Trusting, Confessing, and Following

Luke 9:1-27 - Riley Boggs

…and we’re back. After about a month hiatus from our journey through the Gospel of Luke, we are officially back. As a reminder, the last time we were here, we looked at the story of Jesus healing and restoring he woman with the issue of blood, and raising Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Both of which are just a single example of what Jesus has been doing often. His ministry is in full swing. He is casting out demons, healing the sick, restoring the outcasts, raising the dead, and most importantly, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. The word about Jesus and what He is doing has begun to spread, and a crowd has begun to accompany Him seemingly at all times. If we were to drop into this region during this time, it wouldn’t be long before we heard people talking about this Jesus guy.

This week, as we zoom back into Jesus’ life as recorded by Luke, we find ourselves in what I think is an interesting passage. I think it’s interesting because it’s a group of texts that seem like they must go together, and yet they are often split up and preached individually. You have Jesus sending out His 12 disciples in verses 1-6, then Herod questioning who Jesus is in verses 7-9, then the well-known story of Jesus feeding the five thousand in verses 10-17, then Peter confessing who Jesus is verses 18-20, then Jesus foretelling His death in verses 21-22, and finally in verses 23-27 we have Jesus telling us what we must do in order to follow Him.

Each of these texts you’ve likely heard preached individually, and rightfully so. Each of them alone carry enough truth and weight to fill an entire sermon, easily. However, I think there are times where it’s good for us to take a step back and consider what all of these stories are doing together. Think of it like a smore. You can eat a marshmallow, a piece of chocolate, and a graham cracker individually. Each of them are good on their own. But sometimes, what do you need to do? You need to put them together, let them heat up over a fire, and eat them all at the same time. This morning that’s what I want to do by preaching verses 1-27. Truthfully, you could preach a sermon that encompasses most, if not all, of chapter 9. I think Luke wants us to take all of this in together, not in little pieces. Not because the individually stories and passages don’t work on their own, they do, and we’ll likely look at them alone when I preach through another Gospel in smaller chunks. But for now, for this morning, I want to look at this story from a bit higher perspective.

Alright, enough talk about our passage in vague terms, let’s look at what is happening here. Our text starts off in verse 1 by telling us that Jesus called together His 12 disciples and gave them power and authority. And specifically He gave them power and authority over demons and diseases. The disciples are now going to join in on what Jesus has been doing, not by the power of their own hands, but by the power that Christ Himself is giving them. They are to go out and proclaim the kingdom of God and heal people in the name of the Lord. But not only does Jesus give them authority and give them a task, but He also tells them that they are to go about all of this in a specific way. Starting in verse 3 He says, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.”

Jesus tells them to pack light, extremely light. No staff or bag, no bread or money, and no extra tunic. But see it’s not that Jesus just wants them to be without and to be hungry, that’s not it. No what Jesus wants them to do is to rely upon the hospitality of people along the way. He wants them to go preaching and healing and let people care for them. Let them welcome the disciples into their homes for rest and food. He says, “4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.” But Jesus knows that they won’t be warmly welcomed and fed everywhere they go, so He also adds, “5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” The idea of “shaking off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them” would have been familiar to them because this was already a practice for strict Jews. When they would return from Gentile lands, they would shake the dust off their feet as a declaration that those people, the Gentiles, had rejected their God.

And so Jesus tells them to do the same. As the disciples go out and preach the Gospel there are going to be some who accept it and some who reject. For those who accept it, they will welcome in the disciples with thankful hearts and care for them. For those who reject it, they will dismiss the disciples and tell them to continue on their way. And when that happens, when the disciples are rejected, Jesus reminds them that it’s okay. They aren’t just rejecting you, but they are rejecting me, they are rejecting God. So shake off the dust from your feet and continue on in faith.

Truthfully, that is what Jesus is demanding out of the disciples by asking them to go out in this manner. By not taking anything with them, they are forced to rely upon God for provision. They have to trust and have faith that Jesus will do what He has said He will do. They aren’t to have a backup plan, they are to simply trust. And that’s the first point that I want us to see this morning.

1.) We must trust that Jesus will provide for us

As I mentioned, I think this passage works better when preached at a higher altitude because of how each of these stories interreact and depend upon one another. That is certainly true with Jesus sending out the disciples in this way and then the situation they find themselves in starting in verse 10. Jesus and His disciples had been out on their ministry journeys and had returned. The disciples were telling Jesus of all that they had done, and He took them and tried to withdraw from all the crowds so that they might rest from ministry. But, per usual, the crowds learn where Jesus and His disciples are, and they  follow them.

