Luke 9:37-50 - Disordered Disciples
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Have you ever had a day where everything seemed to go wrong. You stepped out of bed right onto your new glasses. The refrigerator died. The dog did his business on your new carpet. The toilet overflowed because your kid used way too much toilet paper. Your HVAC won’t kick on. And your car battery was dead as a door nail.
I’m sure we have all had a day or two like that. Those are the days that you want to hit the reset button. Maybe if you walk back to your bedroom, lay down, take a nap and wake up, the day will restart differently! Sadly, that isn’t how life works!
Jesus is about to have a day like this. He has been investing almost all of His energy into His disciples. Yet, time after time they continue to blow it.
I have entitled today’s sermon ‘Disordered Disciples.’ It seems like everything they are supposed to do - they do the opposite in this series of accounts.
Yet, Jesus continues to use this motley crew of men despite their continued failures.
I pray that this account gives you hope, my friends. I know it does for me! Jesus graciously bears with these men and continues to teach and admonish them moving forward. May we learn from these lessons as we go through this important Scripture today.
Before we dive in, let us first pray.
Prayer
Today we will see four ways that we are called to work for Christ. The first is…
I. We Must Work Through Christ’s Power (37-43a)
I. We Must Work Through Christ’s Power (37-43a)
On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
We have just seen the mountaintop experience that Jesus and His three inner disciples - Peter, James and John - just experienced - namely the Transfiguration. And now we are told that it is the following day, and they head down the mountain and real life hits them right in the face again. A great crowd had gathered to meet Jesus. If you have been with us very long in our study of Luke this has become quite a common repetition. Jesus is there - and a great crowd follows. And again like before, this isn’t just any crowd, it is a crowd that is wanting something from Jesus.
Mark lets us know that the scene is even more difficult than them just wanting something. Mark 9:14 lets us know that the 9 disciples who were left behind are there arguing with the scribes and the crowd. This is not a pretty picture to come down the maintain and see.
Then a man approaches Jesus in verses 38-39:
And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.
This man from the crowd cries out and begs Jesus to heal his son - his only son. He describes him as being possessed by an evil spirit that convulses him, makes him foam at the mouth, and shatters him. Mark 9:18 lets us know that he becomes rigid as well.
Mark lets us know that this interchange also has an important preposition that the father uses. Let’s read through a couple of verses that he adds to our account:
Mark 9:22b–24 (ESV)
… But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
The father, likely struggling with doubt after watching the disciples’ impotent interchange with this demon, cannot seem to muster enough faith in Jesus. Jesus calls him out on this and then the man humbly asks Christ for faith.
I love the humility in his statement - “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Have you ever been there, friends? You believe but you realize that your faith is much weaker than it should be. How should we react in such situations?
When we doubt and when our faith is not strong enough, we are to go to Christ like this man did, and ask Him to increase our faith! Help our unbelief, Lord!
When considering this interchange, I thought it might be helpful for us to learn a few ways that God uses to increase our faith.
How to increase your faith:
Through Reading the Bible (Romans 10:17)
By Asking God Directly Through Prayer (Luke 17:5)
By Observing God’s Power Through Creation (Romans 1:19-20)
By Meeting Together Regularly With Believers (Hebrews 10:25)
1. Through Reading the Bible (Romans 10:17)
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
God uses His Word to convict, empower, teach, and grow believers in faith. If we want to have solid faith, then we must spend much time in His Word. As we read through the Word, we are reminded of His faithfulness time and time again. We see Him step in and preserve Israel. We see Him bring about the promised Messiah. We see His power over evil. We see Him build and protect His Church. And we see His ultimate victory to come over Satan and his demons.
2. By Asking God Directly Through Prayer (Luke 17:5)
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Even the Apostles realized that their faith was insufficient. They went to the Lord Jesus and asked that He increase their faith. Just like the father we have just seen in our account for today asked Christ to increase His faith, we can ask Christ as well.
