Follow
the Son of Man
Luke 9:17-50*
Key verse 44
Jesus’ disciples confessed that he was God’s Messiah.
Jesus was happy, and the disciples’ hearts were fully set toward the kingdom of
God that he was going to establish. After this, Jesus announced his suffering,
death and resurrection to them. Two problems surfaced among the disciples as formidable obstacles keeping them from
entering the Kingdom of God. These two problems are embedded in the depths of
men’s hearts and could not be taken care of easily. One was the fear of death
and the other was the desire to rule over others. Jesus did not offer an
immediate solution, but began to teach them kingdom principles. Actually, from
this point on until Jesus entered Jerusalem, he taught them various things in
order to deal with these two problems. But the ultimate solution was not in
these teachings, but in his life-giving love. He expressed this love as these
problems came to the surface.
In order to understand the setting of this story, I would
like to recap the events that preceded it:
1. Peter and all of the other disciples
were convinced that Jesus was the coming Messiah and
confessed him to be God’s Messiah. Through this confession, two things became
clear: first, there formed a strong bond of trust between Jesus and his disciples, with Jesus
as the redeemer and king and his disciples as his royal subjects; second,
the hope and vision for the restoration of the kingdom was foremost in their
minds. .
2. But
immediately after this confession, Jesus
said that he must suffer, die, and be
raised to life in three days. Because Jesus put this in such strong terms, his disciples could not challenge his will or
plan. Fearing death, the disciples were
thrown into doubt about Jesus’ kingship.
3. But
Jesus, in order to support their faith, quickly promised that some of them
would see the kingdom of God before tasting death. As he promised, Jesus took
three of his disciples, Peter, John and James to a mountain where He was transfigured with heavenly glory, along with Moses and Elijah. Also, they heard the voice of God command them to listen to Jesus, His
Son. This gave these three disciples a glimpse of heavenly reality. As they
were coming down from the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell anyone until the
right time came, so they treasured this secret in their hearts.
A.
A boy on the brink of death
As they came down to the village, they were met by a
large crowd, including Jesus’ nine other disciples. Then, a man approached Jesus and called out in a loud voice:
V38-40. “A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher,
I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams;
it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever
leaves him and is destroying him. I
begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not".
When he brought his son, the boy’s arms and legs became
spastic and rigid. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, hitting his arms
and head. He became totally unconscious. His eyes were rolling from side to
side and his mouth was full of bubbles, saliva flowing down from the corner of his mouth. This
was the picture of impending death. All who were staring at this boy were scared
for this boy’s life. Simply, the boy was
on the verge of dying. Its threat was so vivid, powerful, and fearful. If you see a man convulsing, it is literally scary; it is like an
unknown evil power is destroying the humanity of the person. Truly, death was
at the door waiting for this boy.
This man’s son was in a very dismal condition. Convulsions
happened so often, without any warning, coming at any time and in any place. If
it happened in water or fire, death was the sure outcome. Also no one knew when
it would happen. He could die while having a convulsion, which meant that the family had to live in anxiety
and fear 24 hours a day. This fear was
expressed by his father: “It scarcely leaves him and is destroying him”.
Actually, this boy’s life was at the door of death. Seeing the boy was to
experience the unending threat of death. I have full empathy for the father and
his anxiety.
So the father brought his boy to Jesus’ disciples, but
they could not heal him. It is possible that, one by one, they had attempted to
heal this boy, but what they did was not working. Not long before this, they had
gone out to preach about the kingdom of God. At that time, they had driven out demons, and healed many sick; now, for some reason, their words of healing
or exorcism did not work. Seeing their failure after multiple attempts, this
man’s anxiety grew more and became frantic
over the boy’s condition.
I am sure that the fear was not just the father’s, but also the crowds shared the same fear for this boy.
