A Path for Mercy in the Beginning, Middle and End

Luke 9:49-50

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

Mark 9:38-51

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us - Jealousy

casting out demons in your name... The disciples had very recently failed to do this very thing when the returned to Caesarea Philippi. Jesus had to heal the fathers demon possessed son when they failed too. Did you notice whose name the man who was delivering people did it in, Jesus’s name. He was preforming the work of the Kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus

and we tried to stop him… Yet the disciples tired to stop Him. Can you see the jealousy here? They failed to do it so this guy shouldn’t be doing it.

Jealousy in the bible immediately brings one particular account to mind. Cain and Able

Genesis 4:1–8 “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

Cains jealousy.… It was Cains jealousy over the Gods favor of his brother Able that led to Able’s murder.

The sins that were turning points... From the time the disciples leave the Caesarea Philippi to the time they reach Capernaum we see them displaying the two sins that I would say were the most destructive to mankind. Pride, which lead to the spiritual death of Adam, Eve in the garden, and everyone else to follow, and jealousy, with Cain and Able, where mankind began physically killing each other.

Mark 9:38 because he was not following us… Did you catch the end of Mark 38, because he was not following us. In other words he hadn’t done His time. He hasn’t paid his dues. He’s not ready to deliver people. The disciples were worried about their own honor and pride and became jealous. But God honors those that honor Him.

What did God tell Cain… If you do well, will you not be accepted? Do not miss interpret that statement. It does not say if you are perfect. If you do well, if your heart and your actions match each other. Cains actions may have seemed honoring but his heart did not reflect honor.

John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

Spirit and Truth… The man they tried to stop, met the demon possessed, in the Spirit of Mercy with the truth of Jesus Christ. He was genuinely worshipping God. He was walking what Jesus had been modeling but the disciples had yet to pickup.

the one who is not against us is for us.… In-fighting amongst Gods people began before the church was even established. It has not place in the Kingdom of God. I’m not talking about disagreements regarding truth, we are supposed to fight if necessary to protect the truth. But the need to be right, for the sake of being right, is destructive. We should be united in purpose, underneath one name, Jesus Christ. This brings to mind the denomination wars that I have seen occur between church bodies. If you brother serves Jesus Christ that's the important first step. We can work through the rest of it as we go.

whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.… The end of Jesus’s response in MARK 9: 41 further reveals the motivation behind Johns question. Jesus teaches the smallest reward you earn from your Heavenly Father is yours to keep, its not something another can take. Cain did not take his brothers blessing, he failed to walk into his own blessing. The way of the world is take take take. To take someone must lose, but that is not the way the Kingdom of Gods works. In Gods house there is more than enough for all His children.

Why speak on rewards...The question you need to ask yourself is why? Why is that His response. Why does Jesus tell them they will lose none of their rewards in response to John telling Him they tried to stop someone from casting demons out in His name?

Jesus knew their Motives… Jesus sees things and understands things at the level of the human heart that we don't. All along He could see the motivation behind their conversation. Their motivation in this conversation is the same as it was during their argument with each other about who would be greatest on their way back to Capernaum.

So what was that motive?.… Their motive was what can I get out of the Kingdom of God? What's in it for me?

God came to serve us… Jesus came to serve us, but more importantly He came to serve the Father.

Matthew 20:25–28 “But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

He served, so we could serve… He didn’t come to serve us so that we could continue doing what we have been doing all along, which is serving ourselves. He came to set us free. One of the greatest freedoms you will ever experience is freedom from yourself. Freedom from everything needing to be for you and about you. The freedom to return to a life where you “Love the Lord your God with all your heart your soul and mind. And love your neighbors as yourself”.

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus - Vengeance

Luke 9:51-56

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, He set his face to go to Jerusalem… This was the beginning of His journey to the cross and He knew it. Can you sense the gravity in those words? How heavily it must have weighed upon Him as He consciously made the decision to willing walk into suffering of the cross.

Samaritans, did not receive him, because His face was set to go to Jerusalem… This is yet another sad example of Gods people fighting amongst themselves to the point the completely miss their purpose.

Samaritans… The Samaritans were viewed by the Jews in Judah as a mixed race of idol worshippers. Those Samaritans who did worship God did so on Mount Gerizim in Samaria and not Jerusalem. They argued that their mountain was the legitimate place to worship God.

The Samaritans argued their chance away… The Samaritans were so busy maintaining their argument with their Judean brothers they missed their opportunity to receive Jesus Christ their Messiah. Their argument with the Northern Kingdom of Israel was primarily one about how they should worship God. And yet their continued argument about how to worship God led to them turning their God away when He would have visited them in person.

Are there some arguments today that are similar… Doesn't this sound familiar. Our country seems to be at this point, not just the church. Entire groups of people are fighting their fights and forgetting that real people are involved. Even believers fight to the point they fail to walk out the most basic commands of God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them… Interestingly enough this occurred in old testament with the Prophet Elijah. Explain Elijah vs Ahaziah

The hard harts of John and James… John and James were not resisting the military forces of an evil King. They were simply offended that the inferior Samaritans would not receive their Master and them. So for that the decided a worthy punishment was death by heavenly fire.

The Pharisees, scribes, rulers of the temple... Does this remind you of any other particular groups within the bible? It does me. How about the entire religious system that had Jesus put to death because He wouldn’t play by their rules. At this point James an John are so used the the religious establishment they are behaving just like the leader’s who had Jesus crucified.

