No Looking Back Luke 9:51-62

A few years ago, Corrie and I had to take a trip to San Antonio.

When we told the kids where we were going, Levi asked if we could visit the Alamo.

What a remarkable story the Alamo has.

From Feb 23 to March 6, 1836 about 200 men defended this small mission.

Fighting for Texas’ independence from Mexico.

They were holding down the position against Santa Ana.

Santa Ana was bringing somewhere between 1800 to 6000 troops to fight against these 200 men.

But the Men of the Alamo weren’t going to back down.

They were standing their ground.

They weren’t going to look back.

They knew that the likelihood of survival was practically 0, yet they fought.

The Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of heroic resistance and sacrifice for the cause of Texan independence. The rallying cry "Remember the Alamo!" motivated the Texan forces in subsequent battles, leading to their victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, which secured Texas independence from Mexico.

There is something in the hearts of men that really loves a good story of a last stand.

We love heroism.

We love that people won’t back down.

We love the story of resilience in the face of overwhelming odds.

The Alamo is just one of hundreds of last stands that resonates in the hearts of men.

The Battle of Thermopylae.

King Leonidas and his 300 soldiers fighting against the Massive Persian Army and King Xerxes.

Battle of Little Big Horn aka Custer’s Last Stand.

Battle of the Neva.

D-Day.

The list could go on and on.

And though we may never be involved in A last stand like these, there is a point in our lives where we have to make a decision from which there is no turning back.

This morning we are going to see this in Jesus’ life.

Then he is going to call his disciples to making a stand and not turning back.

Luke 9:51, begins a new section in Luke’s gospel account.

I don’t know if you remember or not, but back when we did the introduction to Luke, I told you that the gospel is broken up into roughly 3 parts.

Jesus’ early ministry.

The Road to Jerusalem

And then the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

This is the second part of Jesus’ story as told by Luke.

For the most part, we won’t read about miracles.

Rather Jesus is going to be focused on his teaching and preaching ministry.

This is the part of the gospel where most of the parables are unique to Luke.

The call to discipleship weighs heavy in this section b/c each page we turn gets closer and closer to the purpose of Jesus’ Incarnation.

His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

Let’s pray and ask the Lord to open our hearts this morning.

Luke begins this new section of his gospel with these words.

Luke 9:51 CSB

51 When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

Determined Destination

The days were coming to a close for Jesus.

His days were numbered.

His time on earth was short.

His very purpose for coming to earth was drawing near.

Now, I want us to know that Jesus’ journey wasn’t immediately coming to a close.

Rather just the time was drawing near.

He’s still got work to do.

He’s still got a gospel to preach.

He’s still got a mission to fulfill, but nevertheless, the inevitable was on the horizon.

What does Luke mean though, by being taken up.

It’s an interesting word Choice.

This is the only time that this particular Greek Word is used.

However, there is another word similar to it that is used a couple of times and refers not to Jesus’ crucifixion, but to his ascension.

We have to remember that though his journey to Jerusalem is about his death and resurrection.

That’s not the end of the story.

He is going to ascend back to his glorious throne.

That return to glory wasn’t going to happen outside of his willing sacrifice.

But it will happen.

But for all these things to occur Jesus had to go to Jerusalem.

So we are told at the end of that verse that Jesus determined to journey to Jerusalem.

The literal translation was that “he set his face toward Jerusalem.”

Jesus knew the place he was going.

He knew the route to glory.

And Jerusalem was the destination on that journey.

What does setting his face mean?

It means that Jesus is determined, resolved, and purposeful in his pursuit of his mission.

He wasn’t going to let anything side track him from accomplishing what he set out to do.

He knows the dangers that lie ahead and yet he is unwavering in his determination to go to Jerusalem.

And how did Jesus react in the face of his pending death.

Jesus is not going to turn aside or look back as he journey’s forward.

He is going to make his last stand.

He isn’t going to look back.

He is determined to accomplish his work.

This is how much Jesus wanted to save you and me.

He looked at the cross.