For most of us, I think this would be a moment where we would be frustrated. Imagine you had been doing ministry all day long and you’re exhausted. You can’t wait to get home and just lay down and do nothing. But, as you pull in your driveway, you see your talkative neighbor sitting on his porch. And as you get out of the car he yells out at you, “Hey, neighbor! I was wondering if I could talk to you for a little bit about something.” If we’re honest, many of us would think, “Are you kidding me? Tonight of all nights? Why couldn’t he do this any other day?” That’s not altogether different that the situation that Jesus find Himself in here, and yet rather than responding with frustration, Matthew and Mark’s Gospel tell us that Jesus had compassion on them. Let that simply be a reminder that though we grow tired or frustrated at these kinds of things, Jesus never grows tired or frustrated of caring for us.

So out of compassion, He begins to minister to them. He preached about the kingdom of God and heals those who need healing. He continues on doing this until the day begins to come to an end. The disciples notice this and so they go up to Jesus and say, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” In other words, if these people don’t leave now, they aren’t going to have time to get somewhere for dinner. Jesus hears this and says to them, “then give them something to eat.” Simple enough, right? Just give them some food. Well, not exactly. See this crowd was likely close to 10,000 people. We read that there were about 5,000 men, but that’s only the men. And not only was this crowd large, but the disciples also didn’t have near enough food to feed them. In fact, the amount of food they had was almost laughable for this size crowd. They had no more than 5 loaves and 2 fish. That’s it.

To put this into perspective for us. 10,000 people is a little less than half of Rupp Arena and more than double than Barren County’s gym. Now imagine that many people and all you have are 5 loaves and 2 fish. It’s at this moment that the disciples had to trust what Jesus had said them to them when He commissioned them and remember how He had provided for them during their recent days of ministry. They had to trust that if Jesus is telling them to feed the people, then He will indeed make provision for them. He tells the disciples to have them sit down in groups of about 50 and He said a blessing over these 5 loaves and 2 fish. Then he began to break the bread and give it to the disciples to take to the people. And, as we should expect, they did this until everyone had ate and was satisfied. But even more than that, there was still some left over. 5 loaves, 2 fish, 10,000 people, and there was more than enough.

I think for us the call is rather simple. We must trust that Jesus will provide for us. And while it’s simple to hear and to know, I don’t think it’s simple to live out. It’s a lot easier to trust that God will provide for you when you have a rainy-day fund sitting in your savings account. It’s a lot easier to trust God when you have a great job and a steady income and you’re feeling like you got all your ducks in a row. But what if you didn’t? What if you had nothing set aside in case of an emergency? What if your job and your plan was taken from you? Would you keep trusting that God would provide for you? Would He keep providing? The answer is yes, Jesus will provide for you. He will give you what you need. Now what we think we need and what Jesus thinks we need aren’t always the same. The Lord knows best, and we have to trust that. In times of plenty and in times of want, we have to trust that Jesus will provide for us. If that means miraculously providing for us on this side of heaven, thanks be to God. If that means ushering us home, where there is no more sin and lack, thanks be to God. In both of those, we are to trust Him. The One who can feed 10,000 with only 5 loaves and 2 fish, and have some left over.

As I mentioned earlier, Jesus is the talk of the town, from events like this. Word has gotten out and has begun to spread. And as we know, once the rumor mill begins, there is no telling where it will lead. Herod had begun to hear all of these stories about Jesus and what He was doing, and he was as Luke describes it, perplexed. See some were saying that Jesus was actually John the Baptist. Of course that mixup isn’t so perplexing, were it not for the fact that Herod himself had John beheaded. So now, hearing that this man might be John, Herod wonders John had raised from the dead. Not only that, but others had mentioned that it was Elijah or other old testament prophets. Herod was confused about who Jesus was, and intrigued to the point that he wanted to see Jesus for himself. Simply put, Herod didn’t know who Jesus was.

But that wasn’t true of everyone. Some people did in fact know who Jesus was. Just a handful of verses later, starting in verse 18, we see Jesus ask His disciples some questions. First, He asks, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Apparently the disciples had been hearing the same thing that Herod had been hearing, because answer him that some say Jesus is, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Jesus expected this response no doubt, He knew what the misunderstandings about who He was. But then, He asks a different question. He says, “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus doesn’t want to know what others think now, but what do the disciples think. They’ve been there, following and watching Him. Who do they think He is? Peter answers, “The Christ of God.” Bingo. This is the second point I want us to see this morning.

