If you will open your Bibles please to the book of Luke. Yes, you heard me right, we are getting back into the book of Luke. Its been several months since we have been in Luke, so I will give a quick recap to remind us of the overall theme and purpose of this book.
This book is written by Luke the physician to a Man named Thoephilus. We see in the very beginning of the book that the purpose is so that Theo will be certain of the things he has been taught. This is intended to be an historical account of the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke did his research, and talked to lots of witnesses. So, this account is meant to give us an accurate representation of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Now, its not so that we may have academic knowledge of Jesus, but so that we may experience the risen Christ.
Now, before we get into this text, let me ask you this question. In general, do you consider yourself more spiritual than Jesus’ disciples, or less spiritual than them? Ok, now I am assuming we are all saying that the disciples are more spiritual than us. ok, if you are struggling with that, let me remind you that your name is not in the Bible. If we are on the same page now, we must remember this as we read the text for today.

Now, what we have just read is an account of several different instances involving Jesus, HIs disciples and other people. While there is a lot going on here, I would suggest that if we take these stories together, we see that really the Other people in these stories are just there, but the main characters are Jesus and His disciples. Especially if you remember that the last thing that happened before this group of events is that Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on the mount of transfiguration, and they saw his glory revealed in a way like no other people had seen on earth. They saw Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus. They heard the voice of God saying that Jesus was His son. This was an huge event in their lives. You might call this a mountain top experience, right? Now, in this description of the events that unfolded immediately after this mountain top experience, we see several things that bear out as reminders for us of the truth that no matter where we have been with Jesus, there is still a lot of work for him to do with us.
Essentially, these are depictions of His disciples not getting it, and Jesus correcting them along the way, and still fulfilling His mission. This text I believe is really a call to humble ourselves, and be in awe of Jesus! What I want to draw out from this text is this: Citizenship in the Kingdom of God requires humility. If we are going to grow in our walk with Christ, we must remember that this is not about us.
We lack faith. Its not about your strength.
We lack understanding, and are afraid to ask. Its not about your knowledge.
We desire power over our brothers and sisters. Its not about our recognition.
We are jealous over other’s success. Its not about “our Team”
We want to destroy our perceived enemies. Its not about our vindication.
We want to keep our worldly attachments. Its not about our to do list.

Now lets look at how Jesus dealt with these issues that arose in His disciples and think about how he might deal with them in our hearts today.

Jesus Rebuked His disciples and healed the child. It is about the majesty of God.
Jesus actually concealed the truth from them in this instance. It is about Jesus fulfilling His work
Jesus elevated the worth of a child and redefined greatness. It is about elevating the humble.
Jesus squashed rivalry. It is about Jesus’ team.
Jesus rebuked his disciples for wanting to destroy the town. It is about
Jesus asked His disciples to follow him and not look back