He's Patient • Luke 9:37-56

1:10:22 Teaching begins

Notes

It’s not what you provide that saves you. It’s what Jesus provides: the new birth and perseverance.

Today the disciples show that Jesus needs not one thing that they bring to the table. They are almost always opposing Him. They really need to become like Him.

It would be depressing, except we also see that time and time again Jesus doesn’t fire the disciples. He perseveres with them. They need His perseverance.

That’s the gospel. Everyone, including you, need to be born again of the Spirit of Jesus. You need His perseverance.

Let’s read Luke chapter nine beginning with verse 37.

1. The disciples don’t heal, but Jesus does, vv. 37-42.

A. Jesus and Peter, James, and John went away to the mountain to pray and they devoted time to prayer. Notice they came back the next day.

B. They come down to meet the great, moving, needy crowd, and one guy manages to yell out at Jesus and be heard. I took my son to Your disciples and they couldn’t heal him. Please help him!

C. Jesus says, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

1. Who is He saying that to? The man? He said, “I believe, help my unbelief!” Is Jesus saying that to the crowds? Is He saying that to His disciples? Well, at one point they were healing on their preaching tour. It’s impossible to heal anyway, they had to be depending on Jesus. But now, they try to heal, and they can’t. In Matthew 17 Jesus said because of your unbelief.

2. Jesus sounds irritated, doesn’t He? He is not pleased with unbelief because it’s unnecessary. He’s right there, He’s available, He supplies with power, and the disciples depend on themselves instead and nothing happens. Apart from Me you can do nothing, says Jesus. They’re doing nothing, they are not depending on Jesus.

3. What are they depending on? Their prior experience? I’ve done this before, I should be able to do this. Hmmm. Nothing. That’s funny, I’ve never had this problem before. Experience doesn’t empower. Only depending on Jesus empowers. But they’re somehow not depending on Jesus.

4. It shows itself in not praying. Prayer is helplessness. They haven’t been praying. They evidently didn’t feel helpless, until now, when they can’t do what they used to do.

D. Notice, Jesus heals the boy, gives him back to his father, and doesn’t fire the apostles. Not one word of that. He’s faithful to tell them, “You’re not trusting, you’re not praying,” but He sticks with them. That is wonderful.

2. Jesus keeps preparing the disciples and they are worried about saving face, vv. 43-45.

A. People are marveling at Jesus healing the boy. They say, “Oh, You are amazing! The majesty of God! Please heal me!” If you were Jesus or His disciples you could think, “Wow, this is great. He can do anything. What can stop us?”

B. Jesus doesn’t depend on the crowd’s support.

1. He takes this moment of victory and triumph to say, “I am going to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

2. Don’t let this get to your heads. Don’t be fooled by the adoration of the crowds. Men are fickle, nothing to put your trust in. This same crowd that is praising Me today will reject Me tomorrow. And I am going to overcome it all and rise from the dead.

C. But they don’t get any comfort from this warning because they don’t understand it. It’s hidden from them, they don’t perceive it. Three different words to express the same thing.

D. They don’t ask Jesus because they’re afraid.

1. They have asked Jesus before for understanding and He’s given it, “What are You doing, teaching in parables?”

2. They could ask now, “What difference does that make? Why did You tell us that?”

3. But they don’t because they’re afraid to ask Him. He’s just yelled at them, and they’re afraid He might yell at them again and they would be embarrassed. Rather than humbly grow in understanding, they are proud and therefore don’t learn, and stay ignorant.

E. I would think Jesus knows this, because He knows everything about His disciples. There’s no mention of Jesus yelling at them here. He perseveres with them.

3. The disciples argue for who is the greatest, and Jesus teaches them who is the greatest, vv. 46-48.

A. They’re arguing, but not in front of Jesus, because next to Him, no one is great. He is the greatest. They’re arguing about who’s the greatest of all after Him.

B. In their pride they are ignoring and negating Jesus. They’re thinking of themselves and each other but not Jesus. When they come into His presence they shut up. Oh yeah, Jesus. They realise it’s dumb to not think of Jesus. That’s a principle to be aware of. When you think of anything else to satisfy you, you are not thinking of Jesus.

C. Notice that Jesus knows their thoughts! He could yell at them. But instead He patiently teaches them to think about others rather than themselves.

1. See this insignificant child? If you receive him as Me, you receive Him who sent Me. Treat him as if he were Me. That little child is more important than you. He is better than you because God is better than you. I’m better than you. Treat everyone like they are Me, with honour and respect. Serve them above yourself.

2. He who is least among you will be great. You are not adding to yourself to make yourself great to others. You benefit others, making their lives better, not worrying about yourselves, that is what God calls being great.