He looked at the suffering.

He looked at all that he would have to endure and said, “I am determined to follow through. I am determined to die so that others might come to the father.”

Regardless of the pain, suffering, betrayal, and difficulty of the road ahead, Jesus is unwavering in his commitment to fixing what humanity messed up.

Jesus isn’t going to accidently stumble into the salvation of his people.

No, he set his face toward suffering.

He set his face toward death.

He is determined to die.

He set his face toward enduring the wrath of God for you and for me.

Jesus here is setting the example for all his followers to live by.

We are called to be willing to lay it all on the line for the Lord.

We set our face toward Jesus and pursue with ruthless persistence.

I love what the author of Hebrews says

Hebrews 12:1–2 “1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus knew that on the road to Jerusalem he was going to face difficulties.

He knew that he was going to face obstacles.

He knew that the road ahead wasn’t going to be paved with gold.

But b/c he was resilient and determined he didn’t let these obstacles get in the way.

And he hits the first hiccup right off the bat.

Luke 9:52–53 CSB

52 He sent messengers ahead of himself, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him. 53 But they did not welcome him, because he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

Rejection

As Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.

He wanted to pass through and spend some time in Samaria.

So he sent some people ahead of him to prepare the way for him.

He traveled with at least 12 guys so they would need some lodging, some food, and other accommodations.

However, the Samaritans didn’t want Jesus to stay there.

Why wouldn’t they open their doors for this traveling rabbi.

There was some extreme tension between the Jewish people and the Samaritans.

Think like the Hatfield's and McCoy's, Montague's and Capulet's, or the wizards of pure blood and those of mixed blood.

I think I hit all the generations.

Just a little backstory to why this tension exists.

The Samaritans started to exist after Israel Split into two kingdoms.

The Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom

What happened were the Jewish people of Northern Kingdom intermarried with foreigners and began their own derived religion from Judaism.

So there was a little bit of racism that was in play as to why they wouldn't let Jesus pass through, but Luke also tells us that b/c they knew he was going to Jerusalem they wouldn’t accommodate him.

They hated Jerusalem and all that it stood for.

The Samaritans believed that the Jerusalem temple and priesthood were illegitimate.

Instead, they believed that true worship happens on Mount Gerizim in Samaria.

So they didn’t want to accommodate him.

He had to find another place stay.

He didn’t let this obstacle stop him from continuing on his mission.

This is important for the disciples and even us to comprehend.

Just b/c we are in the will of the Lord doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy.

We have this distorted view that doing what God asks us to do will mean that it will go off without a hitch.

However, all we have to do is look at the life of Jesus and lives of his followers to know that this simply isn’t true.

Sometimes doing what God has called us to do will be hard.

We will face rejection.

We will face opposition.

But we cannot give up.

We must press on.

Jesus set the example for us to follow.

And yet sometimes we fail and we fail hard.

We see this in the life of his disciples.

Luke 9:54–56 CSB

54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village.

Response to Rejection

James and John didn’t like the rejection they recieved at the hands of the Samaritans.

They wanted to get revenge.

They wanted to rain down fire on those people.

What an overreaction from these two.

But remember there is no loved lost between these two camps.

Neither group liked the other.

But this is the incorrect response to rejection.

When the disciples faced rejection they should desire to destroy, they should simply move on.

At the heart of Jesus’ rebuke here is an upholding of his ethic.

Listen it’s easy to want to rain down judgment on those that reject us.

It’s easy to want to destroy those who are against us.

But the ethic of Jesus is not to seek destruction, but to promote reconciliation.

There will be a day of Judgement for those who reject Jesus, but we shouldn’t desire to speed it along.

Instead we should seek to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us.

That’s what Jesus told these guys just earlier in their ministry

While he was teaching and preaching in Luke 6, he told his followers that they were supposed to run contrary to the world.

They were supposed to radically love those who hate them.

But James and John don’t get that.

I guess that’s one of the reasons that Jesus gives them the nickname “sons of thunder.”

