Latest / HBCWestminster / 8.9.20 Luke 9:10-22 Pastor Nathan Anderson

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8.9.20 Luke 9:10-22 Pastor Nathan Anderson · HBCWestminster

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  Well, good morning to you all. Good morning, church. If you don't know my name, my name is Nathan Anderson. I am the family pastor here at Highland in Westminster. I want to say thank you for joining us. This morning, it is my joy and privilege to share God's Word with you. If you've been at Highland for any time and have heard me preach before, you've heard me say that phrase before. It is a...
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  joy, and a privilege to share God's word with you. And I say it each time I preach because it's true. What we are about to embark on together is an immense privilege and blessing. We are going to read and study the very words of God together. Let that sink in for a moment. Words spoken by God, written down.
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  and read by humanity throughout the centuries, now once again opened this morning and studied together. May we, brothers and sisters together, never forget the incredible and great gift it is to do this, especially now as we seek the Lord's guidance for me to explain it well and for us to understand it and do it.
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  Our passage this morning is going to be from the Gospel of Luke. As we continue on in our study, we're going to be in Luke chapter 9, verses 10 through 22. And I would invite you to open your Bibles now as we get ready to read God's Word. And as you do, if you would stand with me, if you are able, in honor of God's Word, we will read starting in verse 10 of chapter 9. On their return, the apostles told him all that they had done.
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  And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions.
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  For we are here in a desolate place, but he said to them, You give them something to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go and buy food for all these people. For there were about five thousand men, and he said to his disciples, Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each. And they did so, and had them all sit down.
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  And taking the five loaves and two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. Now it happened that he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he asked them, Who do the crowds say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist.
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  But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen. Then he said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, The Christ of God. And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell no one, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.
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  Let's pray and ask the Lord to watch over our time in the word together. Heavenly Father, God, we come before you in awe of the privilege that we take on now of the study of your word. Guide our minds. Guide our hearts, Lord. Feed our souls this morning. Lord, by the power and might and the truth of your word, change us. Guide us now.
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  God, we pray these things in your heavenly, good, and powerful name. Amen. Amen. Brothers and sisters, over the last several weeks, as Pastor Danny and Sam have preached through Luke 8 till now, we have seen the theme of Luke vividly illustrated, I believe. A gospel for everyone, no matter your past or present sin, God has redemption in mind for you.
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  We saw several weeks ago this illustrated in the parable of the sower where Christ tells the parable and then explains exactly what it's about. The seed is the word of God or the gospel and the ground is our hearts. And the question became, will we have hearts hardened and prideful or soft and ready to accept the seed of the gospel? And Danny very well pointed out that the seed is spread everywhere, that the sower is not concerning himself with what type of ground it is, but simply sowing.
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  I believe we then see several illustrations of the truth that the seed is for everyone, no matter your past or present sin, as we met the demoniac, a man who many of us, if we are honest brothers and sisters, would just walk right by. In fact, we would probably even avoid seeing him altogether. And yet Christ goes to him, shares the gospel, and the man is saved.
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  We saw disciples forgetting who was in the boat with them, finding fear instead of faith as Pastor Sam took us through the calming of the storm. And we see the compassion of Christ as he heals two women, both in dire need of a miracle, helpless. And even in the midst of immense crowds of people, Christ has compassion on both of these women. One very young, one older.
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  Now I bring those up because in our passage we look at today, I believe, we will see all of these things. The compassion of Christ, the disciples yet again forgetting who goes with them, and the wonderful truth that the gospel's power is without end and thus can save to the uttermost sinner. Our setting for this portion is...
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  As you remember from last week, the twelve are sent out, but not sent out only, but also sent out with power and authority. They are told to bring nothing with them, and they follow Christ's call to go, and they depart. We now meet them, and they are returning back to Christ, and in verse 10 it says, Now, if you are a parent,
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  I am sure you can relate to this thought, but there are many a time when we have conversations with our kids where they tell us something with incredible excitement, and it's almost as if their bodies will tremble if not given the opportunity to speak about the joy and excitement they feel about.