2.) We must continually confess that Jesus is the Christ

Peter had answered right. We know this because immediately Jesus tells them to tell no one of this in verse 21. Now this isn’t the first time that Jesus does this, and we’ve talked about it a bit, but does it strike anyone as a bit strange? If Jesus is the Christ, and He is, why doesn’t He want people knowing. Let me try to help us out. The word Christ literally means “anointed one” or “anointed by God.” It’s a title that is used throughout the Old Testament in its Hebrew form. People knew what this title meant and the rightly associated it with prophets, priests, and kings. Knowing that, Jesus realizes that if people begin to realize that He is the Christ, they will have expectations. And the expectations are that He will do what the Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings did. He would come and rule and reign, right then and there. That He would usher in the Kingdom of God immediately, like a strong political king. That would have been the expectation of the people. The issue is that they are wrong. They are wrong because while Jesus is the Christ, His purpose for coming and the way that He will fulfill the roles of prophet, priest, and king are different.

Look at the reason that Jesus tells them to not share this in verses 22. He says, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” See Jesus came to die and usher in a spiritual kingdom. He has come as the Christ who will lay down His life for His people, saving them from the wrath of God and saving them to an eternity with Him. An eternal perfect kingdom. Jesus doesn’t want people to begin to rally behind Him like He is the one who is going to bring Israel to its greatest heights because that’s not His purpose. So while yes, Peter is right, Jesus is indeed The Christ, there is an order in which Jesus desires all of this to play out, and so He tells them to tell no one. He allows the rumor mill and confusion to continue.

For us, I think the application can be simple. We must continually confess that Jesus is the Christ. We stand in a different place that Peter did. We stand in a position where Jesus has come and fulfilled His purpose for coming. He came, lived a sinless life, died, resurrected, and ascended. Now, we are simply waiting His final return. And because of all that, we don’t have to keep quiet about it like the disciples. In fact, to keep quiet about it is to miss it altogether. More than ever we must be confessing to ourselves, to one another, and to the world that Jesus is The Christ. There are all sorts of good things we can say about Jesus, but there is one that we must say.

Was Jesus a good teacher? Yes, but there are a lot of good teachers. Was Jesus a kind man? Yes, but there other kind men. Was Jesus an important historical figure? Yes, but there are other important historical figures. Was and is Jesus The Christ of God? Yes, and there is none other besides Him. He alone is the Eternal prophet, priest, and king, who defeated sin and death itself and is ruling at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is The Christ and none compare to Him. That is what makes Him who He is. That is why we have been saved from our sins and that is why we gather to worship Him. He is God and He is The Christ.

And it is Him, Jesus Christ, who we follow all the days of our life. That is the final point I want us to see this morning.

3.) We must deny ourselves and follow Jesus

The summer between my junior and senior was when my life really changed. At an early age I had professed faith and my parents took me to church and I was involved in youth and all that. If you would’ve asked me at any point, I would have confidently told you that I was a Christian, and I think I was. But, as I got older and entered middle school and high school, outside of Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, my life didn’t reflect that of a Christians. I wanted to be liked by everyone and to do what everyone was doing. I spent years living this seemingly double life. Sometimes my life looked like I was following Jesus, sometimes my life looked like I hated Him.

But between my junior year and senior year of high school everything changed. Jordan Woodie asked me and 2 other guys my age to come over to his house to drink coffee and read the Bible. So, I did. In fact I did it several times. We would read the Bible and discuss it, spend some time in prayer, and then we would leave. That was it. And as simple as it sounds, it changed my life. The Lord used simple discipleship, rooted in His Word, to change me. And the thing that changed about me, more than anything, was how I felt about sin. I used to be able to sin, and it didn’t really bother me, and when it did, it didn’t last for long. I had grown numb to it and found ways to justify it. But now, as my relationship with the Lord grew, my love for sin began to shrink. I found myself not wanting to do the things I used to do, and when I did, I didn’t feel good about it. That isn’t to say that all sin was like this. Obviously, there were and are still are sins that I have to continually fight against. But, that summer was the first time I can remember where sin started to really feel like sin to me.

So as the summer came to a close and I returned to school, I really didn’t know what to do. All my friends did stuff that bothered me now. I didn’t want to do those things anymore and at the very least, I didn’t want to be around them because I knew that I would likely give in to the temptation. So slowly over time me and all my friends started to grow a part until eventually, about halfway through what’s supposed to be the best year of high school, I essentially had no friends and didn’t know what to do.

Now, I want to ask you all a question. Halfway through my senior year of high school, was I in a better spot than I was my previous years of high school? Without friends, feeling lonely and unsure of what to do, was I in a better place? 100%, without a doubt, I was in a better place. For the first time in my life, following Jesus had costs me something. For the first time in my life, though I didn’t understand it then, I was sharing in the sufferings of Christ. That is a beautiful thing. There’s no need for a pity party, I wouldn’t trade that for anything now.

In the final part of our text this morning, verses 23-27, Jesus tells us His disciples what it looks like to follow Him; He tells them what it cost. Let me read it for us. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus has called them to trust that He will provide for them. He has called them to believe that He is the Christ. And now He is telling them what it looks like to follow Him. And to put things very simply, Jesus tells them that they must be willing to die for Him. He says that if they want to follow Him, they need to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him. The idea of taking up their cross would not have been confusing to these 1st century people. They know what the cross means. It means death. They had watched people die gruesome deaths on the cross. And now, Jesus is telling them to take it up daily. To be willing to die for Him.

And I love how Jesus gets ahead of any questions. Before someone asks, “But Jesus, do you really mean die? Like actually? Are you sure?” Before any of that, He says, if you save your life, you will lose it. If you lose it for me, you will save it. You can have the whole world and lose yourself, or forsake the world and be welcomed into the glory of the Father forever. In other words, yes I mean death and yes it is worth it.

Now, I want to be clear here and say that I think Jesus does want His disciples, and us, to live with this kind of mindset. We should be willing to die for our faith. If we believe what we preach, then we should be willing. I’m not saying that’s an easy thing to accept, but I am saying that Christ has called you to live by faith in that way. Christians all around the world are living this out, and have been since Jesus came. We need to have that mindset and be ready. That being said, I don’t think Jesus just means physically die by following Him. The reason I think that is because He tells his disciples to take up their cross daily. And if they literally took up their cross, then they would die, and they couldn’t take up their cross again. So what Jesus is saying here isn’t just literal. I think He is saying that we must be willing to die for Christ and that we are to die to ourselves, or in the phrase He uses, “deny Himself.”

In other words, what Jesus is saying here is that we are to put to death all the fleshly desires that exists within us. All the things temptations and sins that don’t honor God, we need to put them to death. When they dwell up within us, we need to deny ourselves. We don’t need to be overcome by our desires, we need to deny them and ask that God would grant us good desires. And, when we do that, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that suffering comes along. That’s what I was learning my senior year of high school. When you try to stop sinning and begin to follow Jesus, you will likely lose friends who love their sin. When you put to death things such as greed and arrogance, and put on contentment and humility, chances are you might get looked past in certain circles. When you put to death laziness and put on commitment and working unto the Lord, chances are you are going to be taken advantage of by employers. The truth is that our broken world rarely elevates the one who is denying themselves. And so often, as we deny ourselves and follow Jesus, hardship can come right along with it. But the glorious thing is that when that happens, when hardship comes as a result of that, it is evidence that you are walking with the Lord and reminder that one day all suffering will be done away with.

Jesus reminds His disciples of this truth in verse 27. He says, “27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” There will be some disciples there who won’t die before it all happens. Before their eyes they will see Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. They will see the Holy Spirit come and the church established. They will see what the Kingdom of God on Earth really is. They will not only see all of this, but they will be a part of it, because they are following Jesus. Because they are denying themselves, daily dying to their sin, and follow the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In closing, I want to ask you 3 questions. One, do you trust that Jesus really will provide for you? Two, are you denying yourself and following Him? Three, have you confessed that Jesus is The Christ? My hope and prayer for each of us is that we can say yes to them all. But the reality is that there are people here who are struggling with one, if not all of these. And if that’s you, what I want you to know is that Christ died for you and for your doubts and for your lack of faith. So if you repent of that, you can be forgiven. And not only that, but if you pray and ask God to strengthen you, He will. That’s the gracious and kind nature of our God. Together, let’s be a people who seek to answer yes to each of these, and trusting in Christ’s provision when we fail. That is what it means to follow Jesus.