They all shared the same feeling of helplessness over the power of death. This
made a great dent in Jesus’ fame as the Messiah, because his disciples could
not heal the boy. Truly it was a pitiful, sad, and hopeless situation,
happening right before their eyes. “Is this the end of this boy’s life?” - This
question might have gone through the minds of many who were watching this boy’s
seizure.
At this time, instead of showing compassion for the man and the boy, Jesus said
something unusual:
V41. "You
unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "How long shall
I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here".
This was a sharp and biting remark about their unbelief and
their way of life. These two words characterized the minds of the people that
were involved in this event.
First they were unbelieving. Their unbelief was the cause
of this failure of his disciples to heal the boy. Jesus rebuked their unbelief,
which was their refusal to believe him, based on what he had demonstrated through
his power. He had healed the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, and raised
a girl from the dead. In these, Jesus’ power and authority as the Son of God
was fully revealed; yet, they refused to believe in him. This is the unbelief of
the unbelieving generation!
“Perverse” described
their wrong attitude toward what was right. The same word is translated ‘to twist
things’, ‘to turn’, ‘misleading’, and ‘crooked’. It is a mind that rejects what
is obviously true, in favor of what they want to be true. We may say that this was
unwillingness to accept the truth in light of their own ideas, purposes, and wills. We may say that they
chose to believe their own understanding over what God had shown them. By putting these two words together,
Jesus simplified the characteristic of these people’s minds. Their unbelief was
deeply rooted in or came from their ‘perverse’ mind that would not accept God’s
truth. Some may call it skepticism, but, at its root, it was a rejection of God
Himself who had demonstrated such power through Jesus. One thing was certain:
the root of unbelief was deep and could
not be erased by seeing such miracles. This is particularly true regarding the
power of death.
Who did not believe? Who was unbelieving and perverse?
Jesus called all those that were present there, watching the boy seizing, ‘you’.
Here ‘you’ is all-inclusive of the crowd,
the boy’s father, and the nine disciples. They were all under the influence of an ‘unbelieving and
perverse’ way of thinking. No one was exempt from this influence. So Jesus
equaled ‘you’ as that whole generation.
Why did the nine disciples become a part of this
unbelieving generation? They had confessed and believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They had healed
so many. But they had serious doubts about Jesus as soon as they heard that he
was going to suffer and die. In their minds, the Messiah must not suffer or
die. They thought of death as the end of
everything as far as Jesus’ work was concerned; so, if he suffered and died, then they would have to
rethink Jesus and his work. Though he had
demonstrated so much power, Jesus might not be the Messiah at all. Leaving this
question unresolved, Jesus and three of his disciples went up on the mountain; the
rest were at the foot of the mountain, waiting for his return. They thought
over what Jesus had said, but there was no answer as to why he must suffer and die. Their doubts deepened as they thought this
over. This is when they met this boy and saw him convulsing. It was a powerful
demonstration of the power of death by evil forces. Based on their past
experiences, they attempted to drive the
demon out of this boy, but their power did not work. Their minds were hung up on
the power of death. They could not overcome the power of evil that pushed this
boy to the very edge.
Despite their previous experiences with Jesus’ power,
even with such firm convictions and confessions, they were still under the
power of death.
What about the father or the crowd? When Jesus sent out
his 12 disciples, they went from village to village healing the sick and
driving out demons, so it might not be an exaggeration to say that no one in
the crowd had failed to see or hear of Jesus’ healing and power. The entire
town, all the surrounding villages, or
even the entire nation had heard and knew of Jesus’ power as the Son of God, but,
in facing the life-threatening seizure of this boy, they all dropped the ball!
They all failed to express that faith. Likewise, that entire generation was
under the power of death and was unable to overcome it, even with so many
demonstrations by Jesus of his power over death. The depth of unbelief and
perversion was so deep and it looked almost impossible to overcome. This posed
a formidable dilemma for Jesus. He expressed his quandary in this way:
"How long shall I stay with you and put up with you?”
