Sermon outline for October 5:
Toward Jerusalem and the Cross, Luke 9:1-62
INTRODUCTION
Luke 9 marks the great turning point in Luke’s account of Jesus’ ministry. Luke 9:1-9 forms the climax of the Galilean ministry, and later in this chapter, Jesus begins His journey toward Jerusalem, where, as He predicts to His disciples, He will suffer and die. First Jesus works in Galilee, and then sends out the Twelve. The same pattern is repeated in Jerusalem: First Jesus goes to Jerusalem to witness, suffer, die, and rise again; and then the disciples are witnesses in Jerusalem, suffer, and die (Stephen), before spreading to the ends of the earth. In both Galilee and Jerusalem, Jesus works first, and then commissions and empowers His apostles to carry on His work.
THE TEXT
“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick . . . .” (Luke 9:1-62).
MISSION OF THE TWELVE
In Luke 4-5, Jesus performs a series of miracles (casting out a demon, healing Peter’s mother-in-law, and causing a great catch of fish) and then calls Peter, James and John as disciples. In chapters 8-9, Jesus performs a series of miracles (calming the sea, casting out demons, and healing a girl and a woman) and then commissions the Twelve on a mission. In both accounts, Luke demonstrates Jesus’ authority, and then he shows Jesus conferring His authority on the Twelve, which is to say, on the church. The miracles recorded in chapter 8 have had their effect. The same disciples who trembled and wondered “Who is this man?” during the storm at sea now confess with assurance that Jesus is the Christ (9:18-21).
Jesus gives the Twelve authority and power to do what He has done: They proclaim the kingdom of God and perform healings. Jesus instructs them to treat unbelieving cities as He treated the city of the Gadarenes (9:5; cf. 8:38-40). Like Jesus, they are to rely on the generosity of those who receive them (v. 3). A final bit of training comes in the story of the feasting of the five thousand (vv. 10-17). Preaching and healing are important parts of their ministry, but ultimately the Twelve are called, like Jesus, to serve at table. The capstone of their ministry will be to perpetuate and extend Jesus’ table fellowship. Though the mission of the Twelve sets the pattern for the mission of the church as a whole, it has a particular application to ministers in the church, who are called to represent Jesus, proclaim His word, and feed His people.
Throughout these instructions, Jesus is emphasizing the necessity of faith, confidence that God will provide what is necessary for their ministry. Jesus tells them not to take money with them. They are sent without sufficient resources to support their work, and they are commanded to feed people with insufficient food. They must learn to say, with Paul, that the sufficiency is not of themselves but of God (2 Corinthians 3:5). Jesus assures them that God will provide for them through the people who receive them (v. 4). Just as in the later church, the Twelve are “worthy of their hire,” and are supported materially by those who receive spiritual benefit from them.
THE CROSS
The Galilean ministry sets the pattern for the Jerusalem ministry in another way: Jesus’ work meets with vicious opposition in both places. When the disciples clearly confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus discloses to them the character of His ministry. Precisely because He is Christ, He must fulfill all that is written about the Christ, that He should suffer, die, and rise again on the third day (v. 22; cf. Luke 24:26-27, 46-47). Defining what the Christ must do also defines what disciples must do, for the disciple is not above his Master. If Jesus is going to Jerusalem to suffer and die, the disciples too must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus.
This is the first reference to the cross in Luke’s gospel, and, strikingly, Jesus is talking about the disciples bearing the cross, not Himself. The cross was a specifically Roman form of execution (Jews stoned criminals), usually reserved for low-class rebels who committed crimes against the Roman state. Jesus’ reference to the cross hints that He is going to be executed as a political criminal, a challenger to the Emperor. This is, of course, precisely what He was (cf. Luke 2:1-14).
BELOVED SON
Jesus ends His review of the Christ’s work by referring to the “coming” of the Son of Man in glory. This theme comes to a climax in Jesus’ preaching against Jerusalem in Luke 21. Here, he assures the Twelve that at least some of them will live to see that event (v. 27). Immediately after, Jesus goes onto the mountain and is transfigured before Peter, James, and John. Though the Transfiguration does not fulfill the prediction of verse 27, the Transfiguration is a sign of that fulfillment (cf. 2 Peter 1:12-21). Jesus is transfigured as a preview of the glory of His coming with all His holy angels. The revelation of Jesus’ glory is the goal of the “exodus” that Jesus will accomplish at Jerusalem (v. 31).
Peter wants to remain on the mountain (Sinai, Zion, Eden) forever. His reasoning makes biblical sense: Wherever the Lord appears in glory, Israel has always built “booths” or temples (v. 34). But the timing is wrong. Peter, James, and John must go down from the mountain of vision to watch Jesus confront demons and enact the year of release (vv. 37-43). Their view of Jesus’ glory is not for their own sake, but to prepare them for mission. Besides, the glory of the Son is merely hinted at here. It is not time to settle down and build a temple. Before He is glorified, Jesus must first go to Jerusalem, and to the cross (vv. 44-45).
FACE TOWARD JERUSALEM
After the transfiguration, Jesus turns His face toward Jerusalem (v. 51), a journey that will occupy much of the remainder of Luke’s gospel. He has already warned His apostles that He is going to Jerusalem to suffer and die, but they do not understand. They argue about which is the greatest apostle (v. 46), and Jesus rebukes them by pointing to a child. Then they want to call down fire from heaven (v. 54), and Jesus rebukes them for having the wrong spirit. Judgment is coming, to be sure; but first a judgment will fall on the Son of Man Himself. Then some say they want to follow Jesus but hedge their commitment with various excuses (vv. 57-62).
The issues that come up in the last part of chapter 9 illustrate the obstacles that the apostles will have to overcome to be faithful in their mission: competitive pride, harshness and lack of compassion, and reluctance to make a complete commitment and fear of risk (vv. 57-62).