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  an experience they have had. And this moment as the 12 returned to Christ, I can imagine, was just like that. And I can especially picture Peter giving this report to Christ as they come back. I can just picture Peter coming to Jesus and saying, Jesus, Jesus, you won't believe it. You cannot believe it. Well, maybe you will believe it. Maybe you will. Anyway, Jesus, you know when...
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  You said, you said we were going to have power and authority. You remember that? Yeah, sure. Of course you were there. But we totally did, Jesus. We totally did. You know, John and I actually went, we went to this small little town and we met this guy and he was crippled. He was crippled forever. He couldn't walk, right? Like could not walk. And we, Jesus, we said, get up. And the guy.
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  He got up. And then we went to this other town. We met this lady and she was demon possessed. And she had been demon possessed from like really, really young. And we said, we commanded the spirit to come out. And Jesus, the spirit came out of her. Like, man, Jesus, I wish you could have been there. It was incredible. I mean, we totally nailed it. Totally.
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  Neil, that we did all the things that you said we could do, Jesus. I can imagine it went something like that, especially if it was Peter who came back and gave that report, this report to Christ, that they had indeed been able to do all that he had commanded them. Why do I set up the bulk of our passage today with that? Because I want us to feel, I want you to feel.
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  feel the excitement that I'm sure, absolutely sure was present in the disciples as they come back and share this news with Jesus of such a great report because in just a few short verses, Christ is going to give them an opportunity to display that faith in front of him and they are going to fail.
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  So our setting is this. The apostles return, excited from being sent out in power and authority. And they go with Christ. And they actually go with Christ to the town Bethsaida, which is the town where Peter, Andrew, and Philip were born. This is their hometown. They come back excited. They meet Jesus. They go to Bethsaida, these three men's hometown. And they meet the hungry.
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  Our points for today will be this, an opportunity missed, verses 10 through 13, Christ's compassionate response to failure, 14 through 17, and Christ gives a second chance, 18 through 22. And as I...
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  Look again at verse 10 and see Christ bringing the disciples to Peter, Andrew, and Philip's hometown. I want to notice here that this is no coincidence, I believe, especially when you look back at the demoniac man saved by Jesus. Demons cast out of him and he believes he is the Christ. He asked to come with Jesus and Jesus says, no, you stay at your hometown. He gives him an opportunity to display the change in him to his hometown, to people who knew him as...
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  Danny had pointed out. And here I believe Jesus is taking Peter, Philip, and Andrew to their hometown to display and show their transformation to people who have known them from a young age. With this setting in our view, let's examine our passage together now. Verses 10 through 13, the opportunity comes and the opportunity is missed. And I don't know about you guys, but
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  I can see often very well in hindsight. You find that you see very clearly the opportunities gifted to you only after they have passed and you have missed them. I find this all too often true of myself as I parent my kids and as I am a husband.
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  To my wife, I find it easy to speak first rather than listen and suggest solutions to problems I haven't even fully considered yet. Only after the opportunity has passed do I find that I realize what was really needed. The saying hindsight is 20-20 is basically where I feel like I live most of my life. Yet I find my kids and Carla so gracious as they forgive and give me opportunity.
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  after opportunity. Here we find Christ giving an opportunity to the twelve, whom just came back excitedly reporting all that had happened. Christ especially gives Philip, Andrew, and Peter opportunity to show the change which has taken place in their lives to those they grew up with. The crowd has been following Christ and his disciples back and forth as they have traveled across the sea. They are hungry for more of Christ, more miracles, more truth.
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  Now as the crowds sit fed spiritually, their physical bodies hunger. They desire to be with Christ so much they have forgotten to bring the needs.
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  of their physical bodies. And as we see in Mark and Matthew's account, Christ has compassion on the people and desires to feed them, to take care of them. And then in John's account, we see that Christ desires to use this event to give his disciples an opportunity to display their faith. John 5, 5 says, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? And then in verse 6, he writes that Christ said, he said this,
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  to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. We see in our text in Luke, the disciples tell Christ to send the crowds away to go out to the countryside to find lodging and provisions. And Christ responds to this from the disciples as he says, you give them something to eat. You give them something to eat. The disciples respond to this opportunity and say, but we have no more than five loaves and two fish.