3. By Observing God’s Power Through Creation (Romans 1:19-20)
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Our faith can be increased just by looking upon all that God has made. As we study the universe, the stars, the atmosphere, gravity, physics, biology, and every other science we can imagine - we cannot help but see God’s handiwork everywhere. We see His order and creativity screaming that He exists. This will help increase our faith as well.
And last but certainly not the end of an exhaustive list…
4. By Meeting Together Regularly With Believers (Hebrews 10:25)
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
I am sure that some here might feel like I am broken record because church attendance seems to come up often in my sermons. This is because we cannot be a family if we do not do life together and do not worship God together. One way that God increases our faith is through others. When we are around more mature believers who have greater faith, they can encourage us and point us to Christ. They can spur us on to greater faith. Hearing how God is working in the lives of others strengthens us as well.
Getting back to our account, we left off with this father desperately begging Jesus to heal his son...
And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
Now we are told that Jesus isn’t the first person he had approached to heal his son. He had also approached the nine disciples left behind. If you recall, these disciples should have been ready for such a task because they had done it time and time again before as seen earlier in this chapter:
And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,
Note that they had been given power and authority over ALL DEMONS. Yet, they fell short here.
It is clear that these disciples had quickly forgotten from where their power came. It wasn’t from within them. It was from God. We are informed by Mark in Mark 9:28-29 that the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demon. He answered them:
And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
In essence, it was the power of God that they needed. They had begun to work in their own power and authority instead of God’s.
How quickly we can forget where our help comes from brothers and sisters. Do your best to remain humble. Fight against the pride that wants to do it your way as the late Frank Sinatra so convincingly sang. Because the Bible is clear about doing it your way, Church.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Jesus, knowing the wayward hearts of the surrounding crowd as well as His own disciples says…
Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”
Jesus is bothered by the lack of faith in both the crowd and His disciples. He realizes that within months He will be taken away and they will be left behind. He understands that He only has somewhere around 6-8 months to disciple these men before He departs.
His statement echos that of Deuteronomy 32:5 which is from the Song of Moses:
Deuteronomy 32:5 (ESV)
They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.
After rebuking the crowd and especially His disciples, he tells the father of the boy to bring his son to Him which brings us to verse 42…
Luke 9:42–43a (ESV)
While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God…
In today’s world we have many who will read this and consider this to be a seizure disorder. Some commentators have even mistakenly called this epilepsy. As a physician, I can see how that would be someone’s opinion at first glance. Yet once you truly study the text along with the parallels it becomes clear that this is more than just a medical condition. We see in Mark 9:20 and here in Luke 9:42 that the boy was fine until the evil spirit saw Jesus, and then the boy was thrown down at that point. Obviously, Luke the physician wants us to fully understand that this is more than just a medical condition. This is a true demon possession as recorded by Luke and the other Gospel writers.
We are told in only a sentence that Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. Just like that, this chaotic scene was serene again.
And the people are astonished and marvel at what has just happened.
But Jesus doesn’t revel in His victory. He gets right back to work by continuing to teach His disciples - which brings us to our second point…
Scripture References: Mark 9:14, Mark 9:18, Mark 9:22b-24, Romans 10:17, Luke 17:5, Romans 1:19-20, Hebrews 10:25, Luke 9:1, Mark 9:28-29, Proverbs 14:12, Deuteronomy 32:5, Mark 9:20, Luke 9:42
II. We Must Work Understanding Christ’s Plan (43b-45)
II. We Must Work Understanding Christ’s Plan (43b-45)
Luke 9:43b–45 (ESV)
… But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
The 9 disciples left behind have just failed a test miserably. There is much work to be done. Jesus lets the disciples know that the time is short. They need to pay attention and be learning quickly. The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. He again foretells about His death to come.
Yet the disciples fail to understand His ultimate plan again. They are still not in step with the plan of God. And not only are they not in step with Him, they are afraid to even ask Him about the saying.
