Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

 Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Passage for today: Luke 9:51-62 

“He said to another man, “Follow me.”

Determined

Someone once asked Paul Harvey, the journalist and radio commentator, to reveal the secret of his success. “I get up when I fall down,” said Harvey.  That’s a great example of determination. Proverbs 24:16 says, in part: “ …though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, …”.  Even better.  As Believers, we have the promise of divine assistance.  Psalm 145:14: “The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”  James tells us in James 4:10: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”   David, I think, had the key though.  He said in Psalm 37:23-24:  “If the LORD delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”  That’s even better. 

The key though, is that it requires something on our part, it requires determination and commitment.  In order for the Lord to delight in your way of living, you need to be seeking His purpose and plan for your life and living obedient to His revealed will.  As we have been saying this year, it comes down to choices, doesn’t it.  Who are you going to follow, the Lord, or the devil?  That is the option, by the way.  It’s not His way or mine, its His way or Satan’s.

If you are not living your life for Christ, you are living it for the devil.  In Luke 11:23 Jesus said: “He who is not with me is against me.”  That puts it pretty plain.  In Romans 5 Paul says we’re either living to please the sin-nature or the Spirit.  Galatians 5 has the same theme.  We tend to think we can have our cake and eat it too, but it’s pretty hard to find scripture to back that theory up!  Jesus is our ultimate example, He chose to submit to the Father’s will, not develop His own agenda, even knowing what it would cost Him.  He said in John 6:38: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.”  

I love how the writer of Hebrews put it in Hebrews 12:1-3  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” 

That is an example of determination, of commitment, of perseverance that is worthy of emulating.  In our scripture reading today we have a verse that highlights Jesus’ specific choice, a point in time when He determined to fulfill His ministry.  We then see Him point out the importance of our understanding that following Him requires an informed and determined choice, not just an emotional, rash decision. 

 Let’s take a look:

Luke 9:51  “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”  One commentary stated:  “The time had come for Jesus to fulfill the ultimate destiny of his ministry on earth.  Therefore, the work of Christ is here divided into two great stages: all that preceded this belonging to the one, and all that follows it to the other.”  Most other sources made similar comments.  This was a major moment in the Lord’s ministry.  Knowing what was coming, he still chose obedience.  He chose to fulfill the Father’s plan.  He determined to go to Jerusalem.  And He did it out of love for you and for me.  

How amazing is that?  Listen to Matthew Henry’s commentary:   “The readiness and resolution of our Lord Jesus, in prosecuting his great undertaking for our redemption and salvation.  Observe:

1. There was a time fixed for the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus, and he knew well enough when it was, and had a clear and certain foresight of it, and yet was so far from keeping out of the way that then he appeared most publicly of all, and was most busy, knowing that his time was short. 

2. When he saw his death and sufferings approaching, he looked through them and beyond them, to the glory that should follow; he looked upon it as the time when he should be received up into glory, received up into the highest heavens, to be enthroned there.  Moses and Elias spoke of his death as his departure out of this world, which made it not formidable; but he went further, and looked upon it as his translation to a better world, which made it very desirable. 

3. On this prospect of the joy set before him, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem the place where he was to suffer and die. He was fully determined to go, and would not be dissuaded; he went directly to Jerusalem, because there now his business lay. He went cheerfully and courageously, though he knew the things that should befall him there. He did not fail nor was discouraged, but set his face as a flint, knowing that he should be not only justified, but glorified, not only not run down, but received up.  How should this shame us for, and shame us out of, our backwardness to do and suffer for Christ!  We draw back, and turn our faces another way from his service who steadfastly set his face against all opposition, to go through with the work of our salvation.”  

Hard to believe Mr. Henry wrote this in the 1700’s, he could easily be describing us today!  We haven’t come all that far, have we. 

Verses 52-56:  “And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.”    Did you ever notice how often rejection or resistance almost immediately follows a choice to do what is right?  This is a great example of not basing our decision-making on circumstances, or second-guessing a decision we believe to be God’s will for us when we meet resistance.  In reality resistance or opposition is often a sign we are doing God’s will!  Prejudice was a strong factor in the culture of Jesus’ day.  The Samaritans thought God should be worshipped on Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem. 

