Luke 9:10-36

Following Jesus

What does it take to follow Jesus? Over my lifetime, I have heard probably 1000 sermons on following Jesus. There’s a lot to be said on the topic and, if we’re honest, every sermon we hear will touch on how to follow Jesus in one way or another. These next few passages help us understand what it takes to be a true follower of Christ.

Vs 10-17 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all that they had done. He took them along and withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out, they followed Him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and cured those who needed healing. Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.” “You give them something to eat,” He told them. “We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.” (For about 5,000 men were there.) Then He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.” They did so, and had them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces.

How many of us have heard this story a few times in Sunday School? Probably quite a few! When I was a child, my parents bought me a set of picture books about the miracles of Jesus. I still remember them to this day. The one about the feeding of 5000 had a young boy bringing his lunch to Jesus. In my young mind of around 4 or 5, I thought he was the only smart one in the crowd. Didn’t anyone else think about bringing lunch? (The small boy actually comes from this same story in John 6.) In both accounts, Jesus asks the disciples to feed the people. They couldn’t grasp how that was even possible. So, Jesus shows them. He takes this boys modest lunch and turns it into a feast from heaven for the masses. There was so much food, they took up 12 baskets of leftovers!

We do not know the actual number of people Jesus fed that day, as we only know the number of men. It was probably more than twice that number when you add in women and children. It was an amazing miracle. One can’t really fault the disciples for wanting to send the people away to get something to eat. They were concerned for the their well-being and couldn’t conceive of feeding everyone with so little resources. And here is where being a follower of Jesus comes in. Jesus says to us, “you feed them”. Who me? What? How? To be a follower of Christ, we must be a people who believe God can, and will, do the impossible. He is a God of miracles. Chris McClarney has written a song called God of Miracles. The first verse and chorus go like this: Let faith arise. In spite of what I see Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. I choose to trust You no matter what I feel. Let faith arise. God of miracles come. We need Your supernatural love to break through. Nothing’s impossible. You’re the God of miracles. He is the God of miracles. He is the God of the impossible. Throughout Scripture we have example upon example this: the parting of the Red Sea, three men rescued from a burning pit, the closing of the mouth’s of lions, people being healed, the dead being raised… and here, the hungry go away full. We follow an Almighty God who does the impossible, and He empowers us to do the same. What does it take to follow Jesus? Believing that the impossible is possible.

Vs 18-22 While He was praying in private and His disciples were with Him, He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back.”“But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah!”But He strictly warned and instructed them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”

People all over were trying to understand who Jesus was. They knew He was powerful, a man who did miracles and a prophet, so they thought maybe the spirit of John the Baptist had come upon Him, or maybe He was Elijah come back as promised. Jesus asks His disciples – “who do you say that I am?” Of course it is Peter who jumps in with the answer! “You are God’s Messiah! He is right. But, we have to stop and think, what is their vision of the Messiah? For most, it was a mighty warrior who would come and rescue them from their current strife – that being the Romans at the time. Everything Jesus has done so far shows this. Sign after sign – changing water into wine, healing the sick, feeding people, calming the storm… They believed Jesus was leading up to a great and mighty work – against the government that was currently controlling their lives. Past history would back this up. Every time the people would become enslaved by another empire, God would rescue them. The Messiah was going to finally rescue them forever. And He was, just not in the way they thought. So He tells them outright – I have to suffer many things. I will be rejected by everyone religious. I will die – but – I will then be raised on the third day. In this statement, Jesus redefines what the Messiah is. He is the suffering servant who will triumph over sin and death. To follow Jesus means we follow the One who has suffered and died. In order to redeem us, He had to be the sacrificial Lamb of God. We follow the One who has walked willingly to death and then triumphantly been raised to life. His next words define for us, what else it takes to follow Him.

Vs 23-27 Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels. I tell you the truth: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

These are hard words. Impossible words. Deny ourselves? Take up a cross? Lose our life? What? The Greek word for deny is arnéomai which means to refuse to identify with, or to disown. We are to refuse to identify with ourselves and, instead, identify with Christ. In doing that, we become like Him. We take on the mind, or attitude of Christ. Paul says in Philippians 2:5-11; “Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Here we find words like emptied Himself, humbled Himself, obedience… Pretty all consuming. Jesus is not asking us to do anything He hasn’t already done. He is only asking us to do the same. To be like Him. When the disciples heard Jesus say, take up your cross, they knew what that meant. In the Roman world, when a man was sentenced to die on a cross, he has to carry it to the place of death. It was a one way journey. There was no going back. Jesus was asking them and us to make a one way journey with Him. The song that comes to mind is: I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. When we follow Jesus, we must refuse to identify with ourselves, get ready for a one way journey with Christ and start to follow. The journey may take you to places you never dreamed of and find you doing things you never thought possible. But you must say, “wherever He leads I’ll go.”

Jesus then explains why it is so important for His disciples to follow Him on this one way journey. If we lose this life – deny ourselves – we will save ourselves. It doesn’t seem to make much sense. Lose your life to gain it? In all reality, there is no resurrection unless there is first death. Christ had to die before He rose from the dead. We have to die so we can resurrect to life. Jesus explains further – What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? It doesn’t make sense to gain everything in this world only to find emptiness in the end. What does it take to follow Jesus? Deny ourselves, humble ourselves, obey God in all things and ready ourselves for a one way journey.

Vs 28-36 About eight days after these words, He took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men were talking with Him—Moses and Elijah. They appeared in glory and were speaking of His death, which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and those with him were in a deep sleep, and when they became fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him. As the two men were departing from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came from the cloud, saying: This is My Son, the Chosen One; listen to Him! After the voice had spoken, only Jesus was found. They kept silent, and in those days told no one what they had seen.

In this passage, Jesus shows His disciples, and us, the end result of following Him. I want to point out that this event took place about 8 days after Jesus talks with His disciples about what it means to follow Him. This is significant. From the book of John, we find the feeding of the 5000 took place right before Passover. Passover lasts for 8 days and on the 8^th day there is a little known event called the Gebrokts and Moshiach’s feast. Gebrokts is the wine soaked matzah and Moshiach means Messiah. This is an amazing picture – the Bread of Life has bled and died for us and has now been resurrected. He is the Messiah, the One who has come to redeem us. Here we have Jesus being transfigured in all His glory. He is the Moshiach, who Peter had proclaimed. Moses and Elijah appear with Him and speak of his impending death. He is our Gebrokts – the Bread of Life who has died for us. We follow the risen Savior who is King of kings, Lord of lords, the Prince of peace, the Almighty God.

What does it take to follow Jesus? We must trust that He will do the impossible, and will empower us to do the same. We must believe that the impossible is possible. After all, we follow the Messiah who has willing walked to his death and has been raised again to life. The impossible is really possible! We must also refuse to identify with ourselves and, instead, identify with Christ. Have the mind of Christ – humble, obedient, willing to die. We die to ourselves so we can walk with Him on a one way journey to life. We follow the Gebrokts Moshiach, the Messiah who has suffered and died for our redemption. Following Jesus is THE great adventure. It is THE experience of a lifetime and eternity. When we follow Jesus, we will see Him in all His glory. We will be experience things in this life that we never thought possible. Wherever He leads, I’ll go.