There's Been a Misunderstanding

Luke 9:51-62 - Riley Boggs

I asked ChatGPT this question in preparation this week. I asked, “What is the consequence of misunderstanding the words of Jesus?” In response, this is what it told me. “Misunderstanding the words of Jesus can have serious spiritual and practical consequences, depending on the context in which they’re misunderstood. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus emphasizes that how people hear and understand His words matters deeply.” Then it told me 5 things that misunderstanding the words of Jesus can lead to.

1.) Spiritual confusion and error

2.) Missing the Kingdom of God

3.) False teaching and division

4.) Disobedience and poor life choices

5.) Loss of spiritual life

All things considered, that’s not a bad way to answer that question. Though it’s just a dumb computer, it’s at least got this right. That is, the importance of understanding the words of our Lord, correctly, cannot be overstated. We want to know what Jesus has said, rightly, so that we can follow Him better. And anytime we accidentally misunderstand or intentionally ignore, the consequences begin to become evident. Though ChatGPT just gave 5, we could make an infinite list of things that this could lead to. Point being, we need to seek to understand rightly the words of our Lord.

Let me give you a silly example of what I mean. Later in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 14, Jesus will say this. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Now, if we were take that at face value, not considering the context, what would we think Jesus is saying? Well we would think, “Okay, if I want to be a disciple of Jesus, then I need to hate my mom and dad, my sister and brother, my son and daughter, and even myself. Anything less won’t do.” Can you imagine telling one of these people that you hate them, and when they ask why, you tell them, “Because I want to be a disciple of Jesus.”

Obviously that’s not right, is it? Of course not. How do we know? Well there’s a lot of reasons why we know that isn’t the case. One of the commandments God gave to Israel was to honor your father and mother, we see Jesus care for and love His own mother, and most importantly the context in which Jesus says this shows that He doesn’t mean it literally. Rather, He is saying your love of Him must supersede all other things, including your family and yourself. That doesn’t mean you should hate your family and yourself, but you shouldn’t hold them above the Lord of all. In fact, we aren’t supposed to just not hate these people, but we are to love them.

But see that’s the danger of misunderstanding the words of Jesus. If you misunderstand, it can lead you into wrong places. It can lead you into sin, the exact opposite thing that Jesus Himself has called you to. In our passage this morning, we see Jesus address multiple different misunderstandings. Really there are 2 overreaching misunderstandings, and smaller ones within them. So this morning what I’d like to do is look at each of them and try to show what the right way to understand Jesus here. I want to look at what He is saying isn’t right and then give us clarity as to what is right, so that we might be a people who grow in a right understanding of who Jesus is and what He has said.

Let’s start by looking at the first story, starting in verse 51. Luke writes that as the day drew near for Jesus to be taken up, that is as the day drew near for His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus set His face towards Jerusalem. Now let me go ahead and pause here and say that this is an important detail. Starting here in chapter 9 verse 51, all the way to chapter 19 verse 44, Luke will be telling us of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. Other Gospel writers tell of the different things that happen during this journey, but only Luke records as an actual journey, following Jesus along the way. And so as we work our way through these chapters, we’ll be following along with Jesus as He makes His way to Jerusalem, where He will be crucified.

But Luke writes that He sets His face towards Jerusalem, starts heading that way, and that He sends some messengers ahead of Him to the first village along the way. Likely the reason that He does this is because He knows that the amount of people who are about to show up to the village might overwhelm the people and their resources. Jesus has many followers, a rather large crowd at times, and so He is sending people ahead so that those in the village are made aware of what is about to happen. So the messengers go out to a village of the Samaritans to let them know, but something happened. You can see it in verse 53, Luke writes, “But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.” This village has rejected Jesus. They don’t want Him to pass through for whatever reasons, but one specifically that Luke gives us in that Jesus is headed to Jerusalem, and something about that hardens them against Him. These people don’t want anything to do with Jesus.

James and John hear this and say, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Wow, that escalated quickly. James and John were ready to go, they did not take this rejection of Jesus well and want to end them. Now there is a parallel here that I think we have to take note of. Remember James and John had just seen Elijah in glory on the mountain during the transfiguration, and I think a story has come to their mind. Specifically, the story found in 2 Kings 1:9-12, where fire from heaven had come down to consume those who had come to arrest Elijah. I don’t know if this is why they thought of this story, but there is certainly a connection to be made. But regardless of their reasoning, Jesus turns to them and swiftly rebukes them, which brings us to our first misunderstanding.

