Discipleship IV

Luke 10:1-42

God’s great sign visible to the whole world should have been unity among the disciples of Christ. Lack of unity manifests the lack of knowledge of God. Sadly the devil disrupted this unity. Today, many things divide humanity; color of skin, education, riches, relatives, selfishness, poverty; and many more

Unity would have been like a lamp or tower on top of a mountain to the world. Unity is a result of spiritual life, harmony, joy and oneness. Unity can only be achieved through:

1) Discipleship

2) Strength

3) Love of thy neighbor.

1) Discipleship (Purpose of Life)

 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” We read these words in Chapter 5.

In Chapter 6 with the same spirit, Jesus appointed his first disciples by equipping them with the same divine power (the Gospel) to be the light to the world born of God’s love.

In Chapter 9, Jesus sent the twelve to preach the Gospel into the world. Here in Chapter 10 with the spirit of God into the hearts of the disciples; Jesus sent the seventy into the world with the Gospel (seed) to turn bad soil into good.

(a) Discipleship is the Kingdom of God having come; there is no greater purpose in life than discipleship. Yet only a few disciples are available; this means, only a few will make discipleship the purpose of life. Discipleship should govern the entire bearing of life of a person with Christ as Lord.

Discipleship is good soil with the seed.

The whole life of a disciple is dependence on God’s providences or grace. Take no shoes, script, purse etc. and to make matters even more scary, Jesus tells the seventy disciples: “I am sending you forth as lambs (very young sheep) among wolves”. What are the chances of lambs surviving out there among wolves? None at all. Indeed, this world is full of wolves; man eaters who hate God; but even without being aware, disciples with their sheep-like character will survive.

Survival of discipleship is nothing less than the daily miracle of God’s divine power (again dependence). The purpose of our life is discipleship. (Good soil with the seed); the elements which create and preserve unity.

(b) The result of the Kingdom

Whatever house, room, city you enter, the thing in every disciple’s heart must be to bestow peace in every heart. The gift of God’s Spirit in our hearts is peace. That is the true life principle for every disciple. To those who reject the Gospel; wipe off their dust off your feet; offer them God’s judgment upon their city.

Tyre and Sidon were wicked cities (characterized as wolves) but if they had what Bethseda, Capernaum and Chorazin had, its people would have changed their ways and repented. Peace would have been established in their hearts.

Here is the unity established in the hearts of men (the soil and the seed). The agent of change is God’s divine power in the Gospel of Christ. It changes man through repentance and faith, from wolves to lamb/sheep; becoming disciples under one master and Lord.

Instead people today are like the places where Jesus did most of his miracles, Capernaum etc.; who rejected Christ. All these cities were destroyed 30 years after God’s Kingdom came among them. The Gospel has been around for centuries, but sadly fewer and fewer become good soil with seed.

The same fate awaits all who hear not the Word and despise the sender of the Gospel. The Gospel is the disciples’ precious possession from which all blessings flow.

2) Disciples’ strength is grace

The Spiritual life (a life of dependency on God’s grace) is the power by which all enmity to disciples falls from heaven like a lightning. It is the spiritual life and dependence which is the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power over the enemies. Jesus saw Satan falling down like lightning. Behold the divine power of discipleship.

Nothing shall by any means hurt a disciple’s spiritual life and this spiritual life should be the joy of every disciple. The joy should spring from the fact that a believer’s name is written in heaven and here are the reasons why:

Enrolled in the book of life means justified and accepted by God as one of the children, being among the elect is an honor given to us; not earned by us. The book of life is Christ in whom all names of those of the Kingdom are written, those brought to faith by the Gospel.

The Gospel of grace is God’s superior wisdom revealed to those who are babies; disciples who are in a blessed relationship. On the other hand, those filled with human wisdom are subjected to condemnation.

The study of the nature of God and religious beliefs is good but cannot convert the human heart, though it comes from God. The things of the world must not turn us away from Christ.

God designed his grace only for the poor and the fallen ones (those with a contrite heart), babes, the hungry and the weeping ones, his disciples. This is the strength in the Kingdom.

The Gospel abolishes all the pet wisdom and makes disciples infants.

The book of life is open to all the wretched ones and only by the Son’s revelation of our wretchedness can anyone ever know the Father. Knowledge of our sinfulness is the starting point.

Not through someone’s merit, power, or intellect. Christ does all the work and gives us everything. He is the strength for those whom he has called as disciples.

The disciples’ blessedness therefore lies in seeing and hearing the fulfillment of what the ancient possessed only as promise. The sin is that many cannot see God’s grace.

3) Love of thy Neighbor

The mystery of God’s creation will always be beyond human comprehension; and no science can fathom the nature and difference between what is natural and spiritual life. None of us can be in possession of our individual life. It is God’s gift to you and me. He takes it away any time.

It is only Jesus the son of God who alone states a startling difference between natural life and spiritual life by reference to Martha and Mary.

1) Martha encumbered with the many things of natural life which will always be taken away and cannot be completed or satisfied.

2) Mary the sister was concerned with God’s son and she sat at Jesus feet and received the spiritual life which the wisdom of this world knows nothing about and cannot give. Neither can the world give even natural life.

Jesus then demonstrated the content of spiritual life.

The lawyer had studied and knew the entire legal requirements of God’s law of love as stated in Moses book of the Law which demanded God’s Love. He articulated God’s Law perfectly but was completely empty regarding the possession of God’s Love.

The whole law of God’s Love concerns human relation with one another; in short; my neighbor or your neighbor; which must be the gift of God’s Love. (Spiritual Life).

The Lawyer articulated, when asked what the Law demands:

“To love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your strength, with your entire mind and to love your neighbor as thyself.” This cannot be done without the gift of the Spirit of God’s Love.

Sadly the lawyer had neither the love of God nor did he even know his neighbor.

Any person next to you is your neighbor as regards God’s love. As a disciple, you are to bring that person to Christ (God’s Love) to meet their needs so that they may know the reason why God came into your life and gave you the spiritual life which makes them your neighbor, a disciple in God’s Kingdom.

A certain man went down from Jericho to Jerusalem, fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, departed and left him half dead. A top religious person, a certain priest (highly educated in religious matters) came down that way and passed by on the other side.

Likewise, a Levite; a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi known for their assistance in the Temple worship in Jerusalem (the capital city). He also came and passed by on the other side.

Then a certain Samaritan came and saw the man. He was filled with compassion (God’s Spirit of Love) and took pity on him, took him and cared for all his needs until recovery.

We all know which of the three acted as a neighbor to injured man. The man who showed mercy, mercy is God’s love. Love of intelligence and purpose which is intended to make one next to you a disciple of Christ by the supreme love of God. The love of the world is very blind: it can love its killer but cannot love God.