Lucas 9

Lucas 9

Maclaren observes, “Flagrant vice is not needed to kill the real life. Clean, respectable selfishness does the work effectually” (Expositions of Holy Scripture [Baker reprint], “Mark,” p. 337). Please note that Jesus is tacitly assuming that He is the rightful Lord of every person! He can make that claim because He is none other than the Lord God in human flesh. If He is not, He cannot demand our total allegiance; if He is, He commands nothing less. (Ed: But His commandment always includes His enablement by His Spirit!) Thus because of who Jesus is, receiving Him is not a matter of deciding that your life is lacking something and that Jesus will fill that void and give you the happy life you’ve always wanted. Jesus isn’t just one spoke in the wheel of your life. If that’s all He is, you have never dethroned self. To be a Christian is to deny self as both Savior and Lord and to enthrone Jesus in that place. This begins at the moment of salvation and continues throughout your Christian life. But if it has not begun, you have not become a Christian, since Jesus puts this requirement at the outset of a decision to follow Him. 2. To follow Jesus requires daily death to self. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him ... take up his cross daily” (Lu 9:23). Many Christians think that to bear their cross means putting up with a difficult mate or with a painful malady, such as arthritis. But taking up your cross is not an unavoidable trial that you passively submit to. Jesus says that it must be a daily thing that we actively choose to embrace. In Jesus’ day, the cross wasn’t an implement of irritation, inconvenience, or even suffering. The cross was an instrument of tortuous, slow execution. Jesus’ hearers knew that a man who took up his cross was, for all practical purposes, a dead man. A man bearing his cross gave up all hope and interest in the things of this world, including self-fulfillment. He knew he would be leaving this world in a very short time. He was dead to self. Taking up your cross is not something you accomplish in an emotional moment of spiritual ecstasy or dedication. You never arrive on a spiritual mountaintop where you can sigh with relief, “I’m finally there! No more death to self!” Nor are there any shortcuts or quick fixes to this painful process. The need for dying to self is never finished in this life; it must be a daily thing. A Christian writer from the past century, A. T. Pierson said, “Getting rid of the ‘self-life’ is like peeling an onion: layer upon layer—and a tearful process!” One of the main problems I have encountered in over two decades as a pastor is that we tend to be spiritually lazy and so we’re susceptible to anyone who comes along selling spiritual snake oil to cure our problems. Someone says, “Have this spiritual experience and you’ll be transported beyond all your problems and live a happy life.” So we buy it and for a while we may feel better. But we’re playing spiritual games. We’re still just as enslaved to sin and self as we were before. Why? Because we’re looking for miraculous, instant deliverance from a problem that Jesus said requires a daily, painful solution, namely, ongoing death to self. What we lack and don’t want to develop (because it’s not easy) is spiritual discipline. Paul told Timothy, “Discipline (command calling for this to be our lifestyle) yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1Ti 4:7-note). Discipline isn’t miraculous or instantaneous and it’s not easy. No top athlete gets in shape by eating a dose of some wonder-food, like Popeye’s spinach. Nor does he work out for a few days and declare, “I’m in shape now!” It takes weeks, months, and even years. Neither does he finally get in shape and then kick back and say, “I’ve arrived! I’m in shape now, so I don’t need to work out any more.” The minute you stop working at it, you start getting flabby. It’s no different spiritually. Just as flabby muscles set in the day an athlete stops working out, so self asserts itself the day the Christian stops putting it to death. In Titus 2:11-12-note Paul wrote, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing (lit., training) us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.” Please note that this process of self-denial is not opposed to God’s grace, but right in line with it. I say this because when I teach that you must daily die to self through disciplined spiritual living, invariably someone accuses me of being legalistic. But neither Jesus nor Paul was legalistic for teaching self-denial! Paul says that God’s grace trains us to say no to all ungodliness and worldly desires and to replace those things with sensible, righteous, godly living (Ed: And I would add that it is God's grace administered and/or made effective by the indwelling Spirit Who