(41b)
Even after doing so many miracles with love, they still failed
to believe, how could Jesus help these people more? What else was left for him
to do?
This was a very serious problem for Jesus because He came
to save them. The root of their unbelief was so deep and wide. This unbelief was particularly true concerning
the power of death. It seemed that they would not accept the power over death that Jesus offered, no matter how much
power he had demonstrated. Simply, all his
miracles could not undo such unbelief. This was all the more evident in the
nine disciples. So here comes a question: if
Jesus had to do something more than what he had done, what would that be? What
else could Jesus do for this unbelief? This was the question raised by his
lament.
Knowing all these things, Jesus told the father to bring
the boy. As the boy was coming, the boy fell into a seizure.
“Even while the
boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion”.(42)
Here was the full display of the threat of death again. It
was a scary moment for the boy and for all who watched him. But what did Jesus
do to him?
“But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and
gave him back to his father”.
Immediately upon Jesus’ rebuke, the demon left the boy
and the boy returned to life. All the threats of death disappeared. This was another
amazing display of Jesus’ power over death.
“They were all amazed at the greatness of God”.
They acknowledged this as the powerful work of God. But
could this change their unbelief to belief in Jesus? Could the root of unbelief
be uprooted by seeing such a powerful miracle?
But Jesus said something that was hard to understand; however,
trying to understand what he said will give us insight into what he was going to do for this
dead-lock situation in his ministry.
“While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he
said to his disciples, "Listen
carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be
delivered into the hands of men"”.
While the praise and amazement were still on their lips,
Jesus said something very important to the disciples.
First, he said ‘listen carefully’. ESV says, “let this
word sink into your ears”, so they must let this word sink in. In other words,
their praise of God’s power may not be as meaningful after what Jesus said.
He said, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into
the hands of men." In order to unlock this intriguing remark, I will
explore the meaning of the passage, phrase by phrase.
1. Jesus
called himself ‘the Son of Man’ He first called himself this when he announced his suffering, death and
resurrection (Luke 9:21). Also, all throughout the rest of the book, whenever
Jesus mentioned his suffering and death,
he called himself ‘the Son of Man’. He was denying that any idea that he was
not a son of man. Jesus looked like any of them, an ordinary man born of woman.
In all aspects, Jesus was a son of man, but this was not all he was. He was specifically the Son of Man that Daniel saw in his
vision. Who is that Son of Man? What will he do?
Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was
one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the
Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and
peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and
his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed”.
One like a son of man approached God,
“the Ancient of Days” and was given
authority, glory, and sovereign power. All
nations will worship him. His kingdom will be everlasting. Jesus is that Son of
Man. In this way, Jesus alluded to them
that he would be given authority, glory
and sovereign power by God the Father. He is the Messiah!
2. Jesus was going to be delivered
into the hands of men. Here the original language carries a strong purpose for Jesus/God doing this. If we paraphrased this, it would
be like this: “God is delivering the Son of Man into the hands of these men” or
“God is now willing to deliver His Son, into the hands of men.” Jesus was
saying that he would give himself to these men willingly. God/Jesus
had already determined to do this. Actually, He was already doing it and the fulfillment was coming very soon. Jesus
was going to be delivered into hands of
men. He would willingly hand himself over to the vices of these people, as
expressed in their unbelief.
If we put all these together, Jesus was saying these
things: Though they were amazed at the greatness of God, they only saw in him as
a son of man and failed to believe He
was the Son of God. Their hearts would not change and eventually they would reject him. Yet in his will, according to
God’s purpose, he was going to hand himself over into their hands. This he was going to do, even
though he was the Son of Man, who would receive all authority and power from
God the Father and establish the kingdom
that would last forever.
Why? Jesus thought that this was the ultimate way to
bring about faith in the Son of God. This was his final attempt to break the fear of death sitting in the
depths of men’s heart. This was His resolution in answer to the question that
he raised in V41b.