This can be a confusing couple of verses because we see Jesus reveal His planned path unto the cross for the second time in the Gospel of Luke, and yet the disciples are still clueless it appears. Why are they still so far off from understanding the plan of God?
We are told here that the plan was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it.
Why was it concealed?
The most obvious cause is that they did not understand how the cross could fit into God’s plan. They still saw Jesus as someone who would rule the earth soon. They had high aspirations of Him taking charge of the world.
So these preconceived ideas clouded their ability to understand what Jesus was saying.
Their unbelief, pride that we will see exposed shortly, and weak faith kept them from understanding the plan of God.
We need to take a hard look at our lives and ask ourselves if we are seeking to follow the plan of God for our lives.
Proverbs 19:21 states:
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
If we want our plans to stand, they must be the Lord’s plans.
We can take note of this as a church as well as individual homes as well as we look at Psalm 127:1:
Psalm 127:1a (ESV)
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
This verse does not only speak of literal houses or places of worship, but it also refers to anything we endeavor to accomplish. If we do it for the Lord, in His will, and in the Lord’s strength, it will have an eternal impact. We know that what is done for Christ will last. No, this doesn’t mean that if you dedicated your home to Christ that it will be literally standing even into eternity. But what it means is that the things you do for the Lord as you follow His will, these things will be rewarded in heaven.
May we seek the Lord as we seek to follow His plan for our lives and not our own plan for our lives.
Next we see that…
Scripture References: Proverbs 19:21, Psalm 127:1a
III. We Must Work With Christ’s Passion (46-48)
III. We Must Work With Christ’s Passion (46-48)
An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Things continue to move along poorly for the disciples as they go from marveling at Jesus to marveling at themselves. They love them some them! It is amazing that this argument comes right after 9 of them had just proven inadequate to cast out this demon. Amazingly, insecurity seems to make pride rear its head even more strongly.
During the times that we should be the most humble, we often overcompensate by trying to act like we have it all together even moreso.
We are not told exactly what the greatest meant in their argument here. Maybe it was the greatest in rank or position. Maybe it was who was going to be the greatest in the future kingdom.
Either way, these men knew that they were special. And in essence they actually were. There is no doubt about that. They were specifically chosen by Jesus Christ Himself after a full night of prayer (Luke 6:12-16). They had been sent out at the beginning of this chapter and given power and authority to heal and cast out demons (Luke 9:1-6).
Yet, this amazing privilege had gone to the heads. It was leading them to make much of themselves instead of much of Jesus. Their passion became about their own glory and not the glory of God.
My friends, we must work through Christ’s passion. His passion was for the Father. See John 14:31:
John 14:31 (ESV)
but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father…
Jesus did everything in obedience to the Father and to glorify the Father.
He did not live for worldly passions - His passion was for the Father and to do His will (John 6:38).
We have much to learn from Jesus in this.
Theologian R. Kent Hughes stated:
“True greatness is the antithesis of pride and exclusivity.”
R. Kent Hughes
Those who are great before the Lord are those who are humble.
Getting back to verses 47-48...
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
We see that this argument doesn’t catch Jesus off guard. We are told at the beginning of verse 47 that He knew the reasoning of their hearts - in essence He knew their thoughts. And He has a beautiful answer to this argument. He takes a child and lets them know that whoever receives a child in His name is receiving God as well. Those who consider themselves least and consider first those who are the least are the ones who are truly the greatest.
Jesus again, turns human nature upside down. It is humility that is valued above all.
The fact that He took a child in this example shows the magnitude of His teaching. Children were loved, but they were not held in a very high view in much of Jewish culture. Unlike our culture today that practically worships their children to the point of neglecting marriages and taking on huge debts for their kids “supposed happiness” - Jewish culture was on the opposite end of this pendulum. In fact, the Rabbinical teachings in the Jewish Talmud regarded spending time with children as a waste of time. In fact, we see the disciples obviously miss this point altogether because we see later in Luke 18:15:
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
Jesus wants His disciples and even us today to understand that what makes a man or woman great is not his or her power, fame, amount of money, or influence. What makes a man or woman great is humility, servanthood, love for God, and having a passion for the things of God.
