CHRISTIANITY 103: MEET NEEDS

   4/15/2012

1.     GOING ON A MISSION TRIP (LUKE 9:1-9)

·         Jesus sends the apostles out on a mission trip by 2’s.

Matthew 18:16

16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.

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John 8:17

17 "Even in your law it has been written, that the testimony of two men is true.

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2 Corinthians 13:1

13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

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·         Jesus gave them the gift of healing.

·         It was one of the sign gifts. 

·         It served as the credentials of the apostles -- to demonstrate that they were who they claimed to be.

2.     FEEDING HUNGRY PEOPLE (LUKE 9:10-17)

2A. NOTICE NEEDS (LUKE 9:10-12)

Luke 9:10-12

10 And when the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. And taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida.

·         Because of His human nature and the great burden which He had taken upon Himself, it was necessary for Him to withdraw at times and get away from the crowds in an attempt to rest and let His apostles rest.

11 But the multitudes were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

·         They had walked around the northern shore of the lake in order to be with Him once more.

·         Apparently, the multitude followed Jesus for PHYSICAL relief. 

·         There was no concern for the relief of their souls. 

·         They saw in Him a clever physician that could, heal the sick. 

·         In short, they were blind to His divine glory.

12 And the day began to decline, and the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place."

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·         Here we find that the disciples put themselves in the position of advising Christ.

·         He doesn't need our suggestions.

2B. TAKE ACTION (LUKE 9:13-17)

Luke 9:13-17

13 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 perhaps we go and buy food for all these people."

·         The feeding of the five thousand is the one miracle which is recorded in all four Gospels; so it must be an important miracle.

·         The disciples were not to dismiss their responsibility so quickly! (There must be a lesson here.)

·         Jesus commands them to do an impossible task. 

·         They must learn, as we must learn, that He frequently commands that which is impossible to us.

14(For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, "Have them recline to eat in groups of about fifty each."  15 And they did so, and had them all recline. 16 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.

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·         Jesus is the Bread of Life and as He broke the bread and gave it to the disciples we are to take that which is given us by the Holy Spirit and share it with others.

3.     MAKING A MEANINGFUL CONFESSION (LUKE 9:18-36)

·         This marks a change in Jesus’ ministry.

·         Until now He has preached to the crowds and healed many people; now He will spend most of His time teaching the disciples and preparing them for His death, burial and resurrection.

·         After about two years of traveling with Jesus and seeing the miracles with the disciples mingling with the crowds; after their mission trip and the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples had many opportunities to hear what the people were saying about Jesus.

·         Now Jesus asks them who the crowds say He is.

·         It is clear that that the people in general believed that Jesus was a very prominent messenger from God, that he was someone who had died and risen from the dead in the person of Jesus.

·         All opinions were high but fell far short of who He is.

Luke 9:19-20

 20 And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."

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·         This is the all-important question that everyone will have to answer.

·         The answer will lead to life or lead to death.

·         Then Jesus spells out the cost of those who will follow after Him.

·         Verses 28-36 tells of the transfiguration.

4.     HELPING AFFLICTED PEOPLE—TRUST GOD (LUKE 9:37-43a)

Luke 9:37-43

37 And it came about on the next day, that when they had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met Him. 38 And behold, a man from the multitude shouted out, saying, "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, 39 and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and as it mauls him, it scarcely leaves him. 40 "And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not."

·         A church can have words without works, promises without performance, a reputation for power without a demonstration of power.

·         Hurting humanity expects the church to help.

·         The nine failing disciples remind us of the church which does not have the faith to make a difference.

·         The adversaries of Christ's church criticize failures in faith.

·         By implication the failure of the disciples was the failure of their Master.

·         The helpless remain without aid when faith fails.

·         The nine disciples had embodied the very perverse unbelief that characterized the world at large.

·         Rather than change the unbelief of the world, they had joined the world in unbelief. 

41 And Jesus answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you, and put up with you? Bring your son here."  42 And while he was still approaching, the demon dashed him to the ground, and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

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·         This entire scene is a picture of today.  Jesus has passed on into glory. 

·         We are down here in this world at the foot of the mountain where there is confusion, compromise, and impotence. 

·         The world today acts like a demon-possessed men, and the church is helpless in the presence of the world's need.

·         When Jesus spoke to the crowd, He rebuked them for their lack of faith concerning this boy, and apparently the disciples and skeptics were included.

·         We note that the people who were " amazed at the greatness of God " still did not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah sent from God. 

·         They did not surrender their hearts to Him. 

·         Amazement is fine, but not enough to save the soul.

5.     UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTH (LUKE 9:43b-50)

·         Verses 43b-45 Jesus teaches the disciples again about His coming death, burial and resurrection.

·         Jesus always put His death and resurrection together!

·         Verses 46-48 relate the dispute among the disciples about who will be the greatest in the kingdom.

·         Next we learn that even though someone is not from our circle of followers that they are still one with us if they are followers of Christ. Verses 49-50.