The Price Of Discipleship
Notes
Transcript
The Price Of Discipleship
Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him.
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”
And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.
And He wondered at their unbelief.
And He was going around the villages teaching.
And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;
and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt—
but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.”
And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.
“Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.”
They went out and preached that men should repent.
And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.
And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”
But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”
For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.
For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so;
for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.
A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee;
and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”
And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.”
And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.
Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,
and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.
The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.
And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)
They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.
I. Introduction
a. We saw that Jesus had come back from coming from dealing with the Gerasene demoniac.
b. Was met by big crowds and was asked by Jairus, a synagogue officail to come heal his only daughter.
c. While on his way he was touched by a woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years and was healed.
d. We saw how Jesus went in and raised Jarius’ daughter from the dead.
e. We saw that these unwavering faith they had in Jesus’ to heal them.
II. Teaching at Nazareth
a. The attitude of the people, towards His claim of being the Messiah.
Luke 4:16–22 (NASB95): 16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
i. Where did He get this teaching, we saw Him grow up
ii. Where did He get this wisdom?
iii. Who gave you power to heal and do miracles
b. Their perception of Him
i. 30 years of age is the age that one is attained a position of respect
ii. Son of Mary, instead of referred to as the son of Joseph
iii. Lived in the poor part of town, mother of Constantine built a church over the cave that was supposed be Jesus’ home in Nazareth.
c. Most ardent adversaries is the ones in your own household
Matthew 10:35–36 (NASB95): 35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
III. The Twelve Sent Out
a. Power and Authority come from Jesus
i. Jesus gave them power and authority to heal
ii. The deliverance is not in the apostle, it is from Jesus Christ
b. Total reliance on Jesus
i. Take nothing for the journey
No food
No money
No extra clothes
Why because they needed to totally have faith in God that He was going to provide for them
c. The Message
i. Repentance and believe the gospel
ii. What to do if the message is rejected
When Jews would come from a foriegn land they would take their sandels off and pound the dust off as a symbol of being unclean.
So the disciples were to do this to show as testimony
Mark 6:11 (NASB95): 11 “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.”
IV. John’s Fate Recalled
a. Why was he not liked by Hérodias
i. Herodias was married to Herod Phillip the brother Antipas. She divorced Phillip and then married Antipas and John the Baptist called them on how this was sin.
b. How Herod protected John
i. Herod Antipas was a very superstitious individual, especially saying that John the Baptist is risen from the dead.
ii. You see that Antipas had horrible guilt for having him beheaded.
iii. Herod protected John from Herodias. Also he would have John brought in front of him and told John to start preaching. Herold actually enjoyed listening to him.
c. The beheading
i. Now Herodias had a daughter, Salome, from her marriage with Phillip.
ii. During a big banquet Salome danced for Herod and it really pleased him. Now history is not to kind to Herod and has indicated the Herod was a very depraved and perverted individual.
iii. Probably in a half drunken stupor and being caught up in the perverted elation of the moment, made a promise to the girl.
iv. You can see the horrible regret he had when she asked for John’s head on a platter.
v. But you see the price sometimes that we being disciples of Jesus Christ we must pay. In John’s case it cost him his life.
V. Summary
a. We need to understand that our master, performing miracles, had many people reject Him and His message. If they rejected His message then don’t be surprised that people reject the message you are sharing.
b. Even if we see miracles happen, that is no guarantee that people will believe and respond to the message of the gospel.
c. Luke 16:29–31 (NASB95): 29 “But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’
31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
d. Remember the power of the gospel, power of our message, the power and authority we walk in, is from Jesus Christ and not our own power. The power is not something that we possess within ourselves, but it comes from Christ.
e. We need to remember that we need to trust Jesus Christ and have our whole reliance upon Him.
f. There will be varying degrees of persecution and sacrifice one will be called upon to give in defence of the gospel, that could be even death itself.