D. Jesus is teaching them about Himself, why He is great. Not power or healing, but humility, not focusing on Himself, focusing on others.

E. Notice that Jesus doesn’t throw them away. He’s patient and teaches them.

4. The disciples want to dominate and control others, vv. 49-50.

A. This is pretty amazing if you read it in context with the disciples not being able to heal the man’s son. This guy is casting out demons in the name of Jesus!

B. Who is this guy? He believes in Jesus, he is a disciple, and the apostles don’t know the guy. He’s depending on Jesus, because the demons are being cast out. But he’s not following Jesus directly. He’s out preaching the kingdom and healing the sick.

C. John and the apostles have a problem with this. This guy doesn’t follow us! We’re Your closest team. Why doesn’t this guy acknowledge our position? John and the other apostles are the leaders, not this guy! Who does he think he is?

D. Jesus’ attitude is the Father is in control.

1. He isn’t worried that this guy isn’t directly reporting to Him. Isn’t that interesting? Evidently the Father is doing something with this guy, He is in control of managing His work of salvation, and Jesus is content to leave it that way.

2. Jesus is saying, “You are not the leaders, you are My followers. If he is following Me, you’re all on the same side.”

E. Jesus is bigger than any group or any person leading a group. He is in control, not us. We all follow Him.

F. This desire to control and exert dominion over others is not from God. You don’t see that in Jesus. But you do see it in the apostles. Interesting that Jesus continues to teach and train them.

5. The disciples want to retaliate and destroy, vv. 51-56.

A. Jesus is taking care not to offend the village of the Samaritans on the way to Jerusalem. Notice this is the trip when Jesus is going to be crucified.

1. There was a time earlier when Jesus went in the opposite direction, to Galilee through Samaria from Jerusalem. The Samaritans didn’t have a problem with it. That’s because coming from Jerusalem makes no statement about where one is to worship.

2. But the Samaritans are offended at a Jew going to Jerusalem through Samaria. To them that’s saying Jerusalem is the place to worship God, not Mount Gerizim. They take offense at Jews who reject Mount Gerizim, where Samaria says this is where you worship God.

3. So Jesus is careful not to give offense. Is it okay if I stay the night here? They say, “No, we reject You.”

B. James and John take offense at that because of pride. Oh yeah? You evidently don’t know who we are. We’ll show you!

C. Retaliate means to pay back in kind. As they have done to me, so I will do to them.

D. James and John think this rejection is worthy of fire coming down from heaven to burn every man, woman, and child, and leave a smoking crater where the village used to stand. That’s about right, don’t You think, Lord?

E. Jesus says, “You’re wrong.” That’s what rebuke means. Formal criticism of a fault. Jesus rejects their retaliation of being rejected.

F. There’s a possibility that Jesus’ words in verse 56 are not original in the text. You can bet that Jesus said something like that as He told them they were wrong. John 12:47 If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

G. Jesus goes on to another village. Notice He doesn’t get rid of the disciples.

6. So what?

A. These disciples are nothing like Jesus. They’re almost complete opposites.

1. They are proud, inconsistent, independent, prayerless, afraid to look dumb, ignorant, want to be the greatest, don’t want to be the least. They want to be the leaders and control everything, and if you insult them they want to destroy you.

2. That pretty much describes everyone.

3. They and we don’t bring much to Jesus except our sins.

B. Here is the gospel. Jesus brings us a new creation. We are dying with Jesus and rising from the dead with Him. He shares with us His life and His mind. We really are new creations, we really do think differently. He’s making us like Himself.

C. He also is patient and persevering with us.

1. He is faithful to tell His disciples when they’re wrong. If you never find out you’re wrong you can’t be made right. Following Jesus is finding out over and over, you’re wrong, super wrong. You can’t defend how wrong you are, it’s that bad. Get used to it.

2. Jesus’ hand picked disciples are still going to need Jesus’ patience after His resurrection. Perfection isn’t automatic. We learn and grow under Jesus’ discipline.

3. 1 Timothy 1:15-16 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

4. Paul needed Jesus’ patience, and he got it.

5. Jesus saves to the uttermost, and if He doesn’t save you to the uttermost, you would be the first person in 2000 years to make Jesus say, “That’s the last straw! I cannot change this person! I quit!” But you are not the most difficult person He has ever saved. He’s even stronger than you, and He’s better than you.

D. So, if you haven’t, ask Jesus to come into your life and make you born again of His Spirit. Ask Him to give you His mind and teach you. He will greatly humble you, because He’s humble. Thank Him that He is patient with you. He won’t quit until you are perfect in His image. Aren’t you glad He is patient?

Let’s pray.