This was such an amazing statement and offer, but did they understand what Jesus was
about to do? And was this the only way to impart faith to them?
V45. “But they did not
understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp
it, and they were afraid to ask him about it”.
They did not. There was a fear sitting deeply in the
depths of their hearts. The cause of their fear was Jesus’ suffering and death.
Death was beyond their ability to understand.
In this regard, these disciples were the same as the
crowd that feared the boy’s death. Though they had seen Jesus’ power over
death, they would not give Jesus the credit worthy of the Son of God, the only
one who could raise the dead to life. God has life and is willing to give life, which He would do through His Son Jesus. But none of these people
were willing to accept him and believe he
was the one that came to give life. Jesus knew this and was willing to give his
life for this unbelieving and perverse generation. In this way, Jesus could
impart life to those who were under the power of death. So he had to suffer, die, and be raised in three days. Yet this
understanding is a long time in coming.
The following two events reveal the people’s confusion regarding
Jesus’ glory, suffering, and death, but
there was also a glimpse of hope among the disciples.
B. I
have power and I am the greatest (46-50).
I am
the greatest.
V46. Soon after this event, there came an argument among
the disciples about who was the greatest among them. Who brought up this
subject? Was it Peter, John, James, Matthew, Thomas, or Andrew? Why did they want to know
who was the greatest? Most likely, this issue was brought up by one of the
three who went up on the Mountain and saw the glorious Jesus. Matthew recorded
that it was the two brothers, John and James (20:20). Though Jesus had spoken
again to them about his suffering and death, this did not deter their hope in
the coming Kingdom of God. They believed that Jesus would surely restore the
kingdom, despite Jesus’ repeated predictions of his suffering
and death. Because they were so sure of Jesus’ kingdom, they wanted to know
what position each might take in it. Each wanted to have the best position of
power under the King Jesus.
This is important in two ways:
The certainty of Jesus’ glory was the essential element
of faith for them to get through any of life’s hardships. This faith works as an
energizer and a source of strength. If they had not seen the coming glory, they
would not be able to go through the hardships of life, such as his suffering on
the cross.
Second, their competitive spirit is evidence of their
desire for power and control over others. This was deeply disconcerting for
Jesus, because they had no idea what it
meant to be great in God’s eyes. This was totally opposite to the kingdom
principle.
Knowing this, Jesus told them how they could be great in
God’s kingdom. he brought a little child before them and said this:
“Then he said to
them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and
whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me”.
Here was a little boy, maybe about 7 years old. He wore
rugged clothes and unkempt hair, with dirty hands. The only thing he knew how
to do was to take something from others.
He had no beauty, no charm, and no affable character at all. What could one
gain from this little boy? Nothing! But if they welcomed this boy in Jesus’
name, they also welcomed him, and they also welcomed God. Here the meaning of ‘to
receive’ is the unbridled acceptance of
someone in love. True greatness is not found in power but in serving others like this boy. Jesus summarized
his word in this way:
“For it is the one
who is least among you all who is the greatest”.
According to the world’s principle, the least one does
everything for the great ones; he is to serve all the rest. In God’s kingdom,
the least is the greatest. This is the genuine
love that God counts; it is the essence of His character. Those who have life-giving
love are the greatest.
Through the next two events, the weaknesses of the
disciples were revealed.
I have
authority and power over others.
"Master,"
said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to
stop him, because he is not one of us."”
John seemed to be the most insightful man among the
disciples. Just before this, he was taught that, in order to be considered great,
he had to serve others. So he seemed resolved not to argue for the best
position of power within the rank of Jesus’ disciples.
But John knew the particular love Jesus had for him. He
was one of the three who went up on the mountain and saw heavenly glory where
Jesus, Moses and Elijah were; he even heard the voice of God. John was certain
of Jesus’ power and glory, despite Jesus’
repeated announcement of his suffering and death.