The good news.… You might thinking something along the lines of hey, these are our great forefathers of faith why are you tearing them down. The point behind these observations is to reveal just how broken we all are, without Jesus. How if Jesus would handpick these men, of all the men He can handpick, and transform them into the great fathers of faith they became, there is no argument that you or I can make about God not being able to do the same in us.

After Luke 9:55.… Some manuscripts add And he said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; 56for the Son of Man came not to destroy people’s lives but to save them”

Difference in source texts.… We can be certain as the the accuracy of the bible we read today do the the numerous ancient texts we have recovered. There are so many manuscripts saying the same or very near the same thing over enough different time periods, that there is certainty the text we now read remains largely whole to their original writings. There are however small variations in texts that have been found. Some of them are simple like spelling or punctuations differences while others are the occasional use of a different word . For example I could use the word hare, bunny or rabbit and you would all understand what I was talking about. There are also some rare instances in which a sentence or two are missing from texts that have been discovered. Some but not all of the ancient texts discovered of Luke record the later half of Luke verse 9:55.

Interpreting the word of God with the word of God… The rule of thumb for interpreting the word of God is using the rest of Gods Word to interpret it. Does what you believe the text says match what the rest of what Gods Word says? Does it match the spirit of Gods revelation of Jesus Christ. If it does not you either have misinterpreted what you read or what you reading is not the word of God. This is the measure I use on textual variations like Luke 9:55. This is why I believe the later half of Luke 9:55 is true and accurate but somehow missing from some manuscripts for any number of possible reasons.

manner of spirit you are of… The disciples were acting no different than the rulers, the Pharisees and the scribes. Two of the 12 closest men that Jesus handpicked to be the people He would train to be like Him chose vengeance as their response to people they thought they were spiritually superior too. The disciples were a mess. We are fortunate that this is not Gods spirit towards us one of vengeance. Gods Spirit is one of Mercy not Vengeance. We are fortunate that Gods desire is not vengeance, or none of us would receive mercy.

Zechariah 12:10 ““And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

Matthew 9:13 “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””

They were all missing the point of Jesus’s message.… MERCY, LOVE

For the Son of Man came not to destroy people’s lives but to save them”.… How does His response to the disciples end? For the Son of Man came not to destroy people’s lives but to save them”. Does this sound familiar?

John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Who wrote the book of John?... The apostle that Luke is recording Jesus making this statement too. It’s almost like he heard it from Jesus and then wrote it down in his own book. Sounds pretty plausible huh

The Cost of Following Jesus- Sacrifice

Luke 9:57-62

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I will follow you wherever you go... Some sought Jesus, and others Jesus sought out. But for all of them Jesus had a message. Following Him would come at a price.

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Foxes and birds… The symbolism of foxes and birds has significance in Jesus’s statement. The old testament tends to use jackals in the places where the new testament use foxes. Foxes and Jackals are used to describe wandering, wild carnivores who creep into areas of desolation and take advantage of the lack of protection. Particularly after Gods judgement comes. They seem to accompany evil men whose feet now tread on places that before held the protection of God, like Jerusalem and the temple.

Concerning birds God speaks through the psalmist as though He were a great bird who shelters His children under His wings of protection.

Ps 91:4–6.

4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

Luke 13:31–35 “At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ””

So here Jesus is heading into Jerusalem. The place they will crucify Him. The fox Herod, ultimately would not receive Jesus’s message there. Instead He would turn a blind eye to the injustice done to Jesus. The children of God, the Jewish followers who had been waiting for their Messiah, their Savior, for so long, would reject Him. God who came to save and protect them under His great wings they reject.

Not meant for this world… Jesus on His mission of sacrifice and mercy, would stop no where in this world. Because His mission was taking Him beyond this place, to the throne of Heaven, in His Fathers house. In the Fathers house is where Jesus is meant to lay His head so to speak. His Fathers house is His home.

The foxes and birds choose this world… The foxes of this world, the evil men, had chosen it. The children of this world, Gods people who He had lovingly chose, were comfortable with this world as well. They too rejected Jesus to remain here.

The cost… The cost that Jesus was demonstrating and illuding too, to follow Him, was anything and everything, that keeps a person from following Jesus to where He was going.

Good and bad.… Jesus is asking you and I to do more than just turn away from sin to follow Him. Jesus told followers on more than one occasion that even if you must separate yourself from family to follow Him that what you expected to do.

Jesus turned away family… Jesus, even though He loved His family and they thought He was crazy, left them to follow Gods mission for Him. Remember Jesus’s mother at one point sends His brothers after Him to come home and Jesus turns away their request.

Even your life… Jesus’s example was to give up everything necessary, even your very life. Jesus gave His up to reach the Father and save us. John the Baptist gave His life in pursuit of Gods call on His life. Its believed the only Apostle to not be killed for His faith after Jesus was crucified was John. And John the tried to kill but failed.

There is a common thread between these scriptures we have been through today....

A culture without mercy.… Mercy ties all these verses together.

CAIN & ABLE

The demon possessed people the man was delivering

John & James calling for fire to come down

Herod, the scribes, Pharisee's and religious rulers

Closing

Charlie Kirk...

Mercy is found in Jesus Christ our Lord.