We began our journey in the Gospel of Luke back in December, and thus far we’ve covered two major sections of the book: The Origin Story of Jesus in Luke 1-4:13 and Jesus’ ministry in Galilee in Luke 4:14-9:50.

Today, we find ourselves in a new section of the book stretching from 9:51-19:44. This section is commonly referred to as the Travel Narrative. And more specifically, Jesus’ Travel Narrative.

Where is he going?

V. 51 says…

⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. —Luke 9:51

Other translations say that he “resolutely set out” for Jerusalem. This is the start of Jesus setting his intent on going to Jerusalem.

Embedded in this bigger section are verses 9:51-10:42, which we’ll look at through the month of July. This section is primarily about discipleship.

Commentator Joel Green writes…

With the departure for Jerusalem, Luke makes it clear that ‘following’ Jesus is related to joining him in the journey and in the proclamation of the kingdom of God. —Joel Green, NIC: Luke

If I can add a little bit to Joel Green’s note here, I think it’s important to not just know “where” Jesus is journeying to, but “why?”, or maybe better said, “for what purpose?”

Jesus’ is resolutely setting his face towards Jerusalem because He knows the time has come for Him to fulfill His mission: to die a sacrificial death on behalf of sinful man. Starting in v. 51, Jesus’ is journeying to his death. But he’s not alone in this journey; his disciples joining him on the journey were also on a journey, some to their literal death, but all of them on a journey of dying to themselves.

So, today, we’ll unpack our text in two sections:

1. Jesus’ Journey to Death (v. 51-56)
2. The Disciples’ Journey to Death (v. 57-62)

Jesus’ Journey to Death

⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 

The first thing we can note here is that there was an appointed time for this to happen. Jesus work could not have been fulfilled on a random Tuesday in BC 77, or a chilly Sunday in the 1776, there was a specified time in the redemptive plan of God for Christ to do his final act of redemption.

That’s why Paul says in Romans 5:6,

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  —Romans 5:6

And again in Galatians 4:4-5…

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  —Galatians 4:4-5

This is important little nugget here in the text for us: God is not a haphazard God. His plans are perfectly orchestrated and calibrated to the perfect time.

As theologian John Frame says…

God is the Lord in time as well as the Lord above time. —John Frame, The Doctrine of God

This should bring us great comfort. God is sovereign, or to put it differently He is in control.

Also notice here that Luke says the days were coming near from him to be “taken up.” This is most likely referring to Jesus’ ascension.

Jesus journey to Jerusalem is a journey to his death, but ultimately, and perhaps more importantly for Christians is that He is also journeying to his ascension.

And Luke says that he has set his face to Jerusalem. He is determined. He is of one purpose, in a  sense now, to journey towards Jerusalem.

Now, reminiscent of John the Baptist, who was called a messenger of Jesus, Jesus again sends people to go ahead of Him to let folks know he’s coming…

⁵² And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 

Jesus presumably is sending some of his disciples to let the Samaritans know that the King has come and the start of His Kingdom is about to happen through the work He is about to do.

The Gospel Writer seems to assume that the readers know who the Samaritans are. For the unacquainted, The Samaritans were a religious group that believed that the Mountain they lived on was the meeting place of God. So it was through their land that God’s Presence would dwell with his people, not Jerusalem. And it’s because of this precise fact that it seems that the people did not receive him.

V. 53 says…

⁵³ But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 

If the messengers are saying Jesus is going to Jerusalem to usher in the Kingdom, then the Samaritans reject that message, because they believed the Kingdom would be ushered in on Mount Gerizim.

Luke seems to be building some narrative tension here, because we see that the Samaritans are rejecting King Jesus here; they’re responding wrongly to the good news of the Kingdom. But in a couple weeks, we’re going to hear Jesus tell a well-known Parable about the Good Samaritan, in which the Samaritan is the one who does respond rightly in the situation presented.

This alone shows us the theme we’ve been seeing all throughout Luke that life in the Kingdom is not about one’s status, ethnicity, education, class, or gender, but simply about right response to the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus. Which to flesh out further, Jesus said in Luke 8, it’s about those who hear the word and do it. Those who believe in the Good News, and live as if the Good News were true.

Two of Jesus’ crew, James and John, are nicknamed the Sons of Thunder. Some posit it’s because they were, to say it nicely, very passionate.

So James and John saw that the messengers of Jesus were rejected—which means Christ himself was rejected—and they’re ready to smite this city. Check out the end of v. 54…

…“Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 

I’m not going to dog on them. I have sympathy for them here, because they’ve left their jobs, they’ve left their families, they’ve gone all in on following this Rabbi.

⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them. 

Now, we may see this and feel like Jesus is being overly harsh here, but I think it’s more likely that the urgency of his discipleship is ratcheted up because of how quickly his time with them is coming to an end.

Sometimes (or maybe better said often) my boys in their youth, just don’t have the mental framework to understand when something gets to a certain level of urgency or seriousness. And in those moments, I have to change my tone and explicitly say to them, “I’m being serious now, and I need you to listen to me and understand.”

There is a level of urgency and seriousness now with Jesus because his time of earthly ministry is ending.

Yet even still, at the end of the day, in trying to bring down fire upon the Samaritans it is a failure of their discipleship.

Not only do they seem to be missing Jesus’ radical ethic of love that he taught them back in Luke 6 during the Sermon on the Plain. Remember, he said…

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Luke 6:27

If that wasn’t enough, Jesus seemed to have just told them in Luke 9:5 what to do if somebody rejects the Good News of the Kingdom.

5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” —Luke 9:5

Shaking the dust from your feet is a little bit like saying, I’m wiping my hands of you.

And I don’t think it’s in a negative way to say, “You’re dead to me.” But rather, it’s a way of saying, your judgment now rests with the LORD.

Aside from the fact that they didn’t obey Jesus’ instructions to shake the dust off their feet and keep rolling, much more importantly for us to notice is that there is a heart issue here.

God has given them authority to do amazing Kingdom work. Back in Luke 9:1-2 we read…

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Notably missing on here is the authority to pronounce judgment upon others. That job is reserved for Christ. In John 5:22, Jesus says…

22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.  —John 5:22

In his classic work, Knowing God, theologian J.I. Packer says…

The Jesus of the New Testament, who is the world’s Savior, is its Judge too. —J.I. Packer, Knowing God

At the end of the day, I think Jesus’ issue with the disciples is that they are trying to sit in the seat of Judgment. They have decide that they are the arbiters of life and death, not only in the physical world, but spiritually-speaking as well.

The disciples have determined that the story is over for the Samaritans; even if Jesus has not.

There’s a word of application in here for us.

Later in the New Testament, drawing on Deuteronomy 35:32, Paul exhorts the church in Rome to…

17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. —Romans 12:17-21

It is a failure of discipleship for those of us who claim to follow Jesus, if we, like the disciples, seek to sit in the seat of Judgment on God’s behalf.

This does not mean that we cannot stand up for justice, or correct a brother or sister in Christ, or let somebody know that their words or actions were hurtful.

But determining for God when His love and mercy should stop is not our job. We are not the ones that get to determine when God’s love ceases. (Now, I don’t want to contrast God’s love and judgment, because ultimately God’s judgment is done in perfect love, but as humans, we can’t hold those two together perfectly)

One of my old pastors used to call this “editing somebody out of God’s Story that he hadn’t edited out.”

Who might have you edited out of God’s story? The disciples had certainly decided that God should be done with the Samaritans. 

Who is it for you? 

• Maybe your roommate who keeps doing the same old hurtful action again and again
• Maybe that parent who in spite our best efforts to share some painful memories of how they raised you, they refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing
• Or maybe it’s your grown child who you’ve done nothing but love with Christ-like love but is wayward as all get out and won’t listen to a word your say.

It’s hard, I get it.

But at no point in Scripture does God give an expiration date for His command for His disciples to love.

It was a teachable moment for the disciples, and hopefully one for us as well.

The scene closes with v. 56

⁵⁶ And they went on to another village. —Luke 9:56

At this point, we have a scene change, and it’s here we see…

The Disciple’s Journey to Death

In this section, we have three accounts of potential disciples journeying alongside Jesus. And if we’re honest, Jesus is a little enigmatic here. It’s like, “Jesus, I think I get you, but not totally sure.”

It seems like the Gospel writer Luke, intentionally leaves all of these accounts open. We don’t know how each of these people respond; Jesus just says a mysterious statement and then moves on to the next account.

This is likely an intentional rhetorical device that then allows the reader to place themselves in the text. It’s open-ended so that we can enter into the story ourselves.

As we saw in the previous section, Jesus’ journey to death has now begun, and now in the text, we see other disciples joining Jesus on the journey, and again, not just any journey, now they are on their own journey to death.

Each of these three mysterious statements Jesus makes is an invitation for each disciple to die to themselves. In a sense, Jesus is teaching these followers the real life implications of the invitation we saw all the way back in Luke 9:23. Do you remember that?