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  No more than five loaves and two bits. No, just for a moment, let this sink in and let's contrast what they just said with what Christ sent them with just previously on their first mission. He tells them not to bring a change of clothes, not to bring a staff, nothing. Don't take anything, not an extra pair of sandals, nothing. Go with nothing. And they follow. Now they come back, they give this report, and they are actually in their current situation, they have way more.
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  than what they had left with. Way more. They have some provisions. They are starting out with way more than they had on their mission, yet they don't believe. They miss the opportunity to display the power of Christ in them. They were sent. They had seen God work. They did miracles. They saw faith in action. They saw God provide that dunamis.
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  Dynamite power, which Danny pointed out last week, yet here they fail. They miss it as they see only a crowd far too big to feed. Powerful, bold Peter sits quiet, his faith shaken by a mountain far too high to traverse. As we saw in John's account, Christ knew what he was going to do. I really see all of this.
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  as a plan from Christ as he seeks to teach his disciples, this ragamuffin crew, that he will entrust the building of his church to. He says in our passage in Luke in verse 11, he welcomed the crowd. He did so because he knew what he was going to do. He also has compassion, but he knew what he was going to do. Christ knew the opportunity this was going to give him to yet again teach these men faith.
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  Brothers and sisters, Christ is always seeking to give us opportunity to take part in the building of his church, to grow in our faith and trust in him. And here is what I absolutely love about this passage. Christ in his infinite wisdom and power finds a way to give his disciples an opportunity. And in spite of the fact that he knows they will fail, Jesus knows all. He is sovereign. Is he not, brothers and sisters?
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  He knows they will fail. Those opportunities still happen for us today. He gave his disciples the opportunity knowing they will fail, and he still gives opportunity for us today. God in his sovereign and providential power to work through failures like us. And in spite of our lack of faith, he built his church in and through us, all the while showing compassion and grace to a lost and dying world.
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  The disciples miss it. They see no way to feed this crowd. And let's look at Christ's amazing response. Christ's compassionate response to failure found in verses 14 through 17. For there were about 5,000 men, and he said to his disciples, have them sit down in groups. And then if you go on, he broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before the crowd.
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  We see here in Christ's response a display of his divine and creative power as well as his compassionate grace. The disciples bring to him some loaves and a couple fish, and with these he feeds this huge hungry crowd. Please let us note here that Christ feeds thousands with provisions which would have scarcely fed him and his disciples for even one meal.
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  In fact, we know from John's account that this was actually one small boy's lunch. J.C. Ryle says of this, That word legion, Roman legion, should remind us of something. Remember the demoniac, as Christ asks him their name, responds legion, for we are.
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  many. Now, because we have a God of order and who is always on task and has a purpose and a will and a plan, I see the fact these two records are in scripture and so close together to have a very clear point. A Roman legion was the largest unit of account for the army. This was the biggest number of military force that you could give.
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  As we see Christ command a legion of demons to come out and then feeds a legion of people, it's as if Luke here is saying the largest, biggest number of people you can imagine. Christ has the power to supply the needs of even the biggest number of people you can imagine. The biggest number of people you can imagine. Christ has the power to supply their needs. In essence, Luke is showing that no matter the circumstance, no matter how big the cost, God's power.
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  is sufficient. J.C. Ryle again of this section says this, Brothers and sisters, make no mistake about it, we serve a powerful
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  A God who spoke life into being and breathed life into the dead soul. He really is amazing. Now here is the really amazing thing. And you might be saying, well Nathan, you just said he fed 5,000 men with two fishes and five loaves. That's pretty amazing. And you're right. And in fact...
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  Just a side note here, which we'll come back to in a second, but just something to notice, that these people were actually famished. They had been following Jesus for three days with little to no food, and yet it says they all ate and were satisfied. This is not just a tide you over kind of satisfied. This was an abundance. We will come back to that in a second, but just hold that thought in your mind. These were starving people who are now satisfied, and there's more left over.