The Jews of course worshipped in Jerusalem, the Holy City.  The feud was long and bitter, and only part of the problem between the two, but it was undoubtedly part of the reason they would not welcome Jesus and his disciples in this town.  Listen to the reaction of the “Sons of Thunder” to the rejection by the Samaritans.  “When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”  Prejudice dies hard, even in those who are disciples’ of Christ.  Maybe it was because they had just recently seen Elijah talking with Jesus on the Mount of transfiguration that this idea came to them, maybe because it was in this general area where Elijah had called down fire from heaven and killed the Samaritan King Ahaziah’s soldiers all those many years ago, but they were eager to smoke this group of Samaritans for their lack of respect and rejection of Jesus! 

Verses 55-56: “But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.”   One of the sources I looked at said: “Jesus’ rebuke of his disciples for suggesting that fire be called down from heaven to destroy the Samaritans is not to be understood as a disapproval of Elijah’s action, but as an indication that the disciples failed to discern the difference between the issue at stake in Elijah’s day and the unbelief of the Samaritans in their own day.”  They still had a lot to learn, they still were looking for an earthly kingdom and rule of Christ.  We move on to the next section.

Many men wished to follow Jesus, then as now, until they realized what was involved in “going to Jerusalem.”  The case of each of these three men stresses the idea of total and absolute commitment to Jesus.  The story is told of a woman who approached her pastor with a question.  “Will you please tell me,” said the Christian woman, “what your idea of commitment is?”  Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet, and then let God fill it in as He will.” 

That was a wise pastor.  That is what Christ asks of us.  Commit our way to Him.  Leave the details up to Him.  Determine to follow His lead, to seek His purpose and plan for your life, regardless.  Sign the paper and hand it back to him to fill out.  Easier said than done, Amen?

Verses 57-58:  “As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”   It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t tell the man what to do, but pointed to the cost.  They had just been refused lodging, and Jesus used the incident to make a point.  If this man truly wanted to follow Christ, he would have to understand that it would involve hardship, not the least of which would often be making his bed on the ground, with no pillow or blanket.  In a society where even meager possessions were appreciated, this was no small consideration.  The story continues: 

Verses 59-60:  “He said to another man, “Follow me.”  This time Jesus initiates the conversation.  “But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”   Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”   This presents an interesting dialogue.  It seems the man was looking for an excuse.  If his father had already died, the man would have been occupied with the burial then.  But evidently he wanted to wait until after his father’s death, which might have been years away still.  Jesus told him that the spiritually dead could bury the physically dead, and that the spiritually alive should be busy proclaiming the kingdom of God.  How many of us have what we think are legitimate excuses for telling the Lord “not yet”? 

Verses: 61-62:  “Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”   Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  I spent one of the most wonderful springs of my life helping my Buddy with custom plowing one year when I lived in Wyoming.  He would work nights, I would work days.  10 to 12 hours on a John Deere 720 diesel tractor pulling a three-bottom plow in foothill meadows along the Greybull River valley with the Rocky mountains in the background.  To plow a straight furrow was critical, and you didn’t do it by looking back at what you had done, you fixed your eyes on a mark at the other end of the field and steered for it.  Jesus said if you start out plowing for the kingdom, you don’t look back at what you left behind in the world.  You fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. 

He is the example we follow.  All Jesus asks is everything you have.  No matter how reasonable your excuse may seem to you, and even to others, Jesus understands the danger of failing to commit totally to Him at that moment.  I am a classic example.  I will never know what could have been, if I had simply followed Him when first I believed.  But I had excuses, rebellions, and even what I thought were legitimate reasons.  When finally I said “Ok Lord, not my will, but Thine”, look what He did.  I am just grateful that I am now doing what I know I should have been doing all along.  But we cannot presume on grace.  You cannot pattern your life after mine.  Jesus calls us now.   Luke doesn’t record what choice these three made.  He only shows us the choice presented to them to remind us of the choice before us. 

Determine right now to follow him with everything you’ve got.  You will not regret it.  You will regret it if you don’t.  The spiritually alive should be busy proclaiming the kingdom of God.

During my “Read-through-the-Bible-in-a-Year” reading this week I was reminded of the blessing the Lord told Moses to have Aaron and his sons give the people.  It is my Son’s favorite benediction:  “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

In His grip,