Saturday, 23 March Luke 9:1-27
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
How do you define yourself? When someone says to you, ‘Tell me your story’, or, ‘Who are you, really?’, what do you say? What are the events or people or circumstances that most define who you are? That question is worth a moment’s reflection.
In today’s reading, Luke gives us several self-definitions. They are not all noble. Did you notice at least two as you read?
Jesus calls the Twelve together. He gives them authority over demons and diseases. They are given the power to work miracles and the authority to preach the kingdom of God. Part of their authority lay in their complete rejection of any of the normal human aids that we take when we go on a journey. They took no money, no spare shoes, no staff (which served not only as an aid to walking long distances, but also as a weapon against wild beasts or brigands). This stripping down to nothing but the power of God became their identity.
This divine mission – remember that ‘mission’ means, in its original Latin, a sending-out – was peculiar to the Twelve. That was who they were.
As a by-the-way comment, there is a spiritual danger that some Christians expose themselves to, especially those who seek to wield power through their faith. A desire to do miracles, to be a wonder-worker (the ancients called this the practice of thaumaturgy), is not necessarily a good thing. What God gives as part of his role as Lord of the Church, as Master of the Mission, we may not assume for ourselves.
It is interesting that after they returned from their missions (v10), and were with Jesus when a large crowd needed to be fed, Jesus turns to them and says, ‘You give them something to eat’ (v13). The Twelve did not show the slightest interest in trying to work the miracle that was evidently needed. Some writers have criticised the disciples for this apparent lack of faith. I'm not so sure.
It was only a short time since they had reported to him about their successful mission. Surely they had not forgotten their recent capacity for wonder-working? We can't be dogmatic about this, but is it not possible that they stepped back from their power, when they were back in the presence of the Lord? Jesus did not rebuke them for their apparent lack of faith. He just gave them some perfectly practical tasks to do. Organise the crowd into manageable groups. Manage the process of distribution. Collect the leftovers.
Then Jesus performed the necessary miracle and the disciples cleaned up the rubbish. I can't help but feel that there is a message for the church here. Don't get me wrong. I do believe that miracles still occur in this era. But I'm also strongly of the view that Jesus claims his authority over the church and requires us to be his workers. Organise, manage, clean up the mess. Do the practical stuff, and let God be God. I might be wrong, however, and I'm happy for you to hold a different view.
The next identity that we see is a much more ignoble one. In v 9, we read that Herod said, “I beheaded John”. Ah! Now there’s a self-definition that we would not want to own. It is surely a mark of a person’s wickedness when they brazenly declares their guilt. Occasionally you will hear of a ‘celebrity’ (whatever they are!!) boasting about their immorality. Singer “Sir” Tom Jones claimed to have had sex with up to 250 women a year during the peak of his career. He might have a knighthood, but he clearly had no morals and no respect for the women from whom he stole part of their selves.
This self-identity is contrasted strongly with that which we read in vv18-27.
Luke repeats the local gossip about who Jesus might be that he had already given us in vv7-8. But when Jesus asks Peter directly, Peter responds with clarity. ‘You are the Christ of God.’ Remember that Christ is just the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah. Peter the Jew was declaring that Jesus was none other than the promised Messiah.
Jesus does not deny this declaration, and thus owns it. It stands in contrast to the wicked self-declaration of Herod. It shows us the difference between leaders.
Herod was a King of a third of Palestine. Jesus claimed a Kingship that trumped Herod’s by a country mile. Jesus claimed the whole world.
Herod couldn't abide criticism of his Kingship, executing John in response to a promise made after a wild, sexy party in his palace. Jesus lived his Kingship by performing miracles of kindness and mercy, and by willingly sharing his power with his followers.
The second-last self-declaration comes when Jesus declares himself to be the Son of Man who will be killed and will rise again from the dead. The title, Son of Man, was a well-known shorthand term for the Messiah at that time in Jewish history.
The final self-declaration is one which Jesus makes for anyone who wishes to follow him. He says that his followers must be prepared to die. To take up their cross, which could only mean to die. Everyone knew what Roman crosses were for. We started with Herod beheading John the Baptist, and we end with Jesus telling his disciples that if they want to follow him, they need to be prepared to lay their heads on the executioner’s block.
Jesus was a terrible marketer. He just had no idea of how to sell his program – not like our modern churches. We know that you have to be ‘seeker-sensitive’; that you have to encourage people in with the right music and lighting; that you can't tell people about the hard things in the Bible; that young people won't come if you don't give them the style of music they like.
I have a feeling that if we followed Jesus’ marketing plan and required people to actually face real danger and be prepared to give up their lives for him, not just have a good time, we might find our churches to be a great deal stronger, even if not quite as full.
If we read this passage and get the feeling that Luke is up to something here, we might be right. This last section from where Peter confesses who Jesus is, is building the tension up to a crescendo. We will have to wait till tomorrow to see why Luke is doing this.
Prayer: I’ve never had to choose between you or my life, Lord Jesus. I hope that if I did, I would choose aright. In the meantime, please help me to grow courage by being prepared to speak your name in the small moments, to my friends and family. Like Peter, I acknowledge you as the Anointed Son of God, my Saviour. I worship you. Amen.
