DISCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM

The Kingdom. The word itself conjures up all sorts of mental images of thrones and banners and castle walls and crowns. Such images are not exclusive to us. When Jesus promised in Luke 9:27 that some of His disciples would not taste death until they have seen the coming kingdom, I am certain this brought all sorts of speculation to the forefront.

And then there was that wondrous experience. Peter, James and John saw Jesus literally burst forth in heavenly glory. What were they to make of this? What would happen next? If this was a preview of things to come, then what would the fulness of the Kingdom entail?

It is at this point that Jesus begins to focus His effort in teaching the disciples about the Kingdom. In doing so, a great many of their misconceptions will be overturned. And as we read along with them, perhaps some of our own misconceptions will be dropped by the wayside, too.

I recall when the professional boxer Mohammed Ali raised his clenched fists above his head and loudly proclaimed, "I am the greatest!" It is a measure of the way the world views greatness. Strength. Position. Power. Influence. These are the ways in which we normally measure greatness.

The disciples of Jesus were not immune to such ideas. This came to a head one day when they began to speculate who might be the best disciple. James and John might have thought they were better because they had been with Jesus for longer than had Thomas or Matthew. Or perhaps Bartholomew looked at Peter and thought, "At least I’m not known as the apostle with the foot-shaped mouth."

Soon an argument ensued. The text seems to indicate that they were reluctant to bring Jesus into the argument. They knew enough to know that they shouldn’t be arguing about this subject. Did you ever have an experience like that when you were a child? I did. There were times that my younger brother and I would start to argue, but we knew enough not to argue in front of our parents because we knew that they would put a stop to our arguing.

What was at the root of their argument? It was jealousy and selfish ambition. Jealousy is poison to a church. It can split a church faster than anything. The disciples were ready to split off and start their own denomination. And so, Jesus called them together. Their argument and their petty jealousy was no secret to Him.

The church was never called to model the world. They are to have two separate and opposing styles of greatness. The world looks at greatness as the enjoyment of power and wealth and pleasure. But greatness in the Kingdom is identified as servanthood.

Francis of Assisi is said to have visited St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome where his guide showed him the wondrous architecture and the priceless treasures, noting, "The church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’" Francis agreed, adding, "The church is also unable to say, ‘In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.’"

The section is related to the previous verses. Jesus had been speaking of how you receive those who are despised and rejected. That brings to mind one whom had recently been rejected by the disciples during their recent short-term mission trip.

They were out preaching and healing and casting out demons when they came across someone else who was also casting out demons. The problem is that he was not one of the Twelve. And when the apostles invited him to join with them and to try out as the 13th apostle, he refused.

They had a problem with this. Here was an unordained man doing the work of the ministry. They could not allow this. It would not do at all! And so, they had ordered him to cease and desist.

Jesus corrects their misplaced zeal: "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you" (9:50). This is obviously given for our edification. What is the lesson that we are to learn from it?

I think that it is a lesson in unity. It is a lesson that we are not called to be "cookie cutter Christians." We come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and we need to take care to accept one another. This relates back to what Jesus said in the previous verses:

Up to this point, we have seen the primary location of the ministry of Jesus taking place in the area of Galilee. But now marks a turning point. Now He sets His face to go to Jerusalem. For the next ten chapters, we will see Jesus moving closer and closer to Jerusalem.

• He comes to a city of the Samaritans (9:52).

• He passes from village to village on his way to Jerusalem (13:22).

• He will be passing between Samaria and Galilee (17:11).

• He approaches Jericho (18:35).

• He passes through Jericho (19:1).

• He was near Jerusalem (19:11).

• He approaches Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives (19:29).

• He comes down the descent of the Mount of Olives (19:37).

• He enters the Temple (19:45).

Why is He going to Jerusalem? He is going there in order to DIE. He is going there because He knows that it is there He will be arrested and crucified. He is going there to become the sacrifice for sins. It is to this end that He set His face to go to Jerusalem.

This is fraught with significance. Throughout the Old Testament, when one spoke of the presence of the Lord, one spoke literally of being before His face.

• When Adam and the woman first sinned in the garden, the immediate result of their sin was that they sought to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord - literally, from His FACE.

• The presence of the Lord brings blessings to His people.

Sin removed us from before the face of God. And it is for this reason that Jesus set His own face to go to Jerusalem that we might be restored to the presence of God.

• The first route would be the direct path through Samaria.

• The more popular route would be to take a detour around Samaria by following the course of the Jordan River to Jericho and then making the ascent up to Jerusalem.

There was no love lost between the Jews and the Samaritans. They had parted ways many years earlier. The Samaritans were looked upon by the Jews as faithless half-breeds. Two hundred years earlier, the Jews had fought against the pagan king Antiochus Epiphanes when he attempted to set up a statue of Zeus in their temple. But the Samaritans had allowed a similar statue to be erected in their temple on Mount Gerizim. After the Maccabean Revolt, the Jews had destroyed the Samaritan temple.

In the days following the death of Herod the Great, the Samaritans had crept into the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by night and defiled it.

It is in this setting that Jesus and His disciples approach one of the villages of Samaria. Their reception was not a favorable one. Jesus was headed toward the city of their enemy and, if that was the case, then they wanted no part of Him.

What do you do what you encounter hostility? James and John had a solution. They come to Jesus with a plan. It is called, "Operation Fallout." They come to Jesus with their plan: "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (9:54).

What is the response of Jesus? He tells them that they are speaking out of ignorance. They don’t realize the implications of what they are saying. They are speaking with the wrong spirit. They are speaking with a spirit of vengeance and of retribution and being a disciple of Jesus means to be filled with the spirit of a servant and a Savior: "The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them." (9:56).

During the next few verses, we see three people with varying levels of commitment. Each has a limited desire to follow Jesus. Each wants to become a disciple. But the real question is whether they are each willing to count the cost of that discipleship.

1. The Hasty Disciple.

2. The Hesitating Disciple.

3. The Undeciding Disciple.

Which candidate are you? Have you counted the cost? Are you ready to give everything that you have to Jesus? Are you ready to be His disciple? Until you are, you are not fit for the kingdom of God.

At this point, I’d like to stop preaching and merely speak frankly with you. Not about you, but about myself. I was 17 years old and fresh out of high school when I gave my life completely and unreservedly to Jesus Christ. My prayer to Him at that time was, "Lord, whatever I have and whatever I am is Yours."

It is easy to say that when you are young and you don’t have a penny to your name. As you get older and you begin to accumulate stuff, it isn’t long before all that "stuff" begins to own you. I would be lying if I did not admit to feeling the pull of materialism.

The older I’ve gotten, the greater has been my ambition to get rid of all my stuff - those things that serve to weigh down my soul. I’m learning to travel lightly and I’m learning to understand the words of Jesus when He said, "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. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:24-25).

There is a great deal at stake in this passage. These are teachings of life and of death. There is potential for great gain and for great loss. The question that you must ask is this - to what are you holding? Choose life. Choose Christ.