April 15th

LUKE 9: 1-50
The Busy Life of the Compassionate
Are you ever tempted to get an unlisted number? Look at all the beneficiaries because the Lord never has an unlisted number? We think our lives are busy, but let’s look at the kind of schedule that Jesus had – a life of compassion…and He never turned anyone away! In His busy life of compassion, the Son of Man performed four ministries:
1. SENDING…The disciples had been earlier ordained and now the Lord was going to send them out. First He would equip them. POWER is the ability to accomplish a task, and AUTHORITY is the right to do it…Jesus gave both to His Apostles.
…the disciples did miracles of healing, etc., but miracles alone were only one evidence that the Lord had sent them and was working through them. Satan can enable his false ministers to do amazing things. The most important assignment He gave the disciples was preaching the Gospel…a herald proclaiming a message from the King, and “to preach the Good News”.
Jesus gave them instructions for the journey…emphasis on urgency and simplicity.
…the disciples and Jesus attracted a great deal of attention. Herod got upset…apparently his conscience was convicting him, and he was wondering if perhaps God had sent John back to judge him. Herod kept trying to see Jesus, but unlike some modern “religious celebrities” Jesus did not make it a point to go out of His way to mingle with the high and mighty. When they finally met, the king hoped to see a miracle but the Son of God did nothing and said nothing to him.
…when the disciples and Jesus all came together again, Jesus suggested that they all take some time off for rest. Vance Havner: “If we don’t come apart and rest, we’ll just come apart.” The mission had been demanding and they all needed time alone for physical and spiritual renewal. This is a good example for those of us who are busy and sometimes overworked Christian workers.
…the crowds were attracted and would not leave the LORD alone. Jesus had compassion on them and ministered to them. He couldn’t take a day off!
2. FEEDING…Jesus showed compassion by speaking to the crowd, and healing those who were ill, but then He had compassion on their physical hunger. If we combine all four accounts of this miracle: Jesus first asked Philip where they could buy food (well over 10,000 were present) “for He Himself knew what He was intending to do”. When YOU are in a crisis…resources are low, responsibilities are great—remember that He has the problem solved! Before a need is exposed/revealed – supply is available.
…Before we ask God for the impossible, let’s give Him the possible that we have! The Lord did not just instruct the disciples to distribute the food; first, they brought it to Him! He looked to the heavens, the Source of our daily Bread, gave thanks and blessed the food. Then, He broke it (multiplied it)…He was the Producer, the disciples were the distributors. 12 baskets left over…one for each of His disciples…Jesus takes care of His servants.
…This was more than an act of mercy to hungry people…it was a sign of the Lord’s Messiahship and an illustration of God’s gracious provision for man’s salvation. The next day the Lord preached about the Bread of Life – Himself asking them to receive the Bread as they had received the bread and they totally missed the point. They were more interested in their stomachs than in their souls. Their desire was to make Him King so He could give them bread for the rest of their lives. WRONG MOTIVE!
This miracle teaches us to have compassion, to look at problems as opportunities for God to work, and to give Him all that we have and trust Him to meet the needs.
3. TEACHING…the importance of people knowing Who Jesus is!!! Determines eternal destiny…it is impossible to be wrong with Jesus and right with God. Peter gave a clear confession of Who Jesus is! Then Jesus commanded them as a military leader would to NOT tell – it was necessary first that He must die and be resurrected!
His sacrifice…again as before He is sharing with His disciples His impending death and the Cross. Jesus is talking about discipleship and not sonship. We are not saved from our sins because we take up a cross and follow Jesus, but because we trust the Savior Who died on the cross for our sins. After we become children of God, then we become disciples. A disciple is more than a student who learns lessons by means of lectures and books. He is one who learns by living and working with his teacher in a daily “hands on” experience. Too many are content to be listeners who gain a lot of knowledge but who have never put that knowledge into practice.
…The cross was a symbol of shame, guilt, suffering and rejection. Jesus laid down the stern requirements for discipleship…we must say no to ourselves…not simply to pleasures or possessions, but to SELF and then take up OUR cross and follow Christ daily. This means to be identified with Him in surrender, suffering, and sacrifice. You cannot crucify yourself; you can only yield your body Roma.12:1-2 and let God do the rest.
HIS KINGDOM…’A CHANGE IN APPEARANCE THAT COMES FROM WITHIN.’
*It was God’s seal of approval to Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Son of God. Father encouraging the Son. Father spoke at baptism and He spoke here. *It was a demonstration of the promised kingdom of God….reassuring that the O.T. prophecies would be fulfilled…but first…
*Practical lesson – we can have a spiritual “transfiguration” experience each day as we walk with the Lord. Rom 12:1-2, II Cor. 3:18 – as we surrender body, mind, and will, the Lord transforms us from within so that we are not conformed to the world. As we behold Him in the Word (the mirror) we are “transfigured” by the Spirit “from glory to glory”.
4. We are prone to forget how long suffering our Lord had to be while He was ministering on earth, especially with His own disciples. The Lord was grieved over the failures of His followers. He had given power and authority over Satan, yet they were too weak to cast out a demon. In feeding the 5,000, Jesus gave them an example of compassion, yet they persisted in manifesting selfishness and lack of love. He taught clearly what it meant to follow Him, yet the volunteers turned out to be “me first” disciples!
Why did they not succeed with the only child for healing? Lacked FAITH…a part of an unbelieving generation and had lost the confidence that they needed in order to use their power…prayer and fasting lacking which indicates that the nine men had allowed their devotional disciplines to erode during their Lord’s brief absence up on the mountain. No matter what spiritual gifts we may have, their exercise is never automatic.
The Lord lovingly gave the boy back to his father and then took the 12 aside for another lesson about the cross.
The disciples did not have much love for each other…argued over who was the greatest. Envy? Pride? What was their problem?
In His kingdom, the example of greatness is a little child—helpless, dependent, without status, living by faith. The only thing worse than a child trying to act like an adult is an adult acting like a child! There is a great difference between being childlike and childish!
Believers who think that their group is the only group God recognizes and blesses are in for a shock when they get to heaven.
Jesus rebuked the disciples’ vengeful spirit and simply went to another village.
The disciples lacked discipline…Most of us want God’s will but like to give Him instructions as to the HOW to achieve it in our lives. They wanted to be followers but did not want to do it the Lord’s way. Jesus is teaching NOT that we dishonor our parents, but only that we not permit our love for family to weaken our love for the Lord. We should love Christ so much that our love for family would look like hatred in comparison.
There is nothing wrong with a loving farewell, but if it gets in the way of obedience, it becomes sin. Jesus saw that this man’s heart was not wholly with Him.
It would appear that what Jesus taught His disciples and the multitudes had done them little good. They lacked power, love, and discipline and they grieved His heart. If we today lack these spiritual essentials, we can never truly be His disciples, but they are available to us from the Lord. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love and of self-discipline II Tim. 1:7
Are we a joy to Jesus or are we breaking His heart?