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  Okay, so the really amazing thing here I see is the compassionate response Christ has to his disciples' failure. He gave them the opportunity to act in faith, to show powerful change which had happened in them, and they lacked faith. Yet, does Christ tell them to sit on the sidelines as he does the miracle? Of course not. Of course not.
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  Verse 14 says he had the disciples organize the crowd and then he had them hand out the food. Brothers and sisters, the amazing thing I see here is Christ compassionately allowing these 12 failures to still take part in this miracle. Christ provides the food, but they get to hand it out. Here again, I see...
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  This connection with the parable of the sower. Christ has provided the seed, the gospel. He doesn't need us to share it. He can save people without us. Could Christ have just had the bread and the fish appear in people's laps? Of course he could have. Does he? Of course he doesn't. Why? Why?
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  For this answer, let's consider John 21, 15 through 17. You guys would be familiar with this, I'm sure. This is where Christ asks Peter the question three times, do you love me? As Peter responds, of course I love you. Christ says, then feed.
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  My sheep, brothers and sisters, the sharing of the gospel is as much for us as it is for others. Taking part in the work of our Heavenly Father builds faith in us that which can come no other way. Again, let us go back and consider the three whom are mentioned in this miracle. Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Peter, we all know, becomes a rock. A man whom, as Danny mentioned last week, stands boldly before an angry council and says, do whatever you want to us.
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  We got to preach. For this statement, he was beaten. Andrew, in John's record, is the first disciple to follow Christ and was a follower of John the Baptist and actually witnesses to Peter and brings him to Jesus. There are many thoughts on Andrew and what he did, but it is certain he was a man on mission for Jesus and was eventually put to death just as Peter was by crucifixion. Philip, while failing to act,
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  And faith here is later so on fire for the gospel, he chases down a chariot to share the gospel with somebody. These men, because of the patient and compassionate love of Christ, are walked towards a deeper and deeper faith, which builds a firm foundation to which the church still sits on today. Brothers and sisters, no matter the failures you've had in your life, the missed opportunities, Christ compassionately
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  and lovingly calls each one of us to take part in the continued work of building his church. God's compassion is amazing, isn't it? I want to go back to the fact that Christ provides not just enough, but feeds them until they are satisfied, and there is still some left over, in fact, more than what they started with. This miracle is a picture of the amazing truth of the gospel. We might ask ourselves, who is the multitude?
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  surrounding Christ in that wilderness, a multitude without provisions, helpless to feed themselves in their present circumstance, this is, of course, mankind. We are a legion of poor, helpless sinners without the means, power, or strength to save ourselves in the very real danger of perishing for our lack of spiritual food. And Jesus comes in and says, I am the bread of life. Come to me.
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  and find all that you need. What is the provision for our helpless estate? J.C. Ryle says it this way, It is the ever pitiful, ever kind, ever ready to show mercy Jesus, even to show mercy to the unthankful and evil world. I might add, he shows mercy and compassion and love to those who would eventually execute him. Call him names.
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  and even spit on him. May we notice, as we see the connection with the physical food Christ provides this crowd, just as they ate and were satisfied and had some to spare, so it is with the gospel. Not only does the gospel satisfy our desperate and helpless need for salvation, it is our provision for our daily needs. There were 12 baskets left, it tells us.
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  Enough for each disciple. And the word here for basket is one small, which you would take on your travels, your daily travels. One much like that young boy we know who brought the food had. Christ says to his disciples, the gospel has saved you. And now it is available for your daily walk as you take its truth with you each day.
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  Christ has compassion on the crowd and on his disciples. I find this amazingly encouraging for us today. Brothers and sisters, we are the appointed men and women chosen by God in heaven, set before mankind, set before your coworker, set before your neighbor, your friends, your family, as the provision that Christ has made for their souls. Because we carry with us the bread of life.
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  Missed opportunity, Christ compassionately responds, and then he gives a second chance. This is our final point. Now it happened that he was praying alone and the disciples were with him. Let us notice a couple things as we look at verses 18 through 22. The first, as we approach this last portion of our text, the first that Christ is praying for the disciples prior to asking them the all-important question, who do you say?