1.) Misunderstanding the timing of salvation and judgement (vv.51-56)

It seems that James and John have confused the two comings of Jesus. They think, as many have so far along the way in Luke’s Gospel, that Jesus has come to bring both salvation and judgement. That He has come to save His people and to put an end to His enemies, once and for all. They think that He has come to establish an Earthly kingdom, here and now, as the King. But the issue is that while all of that will happen, it isn’t the reason for His first coming. And if James and John had been listening to Jesus, and reading what the prophecies concerning Jesus had said, they would have understood this. Nevertheless, they have misunderstood and ask Jesus to bring judgement here and now on those rejecting Him.

For us, I think we can be tempted to do the same thing. We can be tempted to want judgement here and now for those who come against our Lord. But that isn’t the right way to understand what our Lord has said and what He is doing. So let me give us 2 things to remember. The first one is this, point 2a.

a.) Salvation has come

For us, we must remember that the thing we hold the most high is that salvation has come. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh and came to this Earth. He lived a sinless life and obeyed the law to the fullest. Not only that, but He died on the cross for our sin and the punishment for our sin. Then, showing His victory over sin and death, He resurrected from the dead 3 days later, ascended to heaven, and reigns at the right hand of the Father. And now, there is no one who has sinned too grievously that they cannot be saved. There is no person, though their sin be as tall as the mountains, that cannot turn to Jesus for forgiveness. Anyone, anywhere, can turn from their sins, place their faith in Jesus, and be saved from their sin and the punishment of their sin. That is what we hold the highest, that salvation has come and His name is Jesus Christ.

We can herald a lot of things, and we should, but we should never herald anything higher than this. This is everything. It’s the Gospel in which we were entrusted as the church. It’s the Gospel that we have been given to take to the ends of the Earth. It’s the Gospel that has the power to save to the uttermost. We can’t misunderstand that this is what Jesus has commanded us to proclaim above all.

But that’s not the whole Gospel, is it? There’s another part that we often leave out because it seems mean or harsh. It’s the part that James and John rightly understood, but wrongly applied. That is, judgment is coming. And that’s the second thing I want us to remember, point 2b.

b.) Judgement is coming

It seems that often times Christians swing very far on either side of this. They either fail to mention that judgement is coming at all, or they, like John and James, are eager for it to happen here and now. Both of these aren’t what Jesus has in mind. The right way for us to think through is to recognize and proclaim that judgement is, with absolute certainty, coming to those who deny Jesus Christ as Lord. And, at the same time, we also desire that none should perish, but all should have everlasting life. The question is, how do we balance this?

Let me give us a hypothetical that will maybe help us work through this. Let’s say for some reason you are invited to have a conversation with a death row inmate. A man who is scheduled to be put to death in a week because he murdered his entire family. And, to add a wrinkle into the story, let’s say you were dear friends with his wife and children who he killed. When you go and have a conversation with him, what would you say? What’s the right way to proclaim true salvation and true judgement? I think it’s something like this.

I think you must tell this man that what he has done is utterly despicable. It is evil in every way. Not only because he has taken lives, but because he has sinned against a holy God in doing so. The God of the universe created him and commanded that he not murder, and he has ignored that. But then you ramp it up even more. You tell him that because of those evil actions, and every other evil action or thought he has ever had, he is guilty before God. And so, with absolute certainly, if nothing changes, when he is put to death, he will find himself before God, and set to be punished for all eternity. That isn’t harsh, that isn’t mean. It’s the truth, and you could show it to Him in the Bible. But then, we don’t stop there. Then you tell him that the reason he is even still breathing is because God is patient and He is delaying His judgement. He is delaying His judgement so that people like Him, and even worse, might be saved. Then you share the Gospel with Him. That Jesus came and died for all that He has done, and that He can be forgiven of it all by repenting of his sin and placing his faith in Jesus.

