We have really come upon a section of Scripture that seems to expose the lack of understanding from the disciples standpoint. Often times I think we look at the people of the Bible and especially people like Jesus’ disciples as people that has it all together. But the truth is that we often see the opposite is true. Just in this chapter alone we have seen that they were sent out by Jesus, in the power of Jesus to do the work that He had been doing. This might look as if this is the norm to some people on how followers of Jesus should living. But in reality we see that they have a lot of misunderstanding, lack of faith, lack of discernment and pride.
In the feeding of the 5000 they lacked the faith to trust that Jesus could perform this miracle instead they looked for a very humanistic and worldly solution. Peter proclaims Jesus as the Messiah but then rebukes Jesus for saying such things concerning His death. Again Peter, James and John do not understand what happened on the mount where Jesus was transfigured. Then we see the lack of faith in God to be able to cast a demon from a boy from the other disciples.
Here in this study we will continue to see this from the standpoint of the disciples. This is not something I am looking down at them because they lack these things but rather that this shows to us that we all are in times of learning. This should help us to learn to be humble and learn to not fall into the same areas over and over again. In this study we will see once again Jesus foretell His death and resurrection, we will also see the disciples lack of understanding in areas of humility and inclusion of others. Let’s look now at our first point.
1.Jesus FORETELLS of His suffering.
Look with me at Luke 9:43b-44 But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “Put these words into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”
It was just earlier in this chapter that we saw similar words of our Lord when He said in Luke 9:22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”
In that time we saw Peter rebuke the Lord Jesus with words that seemed to be courageous but were really just selfish and fleshly. Here in our text we see Jesus once again trying to convey to His disciples that there is a bigger plan than what they are seeing. The split in Luke 9:43 gives to us a view of a change in topic. It is connected to what Jesus just did but changes direction because Jesus is trying to show His disciples what is going to take place about 7 months in the future. We pick up in the story with the fact that the crowd was in awe of what they just witnessed with Jesus casting out the demon from the boy. Luke 9:43b says But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples.
So the crowd is in awe of what just happened but Jesus is trying to get His disciple’s minds off of the supernatural to what the big picture really was. The big picture was the fact that Jesus was going to be handed over to the officials of the Jews and then be executed by the hands of the Romans. This was no secondary plan but was the very reason why Jesus came to the world in the first place. He plainly says to them in Luke 9:44 “Put these words into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”
Jesus is clearly trying to show the disciples what will take place. In John 13:19 Jesus says From now on I am telling you before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.
This He spoke of concerning the fact that one of His own would betray Him. The fact is Jesus knew what to expect but the disciples were still so far from understanding what will take place. It is with this we will move on to the next verse and our next point.
Jesus foretells of His suffering and now we will see…
2.The disciples FOOLISHNESS.
Look with me at Luke 9:45 But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
Once again in no way am I saying that I would have figured it out. But the fact is the disciples were very earthly minded, very selfish and self centered like we are. They did not understand what Jesus was talking about. But as always this was not because they were stupid but because they were divinely blinded from this truth. They were blinded from the full understanding of this truth because it did not line up with their current understanding.
The Jews expectation was that of an Earthly Messiah that was coming to conquer their oppressors who at this time would be the Romans. They looked for the Earthly Kingdom and could not look beyond that. It was for this reason why Peter rebuked the Lord, it was for this reason most likely why Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus. It was most likely for this reason why James and John asked if they could sit on the left and the right of Jesus, it was most likely for this reason why the disciples argued about who was the greatest amongst themselves.
Their view of the Messiah did not line up with what Jesus was trying to show them and this even shows up after Jesus dies and resurrects. Right before Jesus ascend to Heaven we see this in Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
They lacked the understanding even after all that Jesus told them previously came true. Of course their mind would be enlightened as they go out to spread the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit but for now they are lacking in understanding simply because the meaning was veiled from their understanding.
This brings to us the next few verses and the next point. Jesus foretells of His suffering, we have seen the disciples foolishness and now we will see…
3.The FACTS of humility.
Look with me at Luke 9:46-48 Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”
This clearly is something that Jesus’ disciples lacked understanding on. They did not look at the Kingdom of God as something they did not earn but was still caught up in thinking that their own good deeds and merit would earn them a spot on the throne of the kingdom of God. This point will help us to see how little they really understood when it came to the big picture of salvation for all people through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The disciples continued to have so many fleshly desires even though they had been with the most humble person that had ever lived who of course is the Lord Jesus. Here in our text they clearly missed the point of what being in the kingdom of God was all about. The original language suggest that this was not some heated argument but rather a dialogue between the disciples about who was the greatest among them. They probably all gave their input of why they would be considered the greatest and others probably tried to find reason to place themselves above the other. Jesus walking along side them did not interfere into their discussion but just continued to walk as if He could not hear what they were doing.
We have to look at Mark’s Gospel in order to get a little more detail on how Jesus approached this issue with His disciples. Mark 9:33-34 says And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.
We notice at this point that they were not willing to talk about who was the greatest but kept silent about this. I think it is then that we see *Luke 9:47-48 that says But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”
Here again we see Jesus’ sovereignty and omniscience as He prompts the disciples about their conversation. When they do not answer He continues to speak to them about the very thing that they were speaking of previously and thinking about at that very moment. Their issue was that they were more interested in who was great when the real issue should be about proclaiming the Gospel and serving others. Jesus here shows them what being humble and what being a follower of His really looks like. I believe you can also include what Jesus says in Matthew 18:2-4 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever therefore will humble himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.*
It is with this that the disciples are learning what being a disciple really means. Jesus has expressed the facts of denying oneself earlier in this chapter and here He teaches them how they do that. The fact is the disciples were just as human as we are. They needed to learn many different aspects of what being a follower of Christ means. This brings to us one more thing for this study that Jesus teaches His disciples. Jesus has foretold His suffering, we have seen the disciples foolishness, the facts of humility and now…..
4.Do not FORBID others.
Look with me at Luke 9:49-50 And John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him, for he who is not against you is for you.”
The disciples must have thought that they were the supreme group that was like no other. I can not find fault with their thinking because the fact is they were hand picked by the Lord Jesus. This would swell anyone’s ego and cause them to believe that they were unique and special. Here John says in Luke 9:49 “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.”
This seems to be an admission to the very thing that Jesus just taught them about. During their prideful ascent they encountered a man that was casting out a demon in Jesus’ name. Because this man was not a part of the 12, they tried to rebuke this man thinking that he was just trying to do something that he was unable to do. We do not know the details of who this man is and whether or not he was actually able to cast a demon out but if he could it was only because Jesus had given him the power to do so. I think it is very possible that Jesus had given this man this power for this very purpose to teach the disciples a lesson on humility and inclusion towards others.
Jesus says in Luke 9:50 “Do not hinder him, for he who is not against you is for you.”
The fact is that this man was not out preaching false doctrine, he was not disgracing the name of Jesus but was rather doing what he too was told to do. Look what Mark’s account adds to what Jesus says in Mark 9:39-40 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is for us.
The fact is that this man had been given the right to perform this miracle because he too was a Christ follower as many others were that were not a part of the 12 disciples. All of what we see in this section of Scripture is setting the disciples up to understand how to react as they approach opposition, how to include others into the work of the ministry as they stay humble. They will need this as Jesus will leave Capernaum for the last time and never return as He sets His focus towards the cross.
Disciple's Direction 