May we work with Christ’s passion. And finally…
Scripture References: Luke 6:12-16, Luke 9:1-6, John 14:31, John 6:38, Luke 19:15
IV. We Must Work Understanding Christ’s Purposes (49-50)
IV. We Must Work Understanding Christ’s Purposes (49-50)
John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”
And during this rapid-fire succession of moral failures experienced by His disciples, we see the tribalism that man so often likes to embrace.
John calls out a man who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus and they tried to stop him because he wasn’t one of the disciples.
Jesus then rebukes John for doing this.
It is clear by Jesus’ rebuke that this person that John and the others scolded was not a pagan. If he was, we see what happens to non-Christian exorcists in Acts 19:13-16:
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
So we see here that those who did not truly believe were not able to use Jesus’ name as some sort of magic word to make demons flee. In fact, we see that those who undertook this task without truly being a true follower of Jesus took quite a beating!
So it is clear that this person casting out demons was a true follower of Jesus. He just wasn’t one of the Twelve. Shortly later in this Gospel, we will see Jesus actually send out 72 of His followers to preach the Gospel in Luke 10:1-12.
This was not an exclusive club. Although not every follower of Jesus was given this ability to cast out demons, the Holy Spirit was gifting certain followers with certain gifts (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:28). Although the Holy Spirit had not fallen like at Pentecost, He was still working amongst the followers of Christ.
After Pentecost, the Holy Spirit began indwelling believers as a permanent seal of their salvation (Acts 2, Ephesians 1:13, 4:30) . Prior to this, believers had the Holy Spirit rest upon them. We see Old Testament believers have the Holy Spirit rest upon them many times in the Scriptures. We have actually discussed this in the past when we talked about the Holy Spirit coming upon Christ at His baptism. Jesus is God and didn’t need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But instead, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him to minister to Him as He obeyed the Father on earth (Luke 3:21).
But getting back to our point, we need to understand Christ’s purposes. He does not only do His work through us at CrossPointe. He does not only do His work through Southern Baptists. Jesus Christ is working through His universal church all over the world. Although it is clear that we are not to approve of false teachers and those who lead others astray, we are to pray for those whom might not agree 100% with us.
Sadly, Christians are undercutting each other left and right. There are factions among even strong Bible-believing churches that are defaming Christ to a lost world. Social media and the internet have poured gasoline on the passionate fire regarding our differences and caused divisions over the most minute of details.
Church, we need to have strong convictions on where we are theologically. We should be studying the Word and seeking to handle it rightly. But in areas of disagreement that are not salvific, we need to show grace to our brothers and sisters. We need not act like secondary or tertiary Biblical matters are not important - because they most certainly are. Many of these may keep people from being able to fellowship in the local church together.
But just because there is a disagreement, this does not mean that we should not still support and love one another despite our differences.
May we stand firm on the Word of God holding both truth and grace in a delicate balance. May we love like Christ loves and seek to obey Him in all things.
Scripture References: Acts 19:13-16, Luke 10:1-12, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Acts 2, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 4:30, Luke 3:21
Conclusion:
Today we have seen Christ’s disordered disciples. They have blown it multiple times. We can learn much from their failures today my friends.
I pray that we fully rely on Christ’s power and not our own.
That we seek to understand God’s plan and not follow our own ways.
That we work with Christ’s passion - not making much of ourselves but instead glorifying God.
And that we work understanding the purposes of God - which means reaching the far ends of the earth with the Gospel while maintaining unity whenever able.
Friends, let’s be the disciples of Christ that He has called us to be.
Prayer