Then, you leave there praying 2 things. You pray, “Lord would you please save this man. Even though it’s hard, almost seems impossible, to forgive him myself, you will.” You pray for his salvation. And then, you add this as the second thing. You pray that if this man continues to reject God, and rather than repenting and trust Christ, stores up even more anger and hatred, you pray that God’s righteous judgement would come. Again, this isn’t something we pray with grins on our faces, but we pray it because we know that God has said this would be so for all those who reject Him. And like the Psalmist time and time again, we pray that above all God’s will would be done, even against His enemies who reject Him.

I know this is an unlikely example, but it is one that I think can help us think through this and understand it better. We can’t misunderstand the timing of salvation and judgement. We proclaim that salvation has come, and that judgment is coming. That is the complete Gospel.

  In the second part of our passage we see 3 different people have misunderstanding about what it looks like to follow Jesus. More specifically, they are misunderstanding the call to follow Jesus, which is our second point this morning.

2.) Misunderstanding the call to follow Jesus (vv.57-62)

Starting in verse 57 we read that Jesus and His followers were continuing along the road. And as they are going, someone says to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus responds and says, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Then, as they are going along, Jesus tells someone else to follow Him. The person hears this and says, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus responds and says, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And then again, someone says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus responds and says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

In each of these, I think the person speaking to Jesus is demonstrating a misunderstanding of the call to follow Jesus. They are misunderstanding what the calling really is. They are misunderstanding how their life has to change. I want to look at each of them and try to zero in on what exactly is the right understanding that they are missing. For the first person, point 2a, I think it is that are forgetting that as a follower of Jesus they are called to forsake comfort.

a.) Forsake comfort (vv.57-58)

The first person tells Jesus that he will follow Jesus wherever He goes. Jesus responds by simply reminding this person of what that means. He tells this person that all of creation has a place. Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but Jesus is different. Jesus, the Son of Man, is rejected among creation. Though He was the One who Created all things, He has been and will be pushed away. He will not be granted luxuries and hospitality. Instead, He will be rejected, hated, and ultimately, killed.

The reminder here, for the person asking in the story, and for us, is simply that to follow Jesus is to forsake comfort. If we are committed to following Jesus, then that means things won’t always be simple and easy and comfortable. There are times where we will have to deal with sin in a very uncomfortable way. We’re going to have to confess it to someone. We are going to have to use words to say what we have done, and ask for forgiveness. That is an uncomfortable thing, and it’s what we have been called to as followers of Jesus.

There are times where you are going to have to feel uncomfortable around others, because you refuse to engage in their sinful things. You’ll be the weird one at school who doesn’t want to do those things or the odd coworker who doesn’t want to gossip. You’re going to be looked down on, maybe even feel embarrassed at times. But we shouldn’t be surprised, because Jesus says right here that it’s to be expected. We shouldn’t expect to have comfort.

The only truly good person. The only truly kind person. The only truly perfect person to have ever be on this Earth was despised and murdered, and His name was Jesus Christ. Should we expect any different? Of course not. We can’t misunderstand the calling here. If we are to follow Jesus, then we to forsake comfort. We can’t live for today, but for eternity. At times it might be a difficult task, but in all times it is a worthwhile task.

The second person hears Jesus say, “Follow me” and says, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” To which Jesus says, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” This person, I think, has misunderstood the call to follow Jesus in that He has missed that we must change our priorities, which is point 2b.

b.) Change our priorities (vv.59-60)

Before getting too much into this, let me just say that I don’t think that this man’s father is actually dead. Commentators agree that this wouldn’t make much sense for a few different reasons. First, in this time there wasn’t much of delay of burying those who had passed, so if his father had already passed, then the man would be taking care of the burial already and not here talking with Jesus. Second, it doesn’t seem to fit that Jesus would keep this man from doing what he rightfully ought to do, in burying his father.

So, if the man’s father isn’t actually dead, then what is being conveyed here? Well it seems that this man has reservations about following Jesus because he wants to stay back until his father has passed. In other words, he wants to follow Jesus, but the timing just isn’t right. He wants to be with his father until he passes and then he will be free, and he can follow Jesus. That’s the question that is being posed to Jesus.  

