Discipleship
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SLIDE 1-5 We are continuing in Luke 9 this evening. Last week we looked at the word “messiah.” In verse 20, when Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter declared that Jesus was God’s Messiah. I noted that the word “messiah” means “anointed one.” As such, it is used in the Old Testament to describe those who have been set apart for God’s service, a process that often included anointing with oil. Over time the word “messiah” came to refer to the one God promised would come to restore the throne of David and deliver his people. Peter was confessing his belief that Jesus was the person and we would agree. The New Testament or Greek translation of Messiah is Christ. They both mean “anointed one.” Thus, when the New Testament authors talk about Jesus Christ they are saying that Jesus is the Messiah. While we believe that Jesus is the Messiah the prophets talked about, Jews do not believe that and are still waiting for the Messiah’s coming.
Tonight, I want to look at another word: disciple. Since we can’t talk about disciples without also talking about rabbis, we’ll start there.
The word rabbi is Hebrew. In Hebrews it would have been pronounced “rab-bee” and means “my master.” It was used for teachers. To become a rabbi, you had to be examined and tested by three other rabbis. They would then ordain the new rabbi by laying their hands on him and pronouncing a blessing over him. Some rabbis lead local synagogues and others lead informally. Knowing this, it’s interesting that Jesus was called a rabbi both by his disciples and by his opponents. Jesus certainly taught, but we have no indication that he went through the ordination process.
The Hebrew word for disciple (I’ll try to pronounce it — shimush chachamim) means “servant of the rabbis.” It indicates that the first step in discipleship is service. A disciple would carry his rabbi’s baggage, prepare his food, and even provide money for his needs. A disciple could not contradict his rabbi in public. Additionally, a disciple was obligated to protect his rabbi.
One of the earliest examples we have of discipleship in the Old Testament is found in 2 Kings. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, has agreed to help Ahab, king of Israel and go to battle with him against Moab — not a good decision. Before they go to battle, Jehoshaphat wants to get a word from God about how they should attack. SLIDE 6
2 Kings 3:11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” SLIDE 7 An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”
SLIDE 8 Elisha, a disciple of Elijah, served him by pouring water on Elijah’s hands.
Another important aspect of discipleship included following. Moses said about Caleb: SLIDE 9
Numbers 14:24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
When Jesus called the disciples, he invited them to follow him. SLIDE 10
Matthew 4:19 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
SLIDE 11
Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
SLIDE 12 The goal of being a disciple was to become like his rabbi. To do that, he would follow, copy, and then duplicate his rabbi. The disciple followed his rabbi to learn from him. The disciple copied his rabbi so that he could be like him. And then the disciples duplicated his rabbi or made more disciples who would look like the rabbi. Jesus told his disciples: SLIDE 13
Matthew 10:24-25a 24 The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.
Then, after the resurrection, Jesus told them: SLIDE 14
Matthew 28:18b-20 18 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. SLIDE 15 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, SLIDE 16 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
SLIDE 17 You’re getting a picture of the role of a disciple. Disciples put their rabbi — master — in first place in their lives.
Because the goal of a disciple was to become like his rabbi, rabbis chose who would become one of their disciples carefully. They didn’t want a disciple who would bring them disgrace. They want to chose the best students who will make them look good and carry on the instruction they received from their rabbi.
Now, we come to the Jesus and his disciples. We are all familiar with the twelve disciples whom Jesus designated to apostles. There were the twelve, but we know there were many more disciples.
In John 6, Jesus confronts the crowd saying the only reason they were looking for him is because they wanted free food. He had fed the five thousand the day before. Jesus said they should want him more than they want food because he is the true bread that comes down from heaven. Therefore, in order to have life they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus was referring to communion, but they didn’t understand. We read: SLIDE 18
John 6:60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
And then a few verses later: SLIDE 19
John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
SLIDE 20 So, Jesus had many disciples.
I hope you know that in the New Testament, followers of Jesus are described as disciples more than anything else. The word is used more than two-hundred-and fifty times in the New Testament. We describe ourselves as Christians, but that term is only found three times in the Bible.
Luke says the disciples in Antioch were the first ones to be called Christians (Acts 11:26)
Agrippa asks if Paul thinks he can convince him to become a Christian (Acts 26:28)
Peter instructed his readers not to be ashamed if they suffered as Christians (1 Peter 4:16)
John the Baptist and Jewish rabbis had disciples as did Greek philosophers. However, as we’ll see in our text, Jesus added to what was required and expected of his disciples. Jesus told the twelve: SLIDE 21
Luke 6:40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
Later, in the upper room he warned them: SLIDE 22
John 15:20 Remember what I told you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
SLIDE 23 All of this anticipates what Jesus is going to say about discipleship in our passage from Luke 9. Jesus begins by predicting the reception he will receive when he returns to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:22 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Peter had just declared that Jesus was the Messiah, God’s anointed one they had been waiting for. While Jesus accepted the title “Messiah” and commended Peter for saying it, Jesus preferred the title “Son of Man.” This title comes from a vision in the book of Daniel. SLIDE 24
Daniel 7:13 In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
SLIDE 25
Jesus used this term often when referring to himself. Though he will repeat it several times, this is the first time Jesus predicted his death. Luke will record two more times. Jesus is showing that he knew what his Father had sent him to do. He also shows that God’s will for him was his will.
