324: Jason Robinson - The Cost of Following

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to good Chris Selfian talks. I’m Levi. I’m Chris. I’m Jason and I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week on this podcast. We select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. Each week we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world.

2. 0:30

   Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now let’s talk more about this week’s talk.

3. 0:50

   Hello, my name is Mike Livermore. I’m a disciple of Christ from Michigan, here to share with you a class I really enjoyed hearing this past summer. The teacher is Jason Robinson, who’s from California, and this class was given at Shippensburg or the Mid-Atlantic Bible School back in July of 2024. Jason’s series was called Toward Jerusalem, and the class I’m sharing with all of you is Class 2 called The Cost of following. This entire series was amazing.

4. 1:22

   I found it so relatable. It just spoke to real life, our priorities, our commitments, our choices as followers of Jesus. Now, if you’ve ever been in a Jason Robinson class before, you know that his slideshows are amazing. I just love sitting in class, just tucking down in my chair and just just watching the spectacle.

5. 1:48

   So I imagine most of you are listening to this, just the audio, which is fine. But if you have the ability, please watch the video. Shippensburg, AKA the Mid-Atlantic Bible School has a YouTube channel. You can look it up. And I recommend watching this actually on YouTube. Watch the whole series. It’s really the slides are adds so much.

6. 2:10

   That said, it’s still very helpful just to listen to this class. Just the audio, but I highly recommend watching the videos of the whole series on YouTube. OK, a few notes about this class. Jason refers a couple of times to handouts. You don’t need the handout. The handouts don’t contain any information. The handouts were really for the audience just to either take notes or answer questions that were in the handouts like take home, take away lessons or thoughts from the class. So as a listener, just an audio listener, feel free to just answer the questions in your mind and your head. Pretend like you have one of the handouts to answer as if you were there.

7. 2:50

   A few more things that the 1st 20 minutes of this class. Jason sort of catching us up in the the expositional grounding of his series on, like on the journey with Christ towards Jerusalem. This is what Jason did with this whole series. It was this whole group of classes about how we are invited to journey with Jesus through the book of Luke towards his mission in Jerusalem, the crucifixion, and we are invited. Do we participate?

8. 3:21

   How do we do it? How do we choose it? It was an amazing series. And so Jason spends the 1st 20 minutes of this class building up that that expositional layer for us. And then after that, he then he jumps into the central lesson of the class on analyzing the three types of disciples who were invited on the road to Jerusalem, but maybe had excuses.

9. 3:44

   And that’s just what Jason discusses. And the class just launches when he, Jason then refers to Matthew Chapter 11 when he compares or shows the connection between the three types of disciples at the end of Luke 9 with Matthew 11. I don’t, I won’t give away any more than that. That to me, that is why I chose this class.

10. 4:06

    All six classes were very good, but this class just blew up my mind. When he had the comparison of Luke 9 to Matthew 11. It was amazing. So that’s it. I hope you enjoy this class by Jason Robinson called The Cost of Following. All right, I’m very excited to officially be starting the journey of Christ to Jerusalem today.

11. 4:28

    He in today’s class, he will actually take his first step to get there and is an exciting moment. We have a few things to go over before he makes that step, but I’m excited to start this journey with you today. Yesterday we saw that following Jesus to Jerusalem was a journey we all can join him on. And we are chasing after our Lord Jesus Christ to become a city of people, a new Jerusalem.

12. 4:52

    And we aren’t following him to the Old City, but to a city that he’s actually literally constructing right now. He’s building it at his Father’s side, a heavenly Jerusalem, one made out of people. But on the road to the natural city, he left all the principles that we’re going to need to find places in the new holy city. And that’s what I’m very excited to join you guys with in the study of following Christ to Jerusalem. Now, one thing everyone must learn before they begin their journey to Jerusalem is it’s not a fun road trip to Jerusalem. This is not a vacation trip to Jerusalem for the disciples, the 12 who Christ chose and for us.

13. 5:35

    It’s not a big journey about figuring out who you are. This is a journey where you have to learn to give up everything and you have to discover the worth of other people. And that’s what Christ did on his journey towards Jerusalem. It was never for himself. It was a journey meant for others. And he invited his 12 and he invites us on that journey as well.

14. 6:00

    So I hope we all have our handouts from yesterday. If you don’t, I have bad news. I don’t have them. The extras with me. Uncle Bob saved me in the team class and he went and grabbed a few. But if you don’t, I will bring extras with me tomorrow. I promise. It’ll just mean you have a couple pieces of homework to do, which will be fine.

15. 6:18

    All right, so let’s begin our look at our class this morning. What I want to start off with just is a quick little fun study here and there seems to be 7 unique entries of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem recorded for us in Scripture. Now we know that he would have gone there more times.

16. 6:38

    There was many feasts in Jerusalem that he would have had to go there every year. But there seems to be 7 recorded entries in Jerusalem, three of which we’ll find in Luke. The presentation of the temple in Luke 2, the 12 year old Jesus who visits the temple in Luke 12, His temptation we’re on the temple in Luke trip before we jump to John for the cleansing of the temple in John 2. The feast of the Jews in John 5 and the expectation we had yesterday.

17. 7:01

    The Feast of Tabernacles in John 7 and then the 7th entry in all four gospels. This what’s labeled as the triumphant entry. So it’s quite beautiful seeing that there are seems to be 7 unique entries of Christ into Jerusalem, 7 being that covenant number and he would enter on the 7th time to build a new covenant and you would enter an eighth and we’ll see his eighth entry later on in this week to as a new resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

18. 7:30

    OK, so there seems to be two unique ones to Luke, Luke 2 and Luke, the presentation of the temple and the 12 year olds who visits the temple. Those are unique to Luke’s gospels we saw yesterday. And then finally, the other one located for us in Luke is his triumphant entry. So what we’re going to do is we are going to just quickly look at the context of his entry into Jerusalem.

19. 7:53

    But before we do that, the classic question you guys are going to be sick of by the end of the week. Where does the journey begin? Excellent. That’ll be a very loud chorus, hopefully in a few days here. Luke 951 is where the journey begins. Does anybody have markdown where the journey ends?

20. 8:14

    Luke 1945 Very good. So what we’re doing is we’re going to use those as our bookends and what we’re going to see is where we fall in setting a chapter. We’ll know now. Are we at the beginning of the journey? Are we at the middle of journey? Are we near the end? Are we after?

21. 8:27

    OK, so hopefully that’ll help us out and then the journeys purpose probably is left blank. We’re going to go over that today. It’s going to be a, an awesome verse to go over. OK, So what we’re going to do is take a look then at Luke chapter 18. And since we have kind of this for these verses in our minds, we know that we’re getting close to the end of the journey, aren’t we? If we know he enters the city into the temple in Luke chapter 19, we know Luke 18’s getting close to the end somewhat. So Luke 18 and verse 31, we actually have the purpose of the journey.

22. 9:04

    So if you want to fill in that last line there from session one, the journey’s purpose, taking the 12, Jesus says to them, Luke 1831 See, we’re going up to Jerusalem, he says, and everything that’s written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. That’s His purpose. Everything that’s been written by the prophets, everything that’s been written in the law, everything that’s been written in the Psalms about the Son of Man is about to be accomplished.

23. 9:42

    So we’re going to Jerusalem. He says that’s his purpose. Luke 1831 Four. Here’s what happens to Christ in Jerusalem. He is going to be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, treated shamefully, spit upon, flogged, killed, and on the third day he’ll rise again.

24. 10:08

    So interestingly, it seems like on his 7th entry, 7 things are going to happen. Delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, treated shamefully, spit upon, flogged, killed and rise again on the third day. So with this list of things that are happening to Christ, he tells his disciples only a chapter away from entering the city.

25. 10:31

    What’s the response of the disciples? Look at the next verse, verse 34. They understood none of these things. The saying was hidden from them. They didn’t grasp what he said. Three different ways, we’re told. The disciples had no idea what was happening. They were clueless. This is the end of the journey. How could they still not know what’s happening?

26. 11:02

    Aren’t we? Aren’t we only moments away from entering the city, but the disciples find themselves oblivious as to what’s happening? Well, this isn’t the first time that this has happened. Come with me back to Luke Chapter 9, Luke Chapter 9. We know from Luke Chapter 9 that we are at the beginning of the journey, right? You’re starting to get the hang of this. Hopefully that we kind of know where we’re at in the chapter in Luke.

27. 11:25

    We could put ourselves really at the the timeline of our journey. So Luke 9 verse 22 saying the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders, the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So we have bookends now right before the journey starts and right before the journey ends, Christ explains to his disciples, these are the terrible things that await me in Jerusalem. But now look at verse in Luton 944. We’re verses away from beginning the journey, aren’t we? We are right there.

28. 12:05

    Verse 44, Let these words sink into yours. The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands men. He restates what he’s just stated in verse 22. But the disciples, verse 45, what does it say? The disciples thought the disciples did not understand the saying. It was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about the saying. So what else do we have as bookends in this journey? Well, Christ reveals to the disciples everything that terrible that awaits him in Jerusalem. And the disciples confused, not understanding what he’s talking about.

29. 12:50

    You see, they saw Christ’s mission as something totally different, didn’t they? They saw Christ’s mission as well. Finally, we’re going to be free of the Roman occupiers. He’s going to go in. A triumphant entry indeed. And deliver us from the hands of these terrible Romans. And when he says things like I’m going to die, I’m going to be mocked, people are going to spit on me and be resurrected. This didn’t fit into their idea.

30. 13:15

    This doesn’t fit into the plan. And I’m confused. So come back with me to Luke 922. This is His introduction then to what awaits them on this rode to Jerusalem. The Son of Man must suffer many things to be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribe has to be killed, and on the third day be raised.

31. 13:38

    Verse 23, immediately after, and he said to all, He says to everyone, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up His cross daily and follow me. So he says in Jerusalem, here’s what awaits me, shame, mocking, I’ll be spit on, I’ll be beaten, I’ll be killed, but I’ll be resurrected. If you want to join me on this road trip to Jerusalem, deny yourself, take your cross every single day and follow me. It’s an invitation, isn’t it?

32. 14:23

    And no one in the right mind would say, this sounds like a fantastic trip. Let’s go. But he opens the invitation to everyone. That sounds like a great trip to Jerusalem. Let’s go. No, nobody would say this. So why does he do this? Why does he open up the call like this? Well, let us look at the context of what happens in Luke Chapter 9.

33. 14:48

    Right? Just to get ourselves a little bit grounded as to where we’re at. We know what verse 51’s all about, don’t we? Luke 951, he leaves for Jerusalem. That’s our target verse. That’s our key. That’s our beginning. Well, what happens before this? Well, he sends out the 12 to proclaim the Kingdom of God at the beginning of the chapter. He then feeds the 5000.

34. 15:08

    Luke 9’s packed by the way, Luke 9’s packed full of big stories. He sends up the 12. He then feeds the 5000. He then as we already read in verses 21 and 22 tells about his death. He says this is what awaits us in Jerusalem. He then invites us to take up our cross every single day, deny ourselves and follow him. 28 to 36, The transfiguration amazing event.

35. 15:33

    You can spend the whole Bible school talking about those sets of verses. The transfiguration happens, the boys healed by Jesus. Jesus tells of his death a second time. This is the second time this has happened. And this is when the disciples are confused. Then the disciples instantly argue who’s the best disciple and they leave for Jerusalem.

36. 15:53

    That’s our context. That’s our foundation for departing for Jerusalem. By the way, who is the greatest? That’s the class on Wednesday. We’re going to look really dive into the, the dynamics of the disciples. OK, so this is where the where we’re at. This is what we find ourselves in contextually for verse 51 when he leaves. Before we jump too much further into it, what I thought we would do is spend a few minutes filling out the back of our handout.

37. 16:20

    This little map, totally optional if you guys would like. What we’ll do is we’ll just kind of lay out a few things here and you guys can geographically follow along throughout the week. Up to you. So up in the north, in the northern section of our map here we have the Sea of Galilee. This was the region that came to be known as shockingly, Galilee. All right, so the region of Galilee is where Christ found his home base at the beginning of his ministry. The first couple years of his ministry, this is really where he centered around.

38. 16:48

    He would of course, pop all over, but he would end up back up in Capernaum and Nazareth. All right, so this is our main section up here in the northern parts of Israel. Right South of that is the region called Samaria. Now Christ has a lot of parables, a lot of dealings with Samaritans. So we’re going to spend a couple minutes talking really about the Samaritans here for a second.

39. 17:14

    But before we do that, let’s look at Judea, the set land in the South. That’s our third region here on the western part of the Jordan. So galley up in the north, Samaria in between, and Judea at the South. Judea is home to Jerusalem. We know that that’s our target. So we start up here in Capernaum area in Nazareth, and we’re going to get down into Jerusalem.

40. 17:36

    That’s the goal. Any map will tell you the best path is straight line. Samaria is the way to go. And Christ thinks the same thing. Luke 9 verse 52, one verse after we’ve left and he sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him.

41. 17:55

    Christ says I have to get to Jerusalem. Samaria is the way. So He sends disciples ahead saying prepare me a place. We’re going to go through Samaria. OK, so let’s then kind of figure out, if we can, what all the friction is between the Samaritans and the Hebrews. Because we know that when the parable of the Good Samaritan is presented, the question, who is my neighbour? The Samaritan couldn’t possibly be the answer. The Samaritans, they’re lowlifes. We don’t we don’t deal with them. So who are the Samaritans?

42. 18:34

    Well, the Samaritans in Second Kings 17, verse 24. You don’t have to turn it up. I’ll go ahead and read this verse for you. Second Kings 17 and a verse 24. This is kind of the beginning really of the, I guess, foundation of the Samaritan culture and empire. Second, Kings 17 and verse 24, Assyria is wreaking havoc in the area and what it says is and the king of Syria brought people from Babylon, Kutha, Ava, Hamath Sephravaeum and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel.

43. 19:10

    And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. So what the king of Assyria does is very strategic, isn’t it? What he does is he says, OK, I’m going to take people from Babylon. This is my Babylon people. You guys are no longer living in Babylon. I’m going to put you here in Samaria.

44. 19:28

    You are Cuthavites. I’m going to take you. You’re going to live in Samaria. You guys are people from Sephoraeum, my Sephoraeumites living in Samaria. Everybody in Samaria, you’re going to live in their homes, their homes, and their homes. So what does that do to a culture? What does that do if you’re going to try to revolt against the terrible Assyrian overlords?

45. 19:48

    If you guys and you guys and you guys are all trying to get together and you say, well, this is a good plan, They say that’s a terrible plan. What about this one? And they say, you guys are all crazy, we’re going to go with this. It just doesn’t work. It’s a fantastic strategy as an occupier because now everybody’s mixed together. Nobody can talk to each other, nobody can deal with each other. And they just go, fine, we’ll pay whatever you want. Just please don’t mix this up anymore. And so now over the course of time, what happens is this bubble of Samaria becomes very anti everyone else because not only that, but further on in the chapter we’re told that their religion’s mixed lions started eating people. It’s a great story, Go read it.

46. 20:26

    Lions start eating people and they go, why are lions eating us? They say, we’ll ask the priest. So they get a priest. And he said, well, this is how you’re supposed to worship God. And they go, oh, and they mix it is that how is that how God wants us to do it, to say, well, you know what? This is the way you worship God.

47. 20:43

    But feel free to sprinkle in your own ideas too. No, this doesn’t work. And so over time, this area of Sumeria became polar opposites to the Jews and Hebrews were supposed to live. So we get to the time of Nehemiah when they come back and they try to build the wall. They’re feeble Jews is what they’re known.

48. 21:06

    They’re feeble Jews. And so there’s this friction now between these two nations, between these two cultures, between various religions. So when Christ can say here’s a story about a man who’s a Samaritan who saves an injured Jew, you’d get under your skin a little bit.

49. 21:28

    But that’s the point. That was what he was going for. Everyone is your neighbour. OK, so that’s the Samaria. So Christ needs to go through Samaria to get to this area of Jerusalem. So what he does is he sets foot and he says to his disciples, go into Samaria, prepare the way. So they go and they prepare the way.

50. 21:51

    What happens? Let’s read our next verse. I’m sorry, we’re not moving very quickly. Let’s try to move fast. Verse 53. But the people did not receive him.

51. 22:03

    Why? Why didn’t the people receive him? What does it say in your Bibles? What’s the reason that they said no, you can’t come through Samaria? I heard it over here. What? Because his face was as though he were going to Jerusalem. That’s a weird thing to say. No, you can’t come through my land, for you’re going to Jerusalem. Oh, Jerusalem.

52. 22:29

    Nope. Another way. Why has Jesus been to Samaria before? Yes, he has. John chapter 4. You don’t need to turn up. I’ll read some verses for you. John chapter 4, he visits a woman at a well and in John chapter 4 he purposely goes out of his way to visit Samaria. It says in John chapter 4 verse four, and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sycar near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the 6th hour and a woman from Samaria came to draw water.

53. 23:10

    Look at the friction between these people. A wearied Lord sits down. How often do you read Jesus sitting? First of all, he sits down, wearied from his journey. And he said to her, give me a drink. The woman, a Samaritan, said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria, in parentheses? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Do you see the friction here?

54. 23:58

    Is Christ in Samaria at this time? Yes, he is. Why is He allowed to go into Samaria in one area and they say no, no, no, you can’t go through at this time because you’re going to Jerusalem? Well, I think in John 4 we’re given another little clue. I’m going to read for you coming down to verse 19.

55. 24:16

    Right after this, the woman and Jesus have a conversation about how many husbands she has. He reveals way more about her than she thinks he should know. And she says to him, verse 19, Sir, I perceive you’re a prophet. Yeah, good guess he just told you about all of your husbands. And he says, she says, our fathers worshipped on this mountain, But you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. So what’s the difference religiously between Samaritans and Jews?

56. 25:03

    Well, it was where their holy places were. Mount Garrison, probably from Deuteronomy 11, is where the Samaritans found their holy place, this mountain, she says, But you say it’s Jerusalem. So coming back to Luke Chapter 9, they say, oh, you’re going to Jerusalem. Nope, not today. Find a different route. And so Christ is forced to take a detour.

57. 25:31

    And we know he takes a detour because we have two more places to just kind of familiarize ourselves with. On our map, we have the region of the north called Decapolis, and right to the east of the Jordan River, we have Perea. We’ve probably heard of four of these places before. Pray a little harder to find contextual stories for, but to capitalists, we’ve heard of certainly Galilee, Samaria, and Judea we’ve heard of. So what he does, he says I’m going to travel through Samaria. Another reason we know he wants to travel through Samaria is in John 7, the Jews have made it their mission to kill Jesus. And if he’s trying to travel down there without being killed, Samaria is a good route.

58. 26:15

    So he says I’m going to go through Samaria. The Samaritans say, no, you’re not. And so we know from Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10 tells us that he crossed over the Jordan back into Judea. And if he’s going to crossover the Jordan back into Judea, it means he had to cross it somewhere in the north to get over there in the first place. So with that, with those clues, we can pretty much figure out the route that he would have taken to go from Capernaum area, his home base, down into Jerusalem. Again, this is Luke’s version.

59. 26:54

    The other gospels placed him in Jerusalem a couple different times in the stories. But Luke says, let’s make it 1 story, let’s make it a journey narrative. Let’s take you through 11 glorious chapters of Christ’s journey to Jerusalem. All right, so with that being said, you guys ready to start? Let’s go. Let’s start this journey to Jerusalem.

60. 27:20

    Verse 57 as they went in the way, the way fantastic 2 words, anytime you find them in Scriptures, look at the type, the way of God. So as they went in the way, someone said to him, I’m going to follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head to another. He said follow me.

61. 27:48

    But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But As for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God. So instantly we’ve taken one step to Jerusalem and we’re given three stories of potential disciples. Three would be followers, three people who say, I can, I can do that.

62. 28:27

    I can, I can carry a cross to Jerusalem. Yeah, sign me up. So let’s take a look then at these three potential disciples, because what Luke does is we can tell from Matthew’s gospel where these come in a different order, that Luke probably takes three stories of individuals from the way and he puts them all at the beginning, right at the beginning. And he says, do you want to follow Christ to Jerusalem? There’s a cost to that.

63. 29:04

    It’s not simply signing a name and saying, where’s the bus? You carry a cross all the way there. So let’s take a look at the 1st as they were going on the road, someone said to him, I’ll follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to him, fox of holes, birds, the air of nest.

64. 29:25

    Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. The 1st man Volunteer Voluntold. What do you guys think? Volunteer, voluntold, volunteer. He says, I’m going to follow you wherever you go. Fantastic. He volunteers to be a disciple. A nice little just quick little note to jot down. Matthew 819 tells us about the story. It informs us that it’s a scribe. This is a scribe who says, who volunteers, who puts himself out there and says, I’m going to follow you, Jesus. Had it been Jason Robinson and a scribe comes to me and says, I’ll follow you wherever you go, instantly I would say you’re going to follow me.

65. 30:12

    A scribe. Perfect. I don’t have a great relationship with the scribes. This is a great way in. Tell them about our journey. This isn’t Jason at all. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says foxes of holes, birds, the air of nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

66. 30:33

    So the invitation is I’m going to follow you wherever you go, Wherever it is you go, I’ll follow you. I would have said that’s fantastic. Let’s go to Jerusalem. Christ says, do you know the cost? I have nowhere to lay my head. I’m not even like a fox or a bird.

67. 30:55

    That’s his response. What Christ is doing with this first is he’s challenging anyone who would limit their commitment, who would say I’ll go with you, but it hopefully comes with four-star hotels or better. There better be comfort, there better be peace. It better be an easy walk to Jerusalem, then sign me up.

68. 31:22

    But Christ is saying you have to give in. You have to just gum an unlimited commitment. Anybody who limits their commitment doesn’t belong on the road to Jerusalem. Now the fascinating thing is, does Scripture tell us that this man didn’t follow Christ? We don’t know the answer. He could have said, great point, I’m coming anyway. But all three of these are open-ended. All three of these are given a challenge that they might they just might have said OK, I’m willing to pay that cost. We’re not told Luke purposefully slams 3 stories together open-ended right after the invitation to fall into Jerusalem because brother and sisters, we might find ourselves just like one of these.

69. 32:20

    Let’s look at the second verse 59 to another. He said follow me, but he said Lord, let me first go in to bury my father and Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But As for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God, volunteer, voluntold, voluntold. This man is called by Christ. We have both in our midst, but the scissors in this room, we have both.

70. 32:47

    We have some who just who felt like they needed to follow Christ. And this man was called Christ, called out to him, called to be a disciple. Matthew 821 goes over this. He was already a follower. This man was already somebody who followed Christ.

71. 33:07

    He knew everything that was involved. He heard the speech about the cross. He heard the speech about what awaited in Jerusalem. He was already a follower. So Christ says, hey, hey, you, let’s, let’s go to Jerusalem with me.

72. 33:23

    And he says that’s, that sounds, that sounds good. But I I will, after I bury my father. Put Jason in the shoes again. Yeah. You gotta bury your dad. Please go bury your dad. Meet us down the road. That’s that Sounds great. Is that Christ’s answer? Not at all.

73. 33:50

    Christ’s answer is let the dead bury the dead. It’s softly harsh, isn’t it? What was the problem with his answer? What was the one word in his answer? Burst. Let me first go bury my father. The challenge of the second is to anybody who would procrastinate in their commitment to say, I’ll get around to it, but not right now.

74. 34:21

    That sounds that sounds like a steep cost. I know I have it in me, but not today. Again, do we know the result? We don’t. Luke leaves it open-ended for us. He might have followed, we’re not told. The third, yet another, said I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those in my house.

75. 34:43

    It’s a combination of the two, isn’t it? It’s a volunteer, but he has a condition. He says I have to also first say goodbye to those at my home.

76. 34:54

    Christ’s response sums up his journey, doesn’t it? Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back as fit to the King of God. There’s a city in the horizon, he says. There’s a city on the horizon. That’s where you look. You don’t look to the right, you don’t look to left, and you certainly don’t look behind you. You look at that city and you go straight toward it. It says stay in the straight path if you look to the right, and if you look to the left now and then you might not make it to the city.

77. 35:28

    And his challenge to the third is those who are distracted in their commitment. And So what he’s doing is he’s saying Luke is purposely putting 3 amazing disciples in here right at the beginning. We’ve barely set a foot on this road to Jerusalem. And he says these are the three kinds of people. There’s the limiter, there’s the procrastinator, and there’s the distracted.

78. 35:54

    You’ll see in your handout. Brothers and sisters, you don’t have to circle one. Maybe these don’t apply to you, but maybe they do. Which potential disciple do you relate to the most? If you were going to say, that’s my problem, maybe it’s one of these three. And it’s nice to kind of just, I’m not alone in this.

79. 36:19

    Christ will have you anyway. He’ll invite you on that road anyway. But he’s got a challenge to see the limiter. The journey appeared easy because he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know what the cross is. He’s not a follower yet. The second we’re told was a disciple, wasn’t he? Matthew 8 tells us he was already a disciple.

80. 36:37

    He knew that. That cross right there, that’s heavy. But I’ll get around to it eventually. Trust me, I’ll start Monday. And the distracted also understands the weight of the cross. But you know what? There’s other things that come up just at this time. It’s, it’s just, it just doesn’t work right now. I’ll get to it. But this, oh, this and and this looks great too. So those are our three introductions, brothers and sisters.

81. 37:11

    Those are the three. We’ve just started the journey and already we’re running into three. Fantastic disciples who, man, they’re just like us, aren’t they? And I think Luke purposely pulls three of these stories and says these belong in the beginning because if you’re going to follow him on that road, if you’re going to follow him in the way, no, there’s a cost with following. All three of these were taught a cost, and we don’t know what the result was.

82. 37:40

    Did they follow him or not? We have to make the same answer in our lives, don’t we? So the next question I wanted to ask you guys here is how heavy is your cross? Hopefully you’ve had a chance to look at the first question. What is the heavy cross that you bear in your spiritual walk to Jerusalem? You don’t need to put an answer down, but but think about it, if you could, what’s something that in your life feels like it’s weighing you down spiritually

83. 38:10

    and how heavy is your cross? It’s important to ask yourself this. Do you even notice how heavy your cross is? Is it not noticeable? Is it light? Do you say? Oh, yeah, that’s right. I I know. I do have cross. That’s right. Yeah, I do. It’s that little toothpick right here. Is it noticeable?

84. 38:35

    Yeah, it’s there. Is it heavy or brothers and sisters? Is it impossible? Because if you look at the story of those 3 disciples, brothers and sisters, it seems impossible. I can’t bury my dad. I can’t say goodbye to my mom. What kind of cost is this? So brothers and sisters, that that’s the point. It takes everything.

85. 39:11

    Does Christ really not us want us to care about our family? Of course not. That’s not the point. The point is the priority is Jerusalem. You plow straight, you get there. If anything holds you back, if anything holds you back, don’t let it. Your family should be dragging you with dragging you along with him.

86. 39:39

    That’s where we’re all going. If they’re not, it’s tough. You keep in touch, you drag them as far as you can, but you got to get your cross to Jerusalem, he tells us in Luke 9. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross every single day. And follow me, you know he says this again. Luke 14.

87. 40:17

    Where are we in Luke 14? Mid journey, wouldn’t we? Probably mid journey in Luke’s journey narrative. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he can’t be my disciple. That sounds terrible. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

88. 40:43

    What does it mean to to if we hate our father and our mother and our and our wife and children and brothers and sisters? Is Christ? No, no, no, no. He’s first. John. Whoever hates his brother’s a murderer. If a man say I love God and hates his brother, what is he? He’s a liar.

89. 41:00

    You have to love them, but the priority has to be a love for God. It has to be your love for God. That’s the thing that gets you to Jerusalem. You pick up that cross every single day. You follow Christ there. You pick it up every single day. Do you notice that cross every single day?

90. 41:30

    Do you wake up and go, the kingdom’s not here yet. It’s like a lug through another day carrying this thing around. It’s daily, brothers and sisters, but it’s not supposed to be terrible. Psalm 68 conveniently tells us, blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. He lifts us up. You carry that cross every day and you and you stumble and you fall down because it’s so heavy and it’s there and it’s obvious. But blessed be the God who says you’ve got this. I’ll pick you up every day.

91. 42:16

    So you wake up and you say I got to do this again and God picks you up. How does God do this? How does God do this? Well, brothers and sisters, let’s find the answer. See, God gives us a way to endure temptations. He tells us that in First Corinthians 10, not a way to avoid temptations.

92. 42:38

    He’s not going to give you a life where the road to Jerusalem is simple and you won’t have any. He gives you a way to get through them. Because, you see, here’s our progression. We find ourselves, especially after reading Luke 957 through 62, with a major struggle and we say, how are we expected to do this? And then the next progression is we go, I can’t do this. You know what this is?

93. 43:10

    This is terrible. And God says, that’s right, you now have a choice. You now have a choice. Now that you’ve realized that you can’t do this, I can work with you. But we have a choice, don’t we? We can say I can’t do this cross, you’re staying here today. Or we can say I can’t do this.

94. 43:46

    God daily. Bear me up. We have to find the third phase. But what is the third phase, brothers and sisters? It needs to be some sort of total dependence on God. That has to be the answer. We know that. But how do we find phase three? Now? Many of us have probably already thought of the answer. It’s Matthew 11, reading from the New Revised Standard Version.

95. 44:18

    Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, I will give you rest. You won’t find it on your own. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I’m gentle and I’m humble in heart, and you’ll find rest if you can do those things. My yoke’s easy, My burden’s light. We know those verses.

96. 44:47

    It’s a wonderful hymn. It was a beautiful connection between Matthew 11 and Luke. Chapter 9 Matthew 11, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. He tells the first he’s got nowhere to rest. Matthew 11 says take my yoke and you’ll find rest. The second says let me first and go bury my father. Matthew 11 says no one knows the Father except the Son, so, so follow me and you’ll know the Father. The third third says, Christ says, tells him you can’t put your hand to the plow and look back and find your way to Jerusalem.

97. 45:33

    Christ says my yoke’s easy, my burden’s light. You want another solution for those 3 disciples? He was rely on that man who invited them to walk.

98. 45:48

    It was to say I’ll leave everything. There were 12 disciples who did, who left their gains and followed Christ. And guess how far those 12 made it all the way to the Jerusalem. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. Where’s our application here, brothers and sisters? The point isn’t some imaginary thing where we say there’s Jesus yoke.

99. 46:19

    That’s the light one. It’s about learning. It’s about taking this book and saying this applies to this guy. What do you learn from Jesus? He tells us gentle and humble in heart, Learn from me. What do you learn from me? What can you learn from me? I’m humble and gentle. What can you learn from me? Be gentle, be humble.

100. 46:50

     If you do those things, you’ll find rest for your souls. It’s it’s simple, isn’t it? Matthew 11 lays it out clearly. Take my yoke upon you, he says. Take my yoke upon you. For what is my yoke? It’s easy and my burden. It’s light, he tells Matthew 11. So this is his solution.

101. 47:19

     But I still don’t know how it applies to me. This is these are great verses. I know them. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Brothers and sisters, we’ve looked at what Christ needed to get through to get to Jerusalem. On what planet was that an easy yoke? In what world was that burden light? Death awaited Jesus in that city, but because death awaited him there, life awaits everyone else. How light is that burden, knowing that because that man got there, you can live forever in service to the Father. Life awaits all those who follow Him. The invitation is open in Luke 923. If anyone would come after me, deny yourself, take of your cause every single day, follow me. We don’t have time to go into it, but a couple of notes may be worth jotting down.

102. 48:28

     Luke 9 pre journey. Luke 10 mid journey. He sends two groups of disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Does anybody remember the instructions he gives to the 12 and to the 70 slash 72? He says take what with you? Nothing with you. He tells them don’t take money, don’t take a purse, don’t take shoes. What would you take with you?

103. 48:57

     What’s the one thing he told everyone to take with them? Mr. Cross, nothing else can weigh you down. Money, it’ll weigh you down. All those things don’t help proclaim the Kingdom of God. The brothers and sisters, why carry a cross? Why not? Why didn’t Jesus open the invitation and say, carry your burdens, pick up your yoke and follow me?

104. 49:37

     Why carry a cross? Colossians and the ESV says having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

105. 50:18

     These things he set aside, nailing them to the cross. Why do you carry a cross? Well, we go from having this major struggle, we’re carrying a cross and you better believe it. We can feel it. We then go to this, no struggle and go, can’t do this anymore. We put it down, we take a seat, we say, what are we going to do? And God says, you have two choices. You pick it up and you follow me to Jerusalem. You take my bird and you take my yoke. They’re light and they’re easy.

106. 51:06

     You learn of me or you give it up entirely. Because what he wants, brothers and sisters, is for us to realize there doesn’t have to be any struggle at all. That’s where he wants us to get. So why do you carry a cross? Can anybody here tell me what is a cross used for?

107. 51:31

     It’s not a trick question. Execution, murder, killing, putting to death. Why do you carry a cross? What did Paul tell the Colossians? He nailed all those things to the cross. What do you do with your sins? You wake up and you go. I just can’t take it anymore. I’m struggling with this. This is too hard. Guess what you’re always carrying with you. You take that cross, you put it there. You take your problem and you slam it into the cross. It’s dead.

108. 52:04

     It’s gone. Christ took it away from you. You put that cross on, you go to Jerusalem. There’s no struggle at all, brothers and sisters, if you can put to death the flesh. He’s told us to carry the tool with us everywhere we go, all the way to Jerusalem.

109. 52:25

     Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, I’ll give you rest. He says. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me. And so, brothers and sisters, when we look at the cost associated with following Jesus, we see it’s tremendous. The reward we know is great, but getting there, it could be tricky.

110. 52:56

     But brothers and sisters, Christ has given US1 tool because he made it to the city. He’s given US1 tool. We carry around everywhere we go. We can take our sins, We can take our problems. We could say, you know what? I have something I could put this to death with. We nail it to the cross.

111. 53:16

     So what I’d like to end with as we wrap up here, Sorry, I’m a teacher. There might be homework if you can. Very last question on our handout. Find a verse for strength in your own time when you’re feeling overwhelmed with your burdens. Maybe it was a verse from today. Whatever you feel like, that burden is that you bear, whatever you feel like that that cross that’s just too heavy to carry around is, I promise you there’s a verse for it.

112. 53:49

     So if you guys can see if you guys can find it, see if you guys can just jot it down. Tomorrow we’re going to be taking a look at saving the lost. We’re looking at another purpose of Christ on his journey.

113. 54:15

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114. 54:45

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115. 55:01

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