Follow Jesus on His Terms
#86 in Series: “The Life of Christ – in a Harmony of The Gospels”
Luke 9:51-62, Matthew 8:19-22
We are studying the life and ministry of Jesus as revealed in the four gospels
of the NT... Today, we come to our 86th message in this study, and it is my
prayer that we not merely gain information – but actually experience
transformation as we study God’s Word...
Last time, we considered John 7:1-10, and saw that Jesus’ own brothers were
not believing in Jesus, and we saw where they were “encouraging” Jesus to go
on to Jerusalem and to be “open” with His ministry... But Jesus told them
that it was not yet His time to go to Jerusalem... John says that after Jesus’
brothers left, to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booth themselves, that Jesus –
John 7:10
But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.
In our attempt to harmonize the Gospels, I’ve been following the
chronological chart developed by Professors J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel
Haysi... They, along with others, believe that Jesus actually encountered
some other people while in this ... route toward Jerusalem, and we’ll read
about that today...
In fact, what we read constitutes the last part of what has been referred to as
The Galilean Ministry of Jesus... After this, we will see Jesus returning to
Judea for the final chapters of His earthly ministry before His death, burial,
and resurrection...
Let’s turn to Luke 9, and begin at verse :51 –
Luke 9:51-62
51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to
go to Jerusalem; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they
went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for
Him. 53But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward
Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said,
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“Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and
consume them?” 55But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do
not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not
come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another
village.
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow
You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes
and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His
head.” 59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord,
permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60But He said to him, “Allow
the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere
the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord;
but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62But Jesus said to
him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for
the kingdom of God.”
As we seek to think through our passage, we can divide the text in at least two
distinct sections... We begin with –
1. Jesus’ Chosen Itinerary
I really don’t think this to be such a minor point... You see, there was more
than one way to travel from Galilee to Jerusalem... The most commonly
traveled route for the Jews was to go around Samaria, the long way, in order
to avoid Samaria... As we noted way back in John 4, Jesus “had to go
through Samaria” for the ... Divine appointment He had with the woman at
the well. Similarly, we see Jesus choosing to go through Samaritan country as
He makes His was toward Jerusalem...
➢ Jesus’ determination
Luke give a rather broad statement with the words –
Luke 9:51-53
51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined
[lit. “set His face”] to go to Jerusalem; [Let’s stop here for a moment...
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Luke refers to “the ascension” which will mark the final event of Jesus’
ministry on this, His first advent to earth. The ascension will of course take
place 40 days after His resurrection, which occurs after His crucifixion, and
that won’t happen for several more months... Luke’s readers understood he
is marking a major change in Jesus’ ministry... MacArthur states –
John MacArthur – “Up to this point, Luke has focused on Jesus’ coming,
detailing the angelic announcement of His birth to Mary the account of His
birth, the incident in the temple when He was twelve, His baptism by John,
His temptation by Satan, and the first two and a half years of His ministry
as Messiah, reaching its pinnacle at the transfiguration. But at this point, the
whole tenor of Luke’s gospel changes. The focus is no longer on
Jesus’ coming, but on His going. The Galilean ministry is over, and He is on
His way for the final time to His passion in Jerusalem. Although the Lord
would, in the few intervening months of His Judean ministry, make brief
return visits to Galilee (e.g., Lk 17:11-37), Galilee was no longer His base of
operations.”
ii
Luke continues –
Luke 9:51-53
51When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;
52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and
entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. 53But
they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.
Here, we see the –
➢ Samaritans’ rejection
Here we see the Samaritans practicing ... reverse discrimination... We know
that the Jews held Samaritans in contempt. Here we see the Samarians doing
the same to Jesus – not because of anything wrong with Jesus other than He is
“traveling toward Jerusalem”... They didn’t like Jews traveling through their
land, and ... Jews usually didn’t want to travel through their land... But this
is Jesus! And He operates on heaven’s agenda!...
Next we see the –
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➢ Disciples’ negotiation
James and John in particular didn’t like the treatment Jesus was receiving
from the Samaritans, and there may have been some remnant prejudice
looming in their hearts for the Samaritans which helped ... fuel their desire for
what they requested of Jesus –
Luke 9:54
54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You
want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
I find this a little humorous... James and John, or any disciple, would not
have the power to call fire down from heaven, unless the Lord ... gave them
such power.
This illustrates a principle we should all be very careful to not pursue!... We
live life according to God’s agenda! We don’t draw up blueprints to then ask
the Lord to put His seal of approval on them – we are to live life following
Him and His will for our lives!
What the disciples were asking was certainly not in God’s will! We clearly
see this in –
➢ Jesus’ correction
Luke 9:55-56
55But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind
of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s
lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.
We need to acknowledge a matter before we unpack these verses... You see
the brackets [ ] in the middle of verses :55 and :56... Brackets are given to
point to the fact that several of the earliest of manuscripts do not include these
words... The translators include the words, but want to alert the Bible student
to this issue...
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The words certainly don’t contradict what Jesus has said elsewhere. They are
perhaps inserted here by later scribes who copied the Scriptures to simply give
the content of Jesus’ rebuke...
I see a two-fold purpose in Jesus’ correction of the disciples –
- To remind the disciples of the attitude they should have – grace
- To remind the disciples of the purpose of His coming – to save
The phrase “the Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite title for Himself... He is the
very fulfillment of all the OT prophesies pertaining to “the Son of Man”...
As we will see again, Jesus says –
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Jesus’ primary purpose in His first advent is to provide salvation for those
who will believe in Him. He hasn’t come, this time, to judge... In fact, that is
what He said to Nicodemus much earlier in His ministry –
John 3:16-19
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For
God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the
world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not
judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the
judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the
darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
The irony is, these Samaritans were sealing their judgement in their rejection
of Jesus...