Contrast what Jesus says about his future with what the disciples were thinking when they came to fully realize that Jesus was the Messiah. They had these pictures of a physical kingdom with Jesus leading the way. They thought Jesus would free them from their political bondage, overthrow the Roman government, and set himself up as king. But, instead, Jesus had come to free them from their spiritual bondage to sin and to Satan. In order to do that, Jesus would have to go to Jerusalem where he would be killed by the Jewish leaders. Though Luke doesn’t record the comment, you can understand why Peter would immediately reprimand Jesus for even thinking this would happen. SLIDE 26
Matthew 16:22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
SLIDE 27 It’s clear Peter and the disciples didn’t clearly understand the purpose of the cross. Perhaps some of that is due to their immaturity of their faith and perhaps due to it being hidden from them by God. Jesus taught them as they were able to receive it. The night he was arrested, Jesus told them: SLIDE 28
John 16:12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
SLIDE 29 Jesus then promised that the Holy Spirit would continue to teach them.
After telling them about his death, Jesus had perhaps even worse news.
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
The cross would not only be a reality for Jesus, Jesus expected his disciples to be ready to take up their own cross. Not only were they to be ready for his cross but their own. Jesus demanded they pour out their lives for him.
Philip Ryken explained it this way:
[In essence, Jesus] said, “Look, here is what is going to happen to me, and if you want to follow me, the same thing will happen to you too. You will have to follow me all the way to the cross, because that is where I am going.”
It wasn’t enough for the disciples to know that Jesus was the Messiah, they also needed to know why he’d come, and the cross was an integral part of it. In fact it was impossible to understand what Jesus’ messiahship meant without the cross. Now Jesus says that if they want to be his disciples, they must be ready to deny themselves, pick up their own crosses, and follow him. They must deny, take up, and follow. They had to reject any about pleasing themselves that they might please Jesus. When Jesus talked about taking up a cross, he wasn’t talking about ordinary hardships we face from day to day, but suffering we face specifically because of our faith in him. Jesus wanted them to know that if they were not willing to die for him, then they were not worthy to be his disciples.
Luke 9:24 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
This is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life. In order to save your life, you must lose your life. You must give your life to Jesus so that he can save your life. Trying to save our own lives will only end in disaster.
Jim Elliot understood this will well. You may remember his well-known statement:
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Elliot was one of five missionaries to Ecuador who were killed by the Auca Indians in 1956. He was ready and did give up his life for Jesus. But he gained something he could never lose: the everlasting pleasure of God.
Then Jesus asks:
Luke 9:25 “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”
It’s amazing how in many civilizations the wealthy wanted to be buried with their wealth, like they could actually take it with them. But years later, when their tombs are discovered, there’s all their wealth left behind. It can be tempting to be envious of those with great wealth. It seems like they have it all and they might. But all they have is what this world can give them. Their wealth is no guarantee of having anything in the next life.
Luke 9:26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Today, people wear crosses as jewelry and hang them on their walls as decorations but that wasn’t the case when Jesus was crucified. The cross was not only the cruelest way the Romans could devise to kill a person, but for the Jew it was also the most shameful. The Old Testament said that anyone who died on a tree was cursed by God. Therefore, to die on a cross was great shame. Jesus said that if we are ashamed of him, he would be ashamed of us when he returns. Warren Wiersbe wrote:
Our motive should be to glorify Christ. Anyone who is ashamed of Christ will never take up a cross and follow him. But if we are ashamed of him now, he will be ashamed of us when he comes again, and we will be ashamed before him.
Luke 9:27 27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is not referring to his second coming here, which many early believers thought. Some have interpreted it to refer to the resurrection and coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Others associate it with the transfiguration story which immediately follows this one. This seems to be Peter’s explanation as well. He wrote in his second epistle: SLIDE 30
2 Peter 1:16-18 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. SLIDE 31 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” SLIDE 32 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
SLIDE 33 In our passage tonight from Luke, we find Jesus’ definition of what it means to be one of his disciples. What we need to remember is that disciple is the word used most often in the New Testament to describe those who have placed their faith in Jesus. We seem to have lost the importance of this term. Perhaps, because of what it means. Jesus clearly defined his terms for following him. It is not enough to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. James talked about demons believing there is only one God. Belief is not enough. Belief must be translated into how we live and Jesus told us what we must do: deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Knowing this, we should give ourselves wholeheartedly to Jesus’ terms for discipleship.
In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave him a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world’s hurting people. Having given his life to Jesus at a young age, Borden wrote home to say, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.” At the same time, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.”
Indeed, Borden held nothing back. During his college years at Yale University, he became a pillar in the Christian community. One entry in his personal journal that defined the source of his spiritual strength simply said: “Say no to self and yes to Jesus every time.”
During his first semester at Yale, Borden started a small prayer group that would transform campus life. This little group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus. By the end of his first year, 150 freshmen were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer. By Borden’s senior year, a thousand of Yale’s thirteen-hundred students were meeting in such groups.
Borden also strategized with his fellow Christians to make sure every student on campus heard the gospel in addition to ministering to the poor in the streets of New Haven. But his real passion was missions. Borden never wavered. Upon graduation from Yale, Borden wrote two more words in the back of his Bible: “No retreats.” In keeping with that commitment, Borden turned down several high-paying job offers, enrolling in seminary instead. After graduating, he immediately went to Egypt to learn Arabic because of his intent to work with Muslims in China. But while in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.
Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words “No reserves” and “No retreats,” he had written: “No regrets.” Paul wrote to the Galatians: SLIDE 34
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
SLIDE 35
Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
SLIDE 36
Galatians 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
SLIDE 37
You can only have no regrets if you follow Jesus as a disciple with no reserves and no retreats.
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