This desire to hurt those who hurt us is something that needs to be killed within us.

Our flesh needs to die to this revenge seeking mindset.

We must remember that vengeance isn’t ours it’s the Lords.

I’ll admit it’s hard.

I’ll admit it’s much more desirable for our flesh to seek to punish those who have hurt us.

But Jesus calls us to deny ourselves.

To give up our right to seek revenge.

We trust that the Lord is going to uphold justice through his righteous actions.

It is not for us to do.

I do want to commend James and John on 2 things real quick.

First, their faith was on display.

They truly believed that if they asked the Lord to rain down fire from heaven that he would do it.

They do have an example of this happening in the OT.

Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume an altar and it happened.

So they know that God is capable of this type of action and believed he would do it if they asked.

This is type of faith we need.

Not for the destruction of our enemies, but for their salvation.

We need to believe that if we pray for our enemies to know the Lord that he will accomplish it.

Unfortunately, too often we desire the destruction of those we perceive to be our enemy more than we desire their salvation.

But what we should be doing is praying that those who don’t know the Lord will come to know him.

We must remember that as Ephesians 6:12 “12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.”

Second, I love their zeal for Jesus and for his work.

They were passionate. They were enthusiastic.

They were set on fire for the mission of God.

However, the manifestation of their zeal was unrighteous.

We need to have hearts that are passionate with the things of God.

We need a zeal for God’s glory.

We need to stand up for what’s right.

AND, we need to balance our passion and zeal with God’s compassion

I love what theologian J.C. Ryle said:

It is possible to have much zeal for Christ, and yet to exhibit it in most unholy and unchristian ways. It is possible to mean well and have good intentions, and yet to make most grievous mistakes in our actions. It is possible to fancy that we have Scripture on our side, and to support our conduct by Scriptural quotations, and yet to commit serious errors. It is clear as daylight, from this and other cases related in the Bible, that it is not enough to be zealous and well-meaning. Very grave faults are frequently committed with good intentions. From no quarter perhaps has the Church received so much injury as from ignorant but well-meaning men.

We need more than good intentions, we need righteous actions.

Here’s the good news, this is something that we can grow in as we continue to follow Jesus.

We have this example for John’s life.

He goes from the one who wants to destroy a town of Samaritans to the apostle who preaches, teaches, and demonstrates love, compassion, and kindness.

His letters to the church are dripping with the Love of God.

So his zeal for Jesus was pointed in the direction of love for people.

Love for God became one of his greatest themes of his ministry.

Not only that, but we read in Acts that John and Peter make their way to Samaria to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.

Acts 8:25 “25 So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

We aren’t sure if John ever went back to the village that he wanted to destroy, but we are sure that his heart toward the Samaritans changed.

That was due to his desire to make much of Jesus.

To follow him where ever he leads.

and a commitment to loving him more deeply and serving him more fully.

John’s heart really embraced the Christian Ethic of loving his enemies and praying for those who persecuted him.

That’s the thing about following Jesus it will change everything.

If you are walking closely to him, your entire heart, mind, and attitude will change.

You will desire that those far from him will draw close, praying for an opportunity to be that light in the darkness.

Conforming to the life that Jesus calls us to is not easy.

In fact, he promises that it will be hard.

So we have to count the cost and know that if we desire to follow Jesus he takes top priority.

Which is what we see in the next few verses.

Luke 9:57–62 CSB

57 As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 Then he said to another, “Follow me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” 60 But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Wholly Committed

As Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, he doesn’t stop teaching and preaching.

He has set his face toward his final destination, but he’s still got a lot of ministry to do.

And here we get 3 different people who approach Jesus to ask to follow him

And Jesus lays out to them the cost and commitment required to be his disciple.

The first one comes to Jesus and says “I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

To which Jesus replies, “I don’t have a place to live.”

Implying that following him will cause the creature comforts that we seek to be in jeopardy.

Jesus isn’t saying that we need to be homeless to follow after him.

However, he is warning that he is following him, imitating him will always cause us to be the outcast.