This is an interesting interaction, because it seems like a good-hearted one. I mean is this man wrong for this? Isn’t it good for this man to stick around and spend time with his father? We don’t know if his father was even close to death, maybe not, but no matter the case, is that so bad? Well the issue isn’t that this man desires to care for and be with his father. The issue is that this man has misunderstood what it means to follow Jesus. If he is to follow Jesus, he has to change his priorities. Even so far as taking their own father from the highest spot to the spot below Jesus. It can seem extreme, but it really isn’t, and it’s what Jesus is reminding this man here in his response. To follow Jesus is to recategorize everything in your life. Everything that used to seem the most important in your life must now drop down and be interpretated through a different lens.

I think a very practical way all of us can understand and apply this is music and movies. Before coming to saving faith, we can listen to and watch some pretty awful things and not be bothered by them. But then, after the Lord saves us, and as He grows us, these things might start to seem a bit out of place in our life. The things we once consumed we realize no longer have a place in the life of someone who follows Jesus.

In that, it can be tempting to dismiss it as “not a big deal.” We can say, “Well, the inappropriate stuff is just in this season.” Or, “It’s only a few songs and the music is so good.” In both of those, aren’t we doing the same thing as the person in this story? Aren’t we just worried we’re going to miss out while following Jesus? I think the call is for us to remember what matters most. Who cares about what this world has to offer when Jesus has saved us and is calling us to follow Him. No song or show is worth it. Let it all go and follow Jesus completely. Change your priorities, and put Him and your sanctification above them all. And I promise, you will never wish you would have done otherwise.

Lastly, someone says, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus responds and says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” This person, I think has misunderstood where their focus should be. Namely, they have misunderstood that they must focus on Him, which is our final point.

c.) Focus on Him (vv.61-62)

This last person, similar to the previous person, wanted to tend to things at home before following Jesus. But this time Jesus responds by saying the phrase, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” I think in this phrase Jesus is saying that in order to follow Him, we must focus on Him. That is, instead of fixing our eyes on anything else, we fix them on Him.

And really, our eyes are just the avenue by which we gaze upon what we want, right? We look at the things that we want, the things that captivate us. We travel long distances to look at things that amaze us. We take pictures of things that we want to look at over and over again. This isn’t lost on our Lord and He is reminding us here that for those who follow Him, their eyes need to be fixed on Him. They don’t need to be looking left and right for satisfaction or contentment. They don’t need to be looking up and down for joy and peace. They need to cast their eyes on Jesus, follow Him in complete obedience, and trust that all the things that we have searched for in other places will be satisfied in Him.

A good test that we can all give ourselves ever so often is to just think about what you primarily think about. When you aren’t having to focus on something for work and you aren’t doom scrolling on social media, when it’s just you and your thoughts, what do you think on? And now, honestly ask yourself, how often do I just sit and think about Jesus, who He is, and what He has done for me. I doubt any of us feel like we do that enough, and yet, if we would do that, I know for certain we would all grow in our joy, our peace, and our sanctification. The world wants your focus on a million things, but the Lord has called you to focus on Him first and most.

You know, sometimes, as Christians, I think we unfortunately fall into the category of those who, “Talk the talk” but don’t “walk the walk.” In other words, we say that we trust Jesus with everything, but our actions might say otherwise. We say that we live for Jesus and that His Word is everything to us and we want to be more like Him and all the rest. And yet, when our lives are examined, it seems like we don’t really believe that like we say we do. The truth is, if we really understood who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we wouldn’t be like this. If we really understood, we would be so absolutely captivated by Him that nothing in this world could ever grab our attention. But we’re so distractable and the we aren’t capable of fully understanding or fully believing. Our hearts are so prone to drifting and focusing on other things.

The call of the Christian is simply the call to refocus on Christ over and over again. Continually turning our hearts and minds back to Him. Continually asking the Lord to help us to focus on Him. That’s the Christian life. It isn’t a perfect focus, it is continual refocus. This morning, this text is calling us to do this very thing. It’s calling us to refocus. It’s calling us to consider what Jesus has said and how it might affect the way we our living. What comforts are you so close that it is hindering your walk with the Lord? What things have you placed above your walk with Christ that you need to move down? How might you better fix your eyes on your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Ask the Lord to reveal these things to you, and He will. And when He does, be faithful in obedience in response. That’s what it looks like to follow Jesus.