
It is interesting to note apparently the disciples had been unsuccessful in stopping this man’s ministry for the implication of the disciple’s is that “tried” to stop this man.
Similarly, in the Old Testament in the book of Numbers chapter eleven (vv. 26-30), Joshua came to Moses with the complaint that two men named Eldad and Medad were prophesying. Rather than being angry as Joshua has supposed Moses was thrilled to learn that Eldad and Medad where engaged in ministry.
In the New Testament we read in Philippians chapter one, (v.18) that Paul was thrill to hear that others not of his group are preaching the gospel.
They Suffered From A Lack of Tolerance and
6. Suffered From A Lack of Compassion
(vv. 51-56) The Problem of Self-Righteousness
”Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, (52) and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. (53) But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. (54) And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" (55) But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. (56) For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them." And they went to another village.”
Jesus purposefully decided to make his journey to Jerusalem through Samaria. Jews commonly bypasses this region because of the strong racial prejudice that existed between the Samaritans and the Jews. Jesus sent messengers on ahead to ask for accommodations in a village of Samaria. The Samaritans did not want Jesus nor his disciples there. The disciples were insulted and two of the three disciples that had accompanied Jesus on to the mount (the brothers, John and James), were especially incensed that the Samaritan’ s refused to extend hospitality to the Lord. Their solution, “Let’s smoke those Samaritans.” Righteous indignation simply oozed from them. They requested the Lord’s permission to call down fire from heaven on them as Elijah had once done.
In reality they were motivated by a rather thinly veiled racial and cultural prejudice. The sad thing is that the disciple’s motivation for wanting to destroy the Samaritans, was the same reason the Samaritans had for refusing to welcome them – racism. The Samaritans and the Jews had been enemies for centuries (2 Kings 17:24-41).
This is the same spirit manifested by the prophet Jonah in his refusal to carry the message of God to the Ninevites. They were his enemies and he did not want them to have a chance to repent, he wanted them to suffer God’s judgment.
Clearly there is still rejection of the gospel today as there was in Jesus’ day. Such rejection is just as hard to take. How should the church handle rejection? But this story should give us perspective on how the church should handle rejection. Today many times we see Christian’s respond to the world with a perpetual angry sneer. To the servant of Jesus there is not justification for seeking judgment, but we should seek to save lives as long as God allows. Our hearts should be moved by compassion to seek those who are wounded and lost in this dying sin sick world.
Conclusion
The same problems will face us as followers of the Lord today we will also be tempted to be
They Suffered from a lack of vision
Faith is seldom learned in the classroom, but is learned in the crises of life, when we must obey God without all the visible means available to do so.
They Suffered from a lack perspective.
The only real way to preserve the value of a spiritual experience is to use it.
They Suffered from a lack of power.
What they ought to have done when they ran into circumstances which contradicted their expectations, where they failed when they didn’t expect to fail, where things didn’t go the way they thought, was pray.
They Suffered from a lack of unity.
Beware of pride it is hard to see in ourselves but easy to see and despise in others.
Thjey Suffered from a lack of tolerance.
It is a dangerous thing to presume that God uses no other work but ours.
They Suffered from a lack of compassion.
For the Christian there is not justification for seeking judgment, but we should seek to save lives as long as God allows.