We will live as outcasts b/c we will live a life of sacrifice.

Offering our all and best to him.

This goes back to what I mentioned earlier.

There’s a lie in the church today that says if you follow Jesus everything will be good.

All your problems will go away.

That there will be no difficulty of life as long as you follow him.

To which Jesus tells us the complete opposite.

There will be those who hate us.

We will not be welcome by some people.

We will be outcast and shut-out.

Jesus message to this man and to us is this, “I love you and have difficult plans for your life.”

Yes, he will be with us to comfort and sustain us, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy and comfortable.

So how committed are you to following him no matter the cost?

And not only do you need to be willing to endure the lack of comfort that comes with following Jesus, but a call to follow him is also a call to make him the number one priority over all things.

Jesus calls another man to follow him.

But he wants to negotiate the terms of his discipleship.

“First, let me go bury my father.”

Do you see, he’s trying to determine the grounds of his following Jesus.

Most likely this man’s father hadn’t died yet.

So he’s not talking about a 24-72 hour delay.

No, his father is getting older and there’s no time table on when he will die.

So this delay is indefinite.

For the Jewish People this was a calling of their children.

It was seen as the good and right thing to do to make sure that the parents are properly cared for after they die.

This was an act of honor.

And honoring our parents is one of the 10 commandments

Taking care of our parents in their old age is a good and right thing.

But Jesus can see into the heart of this man.

He can discern the true intentions of the soul.

and he discerns that this man is using his obligations to his parents as a priority over Jesus.

He is building an excuse for not following Jesus immediately.

Regardless, this was one reason among many to delay following Jesus.

Sometimes the delay to follow Jesus isn’t b/c of bad things.

What hinders us from following Jesus and placing him as a priority can be sinful desires and behavior.

But other times its taking good things and making them God things.

Our discernment when it comes to following Jesus doesn’t have to be between good and bad.

We know what it good and we know what is bad.

The difficulty is knowing the difference between what’s good and what’s best.

This man taking care of his family is good.

But following Jesus is best.

In fact, Jesus says some harsh words as a response to this man.

and they may even cause us to bristle a little bit.

Luke 9:60 “60 But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.””

The simple thing that Jesus says here is this.

Unbelievers can take care of other unbelievers, but to follow me you must be bought in.

You must go and preach the word of God even if it goes against normal conventions.

Even if you think that there is something you should be doing.

The proclamation of the Kingdom of God is of the utmost importance.

This is where we need to notice that Jesus is doubling down.

To follow him means that he is first and there’s nothing else that even comes close.

Not even good things.

The urgency of the gospel is that there is no time to delay.

We can’t put it off one more day even for a good thing.

We must recognize the urgency with which Jesus is calling us.

The final vignette is that of a man who wants to follow Jesus, but “first” he wants to say good bye to his family.

Sounds like a reasonable request.

But Jesus tells this man not to look back.

The future is forward.

Presumably by Jesus’ response this man was going to go back to his family and want to stay there.

He wouldn’t want to move forward following Jesus.

He would consistently look back from where he’s come causing wonky discipleship.

When a farmer is plowing his field he must keep looking forward b/c if he looks backwards only seeing where he’s been then the tilled lines will end up zigzagging all over the place.

The straight line to follow is to keep our eyes on Jesus not ever hoping to move back.

Not ever wanting to go back to the way things were.

When following Jesus we can’t hang on to the past life, we must embrace the new life he’s called us to.

So what does all this mean for us?

First, if you are a follower of Jesus we need to imitate Jesus in our devotion to his calling on our lives.

Knowing that we will face rejection.

We will walk a hard road.

And that the life of a disciple is not one of comfort but one of sacrifice.

We follow Jesus living just as he did proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Letting others know both the beauty and cost of discipleship.

Second, If you haven’t given your life to Jesus.

Today’s the day don’t delay.

Get rid of all the excuses and know that though following him may be difficult, his love, grace, mercy and forgiveness make it worth it.

Don’t look back.

Let’s pray.