In his mind, John was the most loyal follower of Jesus; he
was in Jesus’ elite club or the king’s inner circle. No one, except this inner
circle, should exercise the power of Jesus, their king. So John was one of
Jesus’ secret confidants. He shared with Jesus the common goal of the kingdom
of God.
I have had moments of such pride and ambition. I still am
vulnerable to these temptations. I often demean those who have little
understanding of the words of God, or of His will. I still have a strong desire to keep the heavenly blessing all for myself. But was this the purpose Jesus had in revealing such truth to me?
Still his mind was high in this hope. He knew far more
than the other nine disciples and he knew far more than anyone out there who had
followed Jesus. How could he not be proud of this privilege?
So when he saw someone healing a man in Jesus’ name, John
rebuked him and reported this to Jesus. He was very proud of what he did
because he believed that he was fully with Jesus in all that he said. He was
the defender and follower of Jesus’ cause. In this way, John expressed his
undivided commitment to Jesus, no matter what hardship lay ahead of him.
Truly John had an intimate relationship with Jesus. He
was one of Jesus’ most trusted disciples. But did Jesus give him such trust and
revelation for him to exercise his
authority and power in such a way? Did he read the mind of his king Jesus correctly?
Was this the mind of Jesus? Let’s find out what Jesus’ thought was on this:
"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for
whoever is not against you is for you."
Let’s go back and understand what happened. Someone drove
out demons in the name of Jesus. This person apparently believed in Jesus’
authority and power. He was not one of the 12, for sure. Most likely, he was
not one of the seventy-two disciples that Jesus sent out on a mission either (Luke 10). But whoever he was,
he was a man of faith. Think about what happened just a while ago. The nine disciples
failed to heal the boy with convulsions because of their lack of faith. Here
the difference is faith! Whoever he was and however he expressed his faith, he clearly
had faith in Jesus.
Whoever he or she might be, if one has faith in Jesus, he
is one of us!
When one rejects Jesus, he rejects Jesus’ life and truth,
rejecting the God who sent him to save. As long as one does not reject him, he
or she has hope to know him more fully. He invites all of them to learn from Him
and to have life.
John was to serve everyone with his knowledge and faith.
He was to serve and give. The power and
knowledge that Jesus gave was not to exercise authority or to rule, but to
serve so that others may have life and enter the kingdom of God.
Here Jesus taught two things: one has to welcome little
ones in Jesus’ name. This is the way to welcome Jesus and to welcome God. Also,
as long as someone is not against Jesus, then we are to consider them as one of
us and welcome and love them.
This is a radical shift in our understanding of life. So far, we have lived to honor ourselves;
we want to be great by doing more than others and by going ahead of others.
When we have many under us, we feel great and enjoy our authority and power over others. How
can this be changed? Can we human beings change from life-taking-life to
life-giving-life?
How could this truth be taught or implanted in the disciples’
hearts?
Let’s look back on what Jesus did: he showed them love by healing many, one by one.
Jesus loved them unconditionally. No one paid for his healing but he went ahead
and served them. Such a life of serving the weak was the epitome of God’s love,
but when this was not enough to bring about faith, Jesus would do even more for
their sake.
Jesus was going to give himself for unbelieving sinners, like this crowd. This was
to impart faith and God’s blessing. This word was built upon the idea of
serving and giving his life as a ransom for sinners.
In this way, we identified two weaknesses that must be
rectified. How is this possible? They must follow Jesus as he headed to Jerusalem to suffer and die. This is what he meant when he said in
Luke 9:23, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take
up their cross daily and follow me”.
How is this possible for those who are under the power of
death? Through the faith that firmly believes in Jesus’ glory in His kingdom as
shown through the life of John.
In the kingdom of God, there is no fear of death for all
have overcome its power. Also there is no one who rules over others, for life-giving
love is the essence of their being, as it is of God our Father is.
Follow Jesus and enter the kingdom of God for he has given
his life into the hands of men! Then we will surely share in his glory and
honor!
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