Jesus told his early disciples…

23 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. —Luke 9:23

To follow Jesus means to die to one’s self. And that’s what we see going on here in these verses. I think Jesus invites those on the journey with him to die to three different things.

1. Following Jesus Means Dying to Security

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.” —Luke 10:57-58

This guy or gal following Christ says I’ll follow you anywhere Jesus, and Jesus says, “Phones have cases and cars have garages, but the Son of Man doesn’t even have a couch to crash on.”

The implication to the disciple being: if you follow me, you are following me into a life of uncertainty, a life that’s not guaranteed to have safety or comfort, a life that will almost definitely lead to suffering.

Jesus lets his followers know that following him means dying to security (in an earthly sense).

2. Following Jesus Means Dying to Old Relational Structures

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.” —Luke 10:59-60

Some translations provide a little descriptor word here and say let the “spiritually dead” bury the dead. It probably provides a little more palatability to the verse, but even still it might seem a little harsh to our ears.

Commentators differ on what exactly is at play here:

• Some say that perhaps this person’s father has died, and there are some social burial customs that he must tend to months after his father’s death.
• Others say that perhaps this person was trying to say that once their father dies, then they would come and follow Jesus.

Either way, it seems like this person has some old relational structures that are taking priority over following Jesus. If it’s the first interpretation about burial customs, then there are social obligations to wider relational structure perhaps to extended family and even a broader community; if it’s the second interpretation about staying until the father is dead, then there are some family commitments here that are clouding out the Kingdom work that Jesus has for them. 

Jesus lets his followers know that following him means dying to old relational structures.

3. Following Jesus Means Dying to Your Old Life

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.” —Luke 10:61-62

We have another disciple that says, I’ll follow you Lord (this is a forward moving action), but let me go close some things out at home first (which is a backward moving action).

Jesus tells his person that if somebody puts their hand to the plow (saying I’m ready to go Jesus), but they’re looking backwards, then they’re not “fit” for the kingdom. They cannot plow straight lines.

Maybe to modernize this, maybe Jesus would say, ““No one who puts their hand to the mower and looks back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” You can’t mow the straight lines in your lawn looking backwards.

Followers cannot look backwards and go the right way. The invitation to following Jesus means looking forward to walk in step with Him as He moves along in His Kingdom procession.

Sometimes this is looking back to old sin, which obviously is not great. But, I think sometimes we look back on good things nostalgically. Maybe the days when you could go to the beach without lugging 3 kids to the beach, or maybe the days in your college ministry where you could spend hours with friends talking about Jesus and studying the Bible.

Looking back is looking back though.

Theologian Dallas Willard, in his phenomenal book, Divine Conspiracy says,

“God has yet to bless anyone except where they actually are, and if we faithlessly discard situation after situation, moment after moment, as not being “right”,we will simply have no place to receive his kingdom into our life.” —Dallas Willard, Divine Conspiracy

Fitness in the Kingdom, as Jesus says, is assessed on whether or not you’re right here right now, looking forward, “eyes on the prize” so that you are fit to walk faithfully behind the King.

These three snippets tie together this reality that we’ll see in this whole section: following Jesus wholly means dying to yourself wholly.

In his commentary on Luke, theologian Joel Green picks up this idea. He writes…

“…Discipleship as Luke has presented it requires a reconstruction of the self within a new web of relationships, a transfer of allegiances, and the embodiment of new dispositions and sensibilities.” —Joel Green, NIC: Luke

Following Jesus means complete transformation from the inside-out.

That’s what each of these little snippets is about. At best, these folks following Jesus are really wrestling with the realities of what it means to follow him. At worst, these folks are coming up with all types of excuses to not fully surrender to Him.

As I mentioned earlier, the way the Gospel writer, Luke, leaves these snippets open-ended, they’re intended to direct the question to us. We are supposed to put ourselves in the stories, and ask how might I respond to Jesus’ words here?

As we consider our follower-ship of Jesus, it’s good to ask:

What parts of yourself have you not died to?

• Are you tied to the security of your job, your finances, your 401(K), your success?
• Are you bound by the old relational pressures of your family? Your hometown friends? Your college buddies?
• Are you clutching to your old way of life? Looking back to the glory days, or worse, replaying old sins in your mind?

If anybody here desires to follow Jesus, it means we are following him on a journey to our own death. The Apostle Paul says…

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. —Galatians 2:20

Church, the goal of our journey in following Jesus is that we would follow him more and more so that we could look more like him. But, our following Him to glory always means following him through death first.