How Much Does it Matter...?

Scripture

Luke 21:37–38 LEB

So throughout the days he was teaching in the temple courts, and throughout the nights he was going out and spending the night on the hill that is called the Mount of Olives. And all the people were getting up very early in the morning to come to him in the temple courts to listen to him.

Introduction

These two short verses are kind of sandwiched between Jesus’s teaching and his arrest and murder. This is the last week of Jesus’s life. He has spent the week aggressively teaching all around the city. In Luke’s gospel, these verses are proceeded by difficult teachings that were prophetic in nature. The teachings were about the end times, persecution, and the need to be strong and diligent. The key points of Jesus’s teaching just prior to this were to be on watch and constantly pray.

Following the verses things take a turn and it is the beginning of the end, with the concerted effort of the authorities to corner Jesus and have him arrested. Some bibles label the next section as “Satan Enters In.” These two verses signal a shift from preparing to enduring. Jesus has spent the last three years teaching and preparing his followers for what was to come. Beginning with chapter 22 things get very difficult!

Transition

There are four key points I want to look at in connection with these verses.

Jesus shows two important attributes of leadership in ministry.

First, He taught. He taught at every opportunity and he taught with full honesty.

Secondly, He made sure he had sufficient rest and time for himself and his friends.

The crowds showed us two important attributes of being a follower.

First, they were eager. The got up at first light and sought Jesus out.

Secondly, they listened to what Jesus said. They may not have fully understood, but they did show up and try to understand.

Leadership

Teacher

Jesus taught. He taught frequently and fully.

Clearly teacher was a primary function of Jesus’s ministry. Of the 90 times Jesus was addressed directly in the gospels, 60 times he was called Teacher. Scottish theologian James Stuart said, “The teaching of Jesus has had a power and an effect with which the influence of no other teacher can even for a moment be compared.” When Jesus had finished giving the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew tells us the crowds were so amazed at his teaching because “he taught as one having authority, not as the teachers of the law” (Matthew 7:29). The rabbis quoted each other, but Jesus spoke the true and authoritative words of God.

He never entered a classroom as we know a classroom. He never had a degree as we understand an educational degree, yet all the world was his classroom. No degreed teacher did anything greater than what Jesus Christ did. He was truly and absolutely the Master Teacher and the greatest teacher of all time. - Ray Pritchard

Jesus taught with parables, using our innate interest in stories to draw us in. He gave us an opportunity to find ourselves in the story and find truth without feeling attacked. Unless you weren’t there to learn. Just ask the phrases who tried to trap Jesus with mind games!

Jesus also taught by example. Often he would engage in behavior that drew negative attention from the religious leaders. For example, Jesus healed on the Sabbath. On the surface, I would think this was not a problem, but it created all kinds of legalistic issues because it violated their understanding of Torah. Then Jesus took it a step further and clearly asserted his sovereignty over the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:9–14 LEB

And going on from there he came into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?” in order that they could accuse him. But he said to them, “What man will there be among you who will have one sheep and if this one fell into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Then to what degree is a man worth more than a sheep? So then, it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand,” and he stretched it out, and it was restored as healthy as the other one. But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him in order that they could destroy him.

That was a teaching moment. Jesus seemed to always be teaching.

Rest

There are a lot of examples of Jesus withdrawing to a place of rest. Sometimes it was successful and sometimes it wasn’t. Sometimes the crowds followed him. I always have this image of Jesus trying to get some peace and quiet like the parent of a small child that just won’t stop asking questions and needing “one more thing.” I suspect that Jesus was exhausted much of the time. One of my favorite 80’s musicians wrote that Jesus “… went down tired and woke up hungry.” Jesus struggled to get rest, but he made an effort to do so.

Here in the last week of his life, Jesus is very intentional in withdrawing to the Mount of Olives every evening. The word used in this verse suggests camping out and sleeping under the stars. It can be translated as “bivouac.” There is an implication that Jesus is there with his friends relaxing as the sun sets and the cooler night air moves in. It is almost an idyllic scene. Except that it is set against the backdrop of Jesus’s death. Even in this situation, Jesus demonstrates the value of rest.

You see, rest is an act of trust. When we rest we acknowledge that we don’t have to do everything. Rest is a recognition that the future is in God’s hands and that our lives are unfolding under God’s grace.

Rest also brings us rejuvenation and allows us to reconnect with God’s presence. These last few nights that Jesus had with his friends must have been precious.

Being a Follower

These verses also show us how to be followers.

Eagerness

The people were getting up at dawn to find Jesus and listen to him. I don’t like this verse. I would much rather it have said that the followers were sleeping late, having a nice breakfast and then finding Jesus around mid-morning. But that’s not what it says. They got up eagerly excited about finding Jesus and hearing his teachings.

How eager are we? Keith Green has a line from a song that says, “Jesus rose from the dead, but you can’t even get out of bed.”

Honestly, the issue isn’t what time we get up. The issue is how much do we thirst and hunger for God?

Matthew 5:6 LEB

Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.

John 4:14 LEB

But whoever drinks of this water which I will give to him will never be thirsty for eternity, but the water which I will give to him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

What is your desire for God? For the teachings of Jesus? What appetites do you honor and encourage? How much effort is it worth to you to hear the teachings of Jesus?

Listening

The followers were eager and motivated to get up early and find Jesus. There was a purpose to their effort. The followers were not seeking Jesus simply to see a show or to simply observe Jesus. Verse 38 says that the people sought Jesus in order to “…listen to him.”

We show up at church, or stream the service , attend bible study. We may do it with eagerness and effort, which is good. We may make sure to be on time and maybe even have our bibles with us. But to what purpose? Are we here to listen to Jesus? To see our friends? To support our church? Those are all good reasons, but they are not a very meaningful purpose.

The people sought Jesus to listen to him. I’m sure they saw friends and felt like they were supporting Jesus’s ministry. But that was not their purpose. Their purpose was to listen and try to understand. Jesus was a teacher and they wanted to learn.

Context

I mentioned earlier that the verses today are an interlude between Jesus’s teaching and his arrest. I want to revisit that for a moment.

In the teachings prior to our verses, Jesus was telling his followers to be alert and attentive to events around them.

Luke 21:12–14 LEB

“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will turn out to you for a time of witness. Therefore make up your minds not to prepare in advance to speak in your own defense,

Luke 21:34–36 LEB

“But take care for yourselves, lest your hearts are weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of daily life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who reside on the face of the whole earth. But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

There is a purpose to Jesus’s teaching. In these passages it was to prepare his followers for difficulty. He called them to be on guard. To be focused in their faith. He called them to be alert and in prayer.

Conclusion

We all have a role to play in the kingdom. Jesus showed us how to fulfill those roles.

As followers we need to be eagerly thirsting for Jesus’s teaching. We need to aggressively seek Jesus at every opportunity.

As followers we need to make sure we are purposeful in our efforts and truly listen to Jesus’s words and understand that time is short.

As leaders we need to make sure that we focus our energy on teaching. That our efforts have meaning and value.

As leaders we need to make sure that we also take time to rest and rejuvenate our physical and spiritual selves.

The beauty of the kingdom is that even as followers we are leaders. And as leaders, we are followers.

Regardless of the role we find ourselves in, there must be purpose and energy to advance the kingdom.