Jesus is teaching His disciples the principle that the Apostle Paul will later
write about -
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Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
J.C. Ryle – “Uncourteous as the Samaritan villagers had been, their conduct
was not to be resented by violence. The mission of the Son of man was to
do good, when men would receive Him, but never to do harm. His
kingdom was to be extended by patient continuance in well doing, and by
meekness and gentleness in suffering, but never by violence and severity.”
iii
Luke says –
Luke 9:56b
... And they went on to another village.
Next, we see –
2. Jesus’ Personal Encounters
While traveling on to the next village – between them and Jerusalem – Jesus
and encounters at least three different individual with whom He engages in
conversation about ... following Him...
Luke tells us about three of these, but Matthew will only mention two...
Let’s follow Luke’s report, and see first of all –
➢ The deterrent of potential hardships
We see this in the example of the first encounter –
Luke 9:57-58
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow
You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes
and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His
head.”
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Matthew tells us that this guy is actually one of the scribes (Matt. 8:19)...
Jesus’ answer was to imply that if you follow Him, you too will face many
challenges that many others may not... Even though Jesus Owns the
universe, He never had His name on a deed... He “owned no home” – He had
no typical means of security – and the reality is, many of Jesus’ followers
through the centuries haven’t either...
What hardships are you willing to endure for the sake of being a faithful
follower of Jesus?...
It seems, that since nothing more is said about this scribe, that he probably
didn’t follow-through in following after Jesus...
Then we see –
➢ The deterrent of competing loyalties
We see this in two examples... with the first, Jesus extends the invitation to
follow Him – the second ... volunteers, but the results seems to be the same –
Luke 9:59-62
59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first
to go and bury my father.” 60But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury
their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of
God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me
to say good-bye to those at home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after
putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God.”
I hope that when you read this, you get the clear impression that
being a follower of Jesus is ... serious...
Jesus is not saying one shouldn’t care for family – He is saying that
no loyalty, even that of family, is to rival one’s loyalty to Christ!...
The reality among many of the Jews in that day, was that they could
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come up with most any excuse to get out of doing what God would
require – and “family” was often cited as ... an excuse.
The reality is, following Jesus brings life, eternal life, and with it, a
whole new set of loyalties... A Christian’s priorities are whatever is
God’s will for their lives... That’s why, when Jesus uses such strong
language as “let the dead bury the dead”, or “No one, after putting his
hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” – He is
calling people to ... count the cost!...
R.C. Sproul – “We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some
to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is
to give all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and
for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all
about.” iv
Are you willing to surrender everything to follow Christ?....
Mark and Luke (18:28-30) both record a conversation that Jesus had with Peter.
Mark gives the greater detail, so let me share that with you –
Mark 10:28-30
28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed
You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left
house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My
sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times
as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers
and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come,
eternal life.
Brothers and Sisters... is this not true?! When you belong to Jesus, you come
to realize that your family is not ... limited to the one you grew up in, but you
are a part of one much larger, and in many cases, much closer!...
Where do you find these “brothers and sisters and mothers and children” etc.
that Jesus is talking about?... It starts with ... the church!
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As a matter of fact, if you are a faithful follower of Jesus – you will find
yourself wanting to get contented with other believers! That is how God has
designed it, and prescribes it!...
Just read the book of Acts, and read how when one becomes a follower of
Jesus, they end up sharing life with other followers!...
As Kent Hughes says – “There are no churchless disciples.”
v
Jesus calls for – and deserves – loyal faithful followers, not lazy floundering
fickle would-be followers...
Are you a faithful follower of Jesus?
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Questions to Consider in Community Group:
➢ What do we learn about the “seriousness” of following Jesus from this passage?
➢ What is the attitude of Jesus’ disciples when they encounter the Samarians? Why
would they have this attitude?
➢ What is similar, and what is different in Jesus’ response to the “would-be” disciples?
➢ What does it mean “let the dead bury the dead”?
➢ To what degree have you experienced the promise of Jesus that He spoke to Peter in
Mark 10:28-30?
➢ What are your thoughts about any of the quotes shared in the message?
John MacArthur – “Up to this point, Luke has focused on Jesus’ coming, detailing the angelic
announcement of His birth to Mary the account of His birth, the incident in the temple when He was
twelve, His baptism by John, His temptation by Satan, and the first two and a half years of His ministry
as Messiah, reaching its pinnacle at the transfiguration. But at this point, the whole tenor of Luke’s
gospel changes. The focus is no longer on Jesus’ coming, but on His going. The Galilean ministry is
over, and He is on His way for the final time to His passion in Jerusalem. Although the Lord would, in
the few intervening months of His Judean ministry, make brief return visits to Galilee (e.g., Lk 17:11-
37), Galilee was no longer His base of operations.”
J.C. Ryle – “Uncourteous as the Samaritan villagers had been, their conduct was not to be resented by
violence. The mission of the Son of man was to do good, when men would receive Him, but never to
do harm. His kingdom was to be extended by patient continuance in well doing, and by meekness and
gentleness in suffering, but never by violence and severity.”
R.C. Sproul – “We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or
schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to give all of our lives in the presence of God,
under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all
about.”
Kent Hughes – “There are no churchless disciples.”
i https://www.vtaide.com/gleanings/LOC/LOC.htm
ii MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Luke 6-10.
iii https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-9-commentary#9:51
iv As quoted by bibleapologetics.org
v Doing His Word, Kent Hughes, Luke, Vol. 1 1998, p. 248
