Luke 9:37-62

37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not."
41 "You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered over to human hands." 45 But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For whoever is least among you all is the greatest."
49 "Master," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."
50 "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59 He said to another man, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Points of Interest:

• ‘but they could not’—from Wednesday’s passage, we know that they have the power and authority to do this. Nonetheless, they can’t do it this time.

• ‘unbelieving and perverse generation’—this scene reminds me of when Moses came down the mountain from meeting with God only to discover that, in his absence, the Israelites had decided to abandon God and worship a golden calf instead. God allowed that entire generation of people to die in the desert before bringing his people into the Promised Land. While the situation isn’t quite so dire for Jesus, there is something of the sense that, in a very short time, things have gone awry. Even with all of the miracles Jesus has performed, everything quickly reverts as soon as he leaves to the way it was before. This is of especial concern for Jesus because he knows that he doesn’t have much time left.
Perverse in this situation means ‘crooked.’ Jesus is finding it hard to get through to people, because the path to their hearts is winding and complicated.

• ‘they did not understand what this meant’—the last time they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying, they asked him, and he explained it to them (Luke 8:9). But this time, they are too afraid. So, though hearing, they don’t understand.

• ‘An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest’—they’re probably thinking about the Messianic kingdom. When they ride into glory in Messiah Jesus’ wake, who will get the top jobs? Who will be prime minister? Who will be general? Who will get to rule his own small kingdom?
Their recent experiences would provide some fuel for this argument: Peter, James, and John were getting special time with Jesus—‘We could tell you what we saw, but then we’d have to kill you’—while the other nine were failing to cast out a demon. The three are probably certain that they’re situated pretty well right now to get the plum positions.

• ‘whoever is least among you all is the greatest’—Jesus already told them in his sermon on the plain (Luke 6:20-49) that things work differently in his kingdom. If they want to be great, they’re going about it all wrong. They need some recalibration. The path toward greatness is not through arguing over the top spots, but through serving someone who has nothing to offer you—and trusting God to then serve you.

• we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us’—I wonder if John suspects, after what Jesus has just said, that maybe they didn’t do exactly what Jesus would want. This man is casting out demons in Jesus’ name. It’s one of the primary signs that Jesus has brought God’s kingdom to earth—and it’s something that the disciples were recently unable to do—but they stop him, because he’s not part of the club. The Twelve may disagree about which one of them is greatest, but they’re in complete agreement that it’s going to be one of them—not some outsider. If they can’t cast the demon out, it shouldn’t be cast out at all.
For Jesus, who is doing it isn’t important; what’s important is that people are being freed from demonic oppression.

• ‘Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem’—Jesus is now entering a new phase of his mission. Up until now, he’s really just been introducing himself. The miracles he has been performing have been small demonstrations of what he has come to bring: healing, freedom, abundance, and forgiveness. Now that he has shown what his kingdom is about, he is moving on to inaugurate that kingdom. It’s no surprise that he would head for Jerusalem; as David’s capital it would be the appropriate place to re-establish David’s kingdom. If anyone really understood his plan, though, they would be very surprised that he expects to be killed, not crowned, when he arrives.

• ‘a Samaritan village’—after the reign of Solomon (about 1,000 years ago), David’s kingdom divided in two: Judah, with Jerusalem as the capital; and Israel, with Samaria as the capital. The two kingdoms spent much of the next 300 years fighting one another, like two siblings squabbling over their father’s inheritance. Israel was eventually conquered by the Assyrians, who scattered the Israelites and re-settled the area with other conquered people. The Samaritans (so named after their capital) retained some of the culture and religion as the Jews, but mixed with lots of outside influences. The bitter sibling rivalry continued to the time of Jesus, and was mixed with fights about the purity of their religion: the Jews criticized the Samaritans for their syncretism, and the Samaritans responded defensively. The Jews lived in Judea and Galilee, and Samaria lay in between the two; so Jesus is cutting through Samaria to get from Galilee to Judea.

• ‘because he was heading for Jerusalem’—whether or not proper worship of God could happen only in Jerusalem was one of the biggest disagreements between Jews and Samaritans. The Samaritans aren’t so keen to support Jewish pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

• ‘do you want us to call fire down from heaven?’—shaking the dust off their feet is too subtle for them. They want fire. But Jesus didn’t come to bring fire; he came to bring freedom and healing. His followers are called to bless those who curse them (Luke 6: 28), not burn them. Ever since the crowd interrupted their vacation, the disciples have had difficulty imitating their Father by showing mercy and generosity.

• ‘first let me bury my father’—this person may be asking more than just, ‘Can I go to my father’s funeral?’ It could be that his father is still alive and well, but he wants to wait until his father’s death to follow. Similarly, the next man might be saying, ‘Let me get my affairs in order,’ rather than just, ‘Is it alright if I say goodbye?’ The point of these three interactions is that following Jesus can’t be fit in around other commitments; it’s the top priority, the choice which affects all your other choices. Up until now, Jesus has been drawing huge crowds and welcoming everyone who comes; now, he’s doing some winnowing. As he makes his way to confrontation with the leaders in Jerusalem, he wants to make sure people know the stakes when they decide to follow him.

Taking it home:

• For you and your family: Jesus commands us to heal the sick and to free people from spiritual oppression, but often our ability does not match our assignment. Pray that Jesus would increase your ability to bring freedom from sickness and evil spirits to the people around you.

• For your friends: Many people have a great deal of respect for Jesus’ teaching, but they have a hard time understanding his death or believing in his resurrection. That’s no big surprise: Jesus’ followers were the exact same way, until they’d actually seen Jesus die and rise again. Is Jesus’ death or resurrection something getting in the way of any of your friends believing in him? The big mistake the disciples make is not asking the questions they have. Pray that your friends would have the faith, the interest, and the boldness to ask their questions about the meaning of Jesus’ death.

• For our city: Ask God to do something amazing in our city in our generation. On behalf of our city, turn around from unbelief and ask God for more faith. Pray that the paths of our hearts would be straightened so that Jesus can bring to us the good things he wants for our city.