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  Here, let us put in front of our souls the truth and promise of Hebrews 7, verse 25, where it tells us that one of the reasons for which Christ lives is to intercede and pray on our behalf. Romans 8, verse 34 also says that he is interceding a continual act on our behalf.
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  whom here is found praying for his disciples, is also continually praying for us. May we never forget that Jesus is on our side, brothers and sisters, forever in prayer for us and standing in defense of us as Satan comes to accuse you and I and says, they did this. Christ says, yes, they did. And I paid for it.
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  Second, let us notice the vast array of opinions on who Christ was. Before asking the disciples who they say he was, he asked them who the crowds or the masses were saying he was. And let us notice in these opinions we see two things. First, that all were agreed that what Christ was doing and preaching was vastly different from the scribes and Pharisees. Yet, these opinions were also scattered in exactly what they understood the origin and meaning of them.
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  And here may we note that the power of God on display always disrupts the laziness of mankind and forces us to at least consider Christ. If you ask pretty much anyone, who do you say Jesus is? Everyone will have an answer, but few will profess Christ of God.
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  Let us, brothers and sisters, never be content with this kind of a religion, one which considers the power of God and only speculates and never applies. J.C. Ryle once again says, the Christianity that saves is a thing personally grasped, personally experienced, personally felt, and personally possessed. Christ did not leave us the excuse for stopping at talk, opinion, or speculation over who he is. We must make
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  a choice. So first, notice the vast array of opinions and speculations of who Christ was, and then second, notice the singularly focused confession of Peter. Peter answers him as he says to his disciples, but who do you say that I am? Peter answers the Christ of God. Here in this question,
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  In response, I again see the compassion and grace of Christ. Jesus essentially here is giving the disciples a second chance. You see, as he called them to give them something to eat, you give them something to eat, Jesus is giving them an opportunity to display, to confess, to profess Christ as God, that he has the power through them to do as he pleases, to confess him.
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  as the Messiah. They had failed at that opportunity. And so now as the crowds have gone and Jesus has prayed over them, he gives them a second chance to get it right. But who do you say I am? Jesus graciously, compassionately takes away all the distraction, pulls them in close as a loving father does his kids when he wants them to be successful. You know,
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  Each one of our kids, Carla and my kids, are so very different and it's interesting to see them in different stages of their growth. With Lucy at this point, I can give a one-sentence instruction that holds in it seven steps and she can go and accomplish all of those things. Lucy, it's time for bedtime. She will go and do all the things that are involved in that. On the flip side, Orin is at that stage where we have to...
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  Give one sentence, one step instructions. Cannot do three step instructions. Oren, go up, get ready for bed, brush your teeth, get your pajamas on, use the potty. That will not be successful. And there are times where we have to grab his little face and say, Oren, Oren, I need you to go upstairs and get your pajamas on. We do that.
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  He can be successful. Christ gave the disciples the opportunity to show immaturity, an ability, if you will, to go beyond the one-step instructions, and they had failed at that. So now he has removed all the distractions. He has prayed over them, and now it's as if he has their faces in his hands. Pay attention, my beloved. This is important.
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  Who do you say I am? In conclusion, Jesus said to his disciples, You give them something to eat. He said to Peter later, Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Church, just as the disciples were entrusted with the gospel, of which is the power of God for the salvation of mankind, we too, just as Timothy was entrusted, have been entrusted with it. As Christ said,
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  Spread that seed, feed the crowds, preach the gospel. This is our command. This is our blessed calling, brothers and sisters. May we always remember that the gospel's power is without end, that it will satisfy the hungry soul, not just to bring it to life, but that the gospel then goes on with us to feed our souls daily and bring life to the souls.
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  Jesus says to you and I, do you love me? You give them something to eat. Let's pray. Father in heaven, God, we pray, I pray this morning, Father, that you would convict our hearts, you would ignite a passion in us for the gospel, Lord, the nourishment to our souls.
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  and the only hope to bring the dead life. God, may the truth of your word this morning bring life into our hearts and minds today. Walk with us, guide us. Lord, thank you for your compassion and patience with us. Lord, as we fail, you pick us up. Thank you for inviting us, encouraging us to take part in the building.
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  of your church. May we be found faithful, God, in your name. Amen.