Have you ever met someone who is an expert at what you are doing, or at everything so they claim? My guess is, we have all run into that person before. Unfortunately, it is probably true that at one point or another, we have been that person to someone. In sports terms, we call that person an “arm chair quarterback/coach.” They are the person watching on tv, who could absolutely do the coach’s job far better than the coach can. They exist in every line of work, not just athletics. It’s really easy for us to get upset, or sometimes even offended at this person. Sometimes, in our frustration we lash out, “if you are so good, then you do it.” Praise God that Jesus is more patient with us, than we often are with other people! There was a time in which the disciples forgot where their power and abilities came from. My grandpa would say, “they go too big for their britches.” Jesus had to lovingly, but firmly remind them of a truth, that I think we all could stand to be reminded of from time to time.
The disciples had gone out and done ministry as Jesus told them to. God had given them great success. When they came back, they were astonished at all they had accomplished. In another Gospel account it says, “they came back saying that even the demons were subject to us.” They were amazed. Whether, it was genuine shock or pride, I’m not 100% sure, and I certainly don’t want to throw shade on the disciples unnecessarily. However, here in Luke, Jesus seems to use this as a teaching moment, which leads me to believe they may have had some pride going on. Jesus was trying to take the disciples away. In today’s terms, we would say for a de-briefing session. You know, talk about what went right, and what could be improved on. However, a crowd started following them. This provided Jesus with a great teaching opportunity. Luke 9:13 says, “But He said to them (the disciples), ‘You give them something to eat.’ And they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.'” Remember, they had come back bragging about all they had done while out on ministry. Certainly, they would are able to then feed the crowd right? However, in that moment all they could see was their own inadequacy. They were no longer the disciples who had accomplished so much; they were the disciples who had a problem that was too big for them to fix. I would argue, that was Jesus’ point. We see this theme of needing to depend on Jesus throughout Luke 9. In fact, the chapter ends with Jesus teaching about the cost of being His disciple.
I think we need to really step back and ask ourselves, what was Jesus trying to show the disciples, and how does it apply to us today who are His disciples? I think the answer is pretty simple, we must depend on Him for everything. If we are able to accomplish something of eternal value, it isn’t because of who we are, or how gifted we are. It is because the power of the Holy Spirit is living inside of us, and working through us. We need to learn to depend on Jesus for everything. Jesus teaches on this in John 15, when He talks about Himself being the vine, and we are the branches. By themselves, the branches can do nothing to produce fruit. It is only as they are connected to the vine that the branches have life and what they need to produce their fruit. The same is true for you and I as Christians. It is only as we depend on Jesus, and allow His Spirit to work in us and through us, that we can accomplish anything that glorifies God. It’s really simple to become prideful, and think when things are going well, “look what we did.” However, it isn’t what we have done; instead, it is what God is doing in us and through us. This message flies in the face of what society tells us, and unfortunately, too often in ministry we can have a worldly mindset instead of a godly mindset. Think of those who get book deals or get invited to speak at conferences. They are the people who have large churches or are very successful. The world says, those are the people we should strive to be like, and we should emulate what they are doing. However, we aren’t called to look like the world or other Christians. We are called to look like Jesus, and to be dependent on Him for everything. I personally think that sometimes God allows us to get into situations that are way above our heads, to remind us that He is God, and that we need Him, not the other way around. There’s a reason that the Bible says in James 4:6 that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. One group thinks, look what I’ve done for God. The other is thankful that God saved them in the first place, because they know they are unworthy. Which group are you in? I know it is exciting to see great things starting to happen in ministry, and it is great that we share it with others. Let’s just make sure that we are giving glory and honor where it is due, to Jesus Christ.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin