Devotions

I Will Follow You Wherever You Go

by  • 

It is nearly time for Jesus to be taken up but for now, the crowds are still gathering and he is still teaching and healing. He sets himself to go to Jerusalem. At first, he had sent his disciples only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As he is fulfilling that work, and plans a stop in Samaria. Although he had a good reception there, now they refuse him. Disciples are added as he prepares to them out again, but not all are ready to follow him. He sends seventy two as he had sent the twelve and as he sends them he says, “ask the Lord of the harvest that he send out workers into his harvest”.

Jesus Goes Back to Judea

Mark 10:1
Matthew 19:1-2
Luke 9:51

And Again Crowds Came Together To Him

Mark 10:1
Wherever Jesus went, the crowds gathered. And Jesus continued to teach them. But what did he teach? His message was always that the kingdom of God has come near.

And He Healed Them There

Matthew 19:1–2
Jesus comes to Judea and he is well known there. The crowds not only came to him but followed him and Jesus heals them all.

He Set His Face To Go To Jerusalem

Luke 9:51
People were all around and they still brought more people to be healed. Jesus once said the the poor you have with you always. He knew though, that it was nearing the end of his time. So he prepared himself “when the days were approaching for him to be taken up”. 

Samaritan Opposition – They Did Not Welcome Him

Luke 9:52–56
When he sent the twelve in Matthew 10:1-16, he told them not to go to the gentiles and not to go to the Samaritans. Because, the “Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim (compare John 4:20 and note). They viewed Jerusalem as an illegitimate center of worship and deterred Jewish pilgrims heading there from Galilee.”1

But, Jesus had been through Samaria, there was his encounter with the woman at the well in John 4:7-42. At the end of that encounter, the people of the city asked Jesus to stay and he remained two days teaching then. Now though, Jesus plans a trip through Samaria and sends his disciples ahead to prepare.

Luke 9:53 And they did not welcome him because he was determined to go to Jerusalem.

The Samaritans wanted Jesus to validate their place of worship and their status separate from the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus couldn’t do that so the people of Samaria rejected Jesus and refused his planned ministry there. But it is the reaction of his disciples that is surprising.

Luke 9:54 Now when the disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

Why would they think this? They had never seen Jesus respond in this way. There had been an incident with Elijah the prophet in Samaria in 2 Kings 1:1-16 and Elijah called down fire. But Jesus, in Luke 9:55 “rebuked them” and they went on their way.

The Cost of Following Jesus

Luke 9:57-62
Matthew 8:18-22

Follow Me

Luke 9:57–62
In Luke 9:57 someone came to him and said I will follow. In Luke 9:59 Jesus said to another “Follow me!”. Then in Luke 9:61 another said “I will follow, Lord, but first …”. Jesus was looking for those he could send in Luke 10:1 so he says in

Luke 9:62 (LEB) But Jesus said, “No one who puts his* hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God!”

 

I Will Follow You Wherever You Go!

Matthew 8:18–22
Jesus had followers, and some that had been with him from the beginning. The reasons this scribe came to Jesus isn’t clear, but he said “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!”. Jesus might have said OK, or talk to Peter and we will see if you meet the qualifications, or who are your references. But Jesus simply responds “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” The Scribes answer is not recorded and there also is not any record that the Scribe actually followed Jesus. It seems that the Scribe may have been disappointed by Jesus response and walked away. But it is also possible that the Scribe answered, we have all of God’s creation and it will be more than enough. See John 6:26-40.

John 6:38 (LEB) because I have come down from heaven not that I should do my will, but the will of the one who sent me.

Jesus Sends Seventy Two

Luke 10:1-20
Matthew 11:20-24 

Ask the Lord of the Harvest That He Send Out Workers

Luke 10:1–9
Jesus, in Luke 9:1-6 had sent the twelve out two by two and now he is expanding the number of workers sending out seventy two.

  • The mission is the same: Luke 10:1 “into every town and place where he was about to go”.
  • The message is the same: Luke 10:9 ”and heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.'”
  • The equipping is the same: Luke 10:4 Do not carry a money bag or a traveler’s bag or sandals, and greet no one along the road.
  • And their opposition is the same: Luke 10:3 Go! Behold, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves!

And in Luke 10:2 “the harvest is plentiful”. There is a harvest that is ready and it is greater than the workers available.

They Did Not Repent

Matthew 11:20–24
Jesus, in Matthew 11:20-21 “began to reproach the towns in which his mighty miracles had been done”. They should have recognized the power of God at work and turned to him.

Jesus Praises His Father

Luke 10:21-24
Matthew 11:25-27

You Have Hidden These Things From the Wise and Intelligent

Luke 10:21–24

You Have Revealed Them To Young Children

Matthew 11:25–27

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Mark 10:1
  • Matthew 8:18-22
  • Matthew 11:20-27
  • Matthew 19:1-2
  • Luke 9:51-62
  • Luke 10:1-24

The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ – The Gospels

This series follows the order of readings from the Tyndale One Year Chronological Bible. Covering these events chronologically as they happened, gives a much different context and helps us understand the move of God as He is introducing the Saviour, the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. This series begins with Return To Me And I Will Return To You at the end of Malachi and introduces the “Witnesses” writing the Gospels.

Operation Exodus

is helping Jewish people return to their homeland. You might fund one that desires to go home. http://operationexodususa.org/Overview

References

  • 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Lk 9:53). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.