continually energizes us giving us the "want to" to deny self and the power to follow through - cf Php 2:12-note, Php 2:13-note). This is what the Puritans called the mortification of sin. It is something we must actively do every day (see Ro 8:13KJV; Col 3:5KJV or NIV; the NASB mistranslates it]). It starts on the thought level: you must deny and forsake sinful thoughts and attitudes, and replace them with godly thoughts and attitudes as revealed in Scripture (cf Ro 12:1-2). If you deal with sin on the thought level, then it never gets any further (cf Ro 6:11). When greedy thoughts invade your mind, you instantly judge them and pray, “Lord, I don’t want to desire the things of this world that is passing away, but to seek first Your kingdom.” When sexual lust tempts you, you yank out your eye (to use Jesus’ words, Mt 5:27-29) and pray, “O God, fill my vision with the purity of Jesus and His righteousness!” When selfish thoughts (“I have my rights! I don’t have to take this!”) crowd your mind, you nail them to the cross by praying, “Lord Jesus, You gave up all Your rights, took on the form of a servant and became obedient to death on the cross for me. Help me to display that same attitude right now” (Php 2:5-8). That’s how Jesus’ disciples live, not for self, but daily dying to self in order to follow Jesus. Thus, following Jesus requires a basic decision to repudiate self-centered living and to put self on the cross every day. Finally, 3. To follow Jesus requires ongoing submission to Jesus as Lord. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him ... follow Me” (Lu 9:23). It’s a present imperative, pointing to a continual process of walking behind Jesus, going where He goes, doing what He does. It means not calling our own shots or doing our own thing, but submitting to Jesus’ commands and doing His thing. As Godet remarks, “The chart of the true disciple directs him to renounce every path of his own choosing, that he may put his feet into the print of his leader’s footsteps” (A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke [I. K. Funk & Co.], p. 267). We’ve already noted the daily, ongoing nature of this process, so I won’t comment further on that. We’ve also noted Jesus’ Lordship, that we must submit to Him and obey Him and His Word if we would follow Him. But we need to notice the personal aspect of the process: “Follow Me.” Jesus didn’t mean simply, “Follow My commands,” although that is vital and cannot be dismissed. Obedience is not optional (Mt 7:21-23). But we need to remember that obedience ought always to be connected to the personal relationship we enjoy with our Savior and Lord (Ed: And daily dependence on the Spirit of Jesus for His adequacy to accomplish supernaturally what I cannot accomplish naturally). He says to the disobedient who outwardly did all sorts of things in His name, “I never knew you” (Mt 7:23). They lacked the personal relationship. But to the obedient Jesus promised, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him” (Jn 14:21, Jo 14:23). We should always link obedience with our personal love for Jesus. Suppose a young woman takes a job as housekeeper and cook for a young bachelor. He gives her a list of the tasks that he expects her to do: cleaning the house, fixing his meals at certain times, etc. She performs those tasks in a satisfactory manner as his employee. But then the two fall in love and get married. She now may have to do many of the same tasks, but she does them out of a relationship of love, not out of sheer duty. That’s the difference between mere outward obedience and obedience from a personal relationship. To follow Jesus means continual obedience to Him as Lord, but obedience in the context of knowing and loving Him as our Bridegroom and Savior, who gave His life so that we could live with Him, both now and in eternity. Conclusion I read of a young nurse named Sheila who summed up her personal philosophy as “Sheilaism,” explaining, “It’s just try to love yourself and be gentle with yourself.” Well, at least she didn’t mistake her view for Christianity! But I’m afraid that a lot of American Christians are deceiving themselves, thinking that they’re following Jesus when really, they, like Sheila, are just into themselves. The doctrine of self-love or self-esteem is not compatible with Jesus’ teaching on self-denial. It is sad that many advocates of self-esteem cite the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:39) as biblical justification for self-love. Some even go so far as to say that we cannot love God or others until we first learn to love ourselves! But Jesus said that there were only two great commands—love God and love your neighbor. He assumed that we all love ourselves quite well. In fact, if we would just love others as much as we do love ourselves, we would fulfill the law of love. John Calvin saw this clearly. He wrote, Hence it is very clear that we keep the commandments not by loving ourselves but by loving God and neighbor; that he lives the best and holiest life who lives and strives for himself as little as he can, and that no one lives in a worse or more evil manner than he who lives and strives for himself alone, and thinks about and seeks only his own advantage. (The Institutes of the Christian Religion [Westminster], 2:8:54). Maybe you’re thinking, “Self-denial sounds so negative!” Let me remind you, I didn’t come up with this. Jesus did! In the short term, self-denial is difficult and not very pleasant. But there are eternal blessings in store when you follow Jesus on the path of the cross. He explains in verse Lu 9:24: “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” When you die to self and follow Jesus, He graciously gives you the ultimate in fulfillment as the by-product—the joy of eternal life and of being affirmed by Jesus before the Father when He comes in glory (Lu 9:26)! If, like me a few years ago, you have been taken in by the self-esteem teaching, I encourage you to re-evaluate it in light of all Scripture, especially, Lu 9:23. You won’t find a single verse telling you to build your self-esteem or to love yourself more. You will find many telling you to die to self and to humble yourself. It’s pretty clear: Following Jesus means dying to self. Living for self means that you’re not following Jesus. Discussion Questions Do we need a “proper” amount of self-esteem? Give scriptural support for your answer. How do we mesh self-denial with the practical need to say no to certain people and their demands? Does self-denial mean never having fun or enjoying life? If not, how do we know when it’s okay to take time for ourselves? Discuss: Discipleship is a requirement for all believers versus discipleship is an option for the super-committed. The following is Dr Phil Newton's entire sermon on Mt 16:24-28 which is essentially what Jesus stated in Lk 9:23-26. It is included in full because it is such an excellent discussion of this critically important topic for the modern church. Newton's tile is... "A Disciple & His Cross (September 30, 2007) - In the past 38 years as a believer, I've learned and unlearned a lot of things about what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. For one thing, I've learned that "disciple" is not a special category of Christians (Ed: And I 100% agree!)—the more serious kind, but rather an apt description of any true believer. I've had to unlearn many of the mental images that I had of Christians as the basic do-gooder, the moralist, the legalist, etc. More than anything, the four Gospels have shaped my thinking about followers of Christ. Jesus came preaching the Gospel of God, calling those in the region of Galilee to recognize that the kingdom of God was among them, so it was time to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). Then He went about calling people to "follow" Him. "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men," Christ told Simon and Andrew as they cast a net into the sea (Mark 1:16-18). Everything changed for them from that moment onward as they began to follow Jesus Christ. What we see emphasized in the Gospels is not simply making a Christian decision but the whole commitment of one's life to follow Jesus Christ. This is precisely where in my earlier days I had failed to grasp what it meant to be a Christian. Too much of my thinking focused on decision making and too little on following Christ as a disciple. Yet the New Testament knows no Christian that is not also a follower of Christ as a disciple. It is a biblical contradiction to call oneself Christian without correspondingly following Jesus Christ. (Ed: Amen!) So that's what I want us to investigate this morning from our text, as well as the next few weeks, as we consider a sampling of Gospel texts that help us grapple with what it means to be Christian. Matthew sixteen is significant—a turning point in biblical revelation. (Ed: As is Lk 9:20ff) Here we find two important notes that set the stage for Christ's demands upon all that would come after Him. First, the question is answered, "Who is Jesus Christ?" Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" After rehearsing common responses, He asked, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter responded, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus declared this to be an occasion of divine revelation—God had revealed to them who Jesus is! That understanding of Jesus Christ ultimately determines how each of us relates to Him, His gospel, and His demands upon us. What you understand about Christ affects even the way you see your own soul. Second, from this point onward, Jesus began to introduce details of His suffering and passion (Ed: cf Lk 9:22). He "showed His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day." Significantly, Peter tried to dissuade Christ from such a future! He wanted a comfortable, secure Messiah that faced no pain, suffering, or loss. He wanted that for Christ because he wanted that for himself. That's why Peter eventually denied Christ. Then Jesus burst his bubble! The call to follow Him must never be thought of as a life of ease or trouble-free. The way of Christ is the way of a cross. To follow Him is to carry one's cross daily, just as Christ did. Admittedly, this is not what's discussed in circles of popular Christianity—the kind of vapid faith that tips the hat to God but never bows the knee in humility and obedient following. Christ calls for something drastically different. Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? I. Declaration of true discipleship The text before us contains Christ's declarations of what He means when He calls people to follow Him. The balance of it—the second point of this study—provides His arguments for such discipleship. I don't think any would argue with me that we live in an era that maintains a low view of the Christian life. Eighty-percent of Americans, according to estimates, claim to be Christians. I was listening to a news show recently when the host pointed out a couple of harsh articles about two well-known though deceased professed Christians. In the course of his comments, he said to his guests, 'since eighty-percent of Americans are Christians, these comments should be offensive.' As I listened, I thought that his entire premise was flawed. First, the eighty-percent figure is ludicrous if we consider the Bible's teaching about Christianity at all. Second, most of the number he is counting as Christians probably won't even notice or care about the offensive remarks. His basic problem is that he has allowed sociologists and anthropologists to define Christian and not Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us that a Christian is one that comes after Him—as distinct from those that pursue the ambitions and allurements of the world or who follow other masters. It's not a fleeting desire to follow Christ but a desire that sticks with the disciple. He "wishes" or desires and keeps desiring to follow Christ. He's not one to climb on the proverbial "band-wagon" because it's popular for the moment, but rather, his desires have been changed, his affections have turned from desiring the world to desiring Christ above all. Jesus explains that the desire is followed by decisive action: he comes after Christ. Let me express the tense of the verbs by a running translation. 'If anyone wishes and keeps wishing and desires and keeps desiring to decisively come after Me, let him…' In other words, Jesus qualifies the desire as that of longing to resolutely come after Christ and Christ alone (conveyed by the aorist infinitive). Jesus then explains three necessities or three actions on the part of one who sees Christ as the Savior, Redeemer, Master, and Lord. In this we come to understand how we respond to Christ as disciples. 1. A new master—"deny himself" Jesus did not leave wiggle room: "he must deny himself." Here the verb tense intensifies the action as decisively denying himself. The middle voice conveys that it is now his desire to do so. He has seen Christ and longed for Him; in so doing the disciple denies Himself in favor of belonging to Christ. The word "deny" is used several other times in the Gospels, primarily to describe the occasion when Peter denied that he knew Christ. We learn something from this. Peter was so intent on saving his skin that he vigorously denied Christ. In essence, he gave up Christ for self-protection. Now, turn that denial on its head. Christ calls for us to give up self-protection for Christ. Matthew Henry stated, "The first lesson in Christ's school is self-denial" [quoted by Ligon Duncan, "The Essence of Kingdom Life," www.fpcjackson.org, p. 5]. It is first because until we come to the point of desiring Christ and turning from self, we will put self before everything. Is that where you find yourself this morning? Do you live as though you are the center of the universe, as though your way rules? Then Jesus Christ calls for you to deny yourself if you would come after Him. What does it mean to deny yourself in view of coming after Christ? It's no slap on the wrist over some little desire. It is an alteration of one's life; it involves the essence of repentance in turning from self and sin in order to turn obediently to the Lord. It is the glad willingness to suffer loss for the sake of Christ (cf. Phil. 3). It is the resignation to press forward in thankfulness to Christ even when ridiculed and opposed because of your faith in Christ. John