For The Followers Of Jesus Who Just Can’t Seem To Get It Right

Mar 14, 2023

In the last several verses of Luke 9 we see multiple people misunderstanding Jesus.

The disciples fight about who is the greatest among them; John incorrectly tries to stop others from casting out demons; a Samaritan village rejects Jesus and then the disciples incorrectly try to rebuke them with hellfire; and finally, three different men attempt to follow Jesus but all of them get it wrong.

This series of events is almost humorous as you see how countercultural Jesus truly was, and how easily even his own followers completely missed the point. Their argument in Luke 9:46-48 is a prime example of this:

An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

- Luke 9:46-48

It’s hilarious to imagine the disciples having such a trivial fight when around the Son of God.

Jesus humbles them by using a child as the crux of his argument.

Especially in that culture, children were of little importance or social status. Jesus compares himself to that kind of lowly humility, and challenges his disciples to seek being the least instead of the greatest. The verses that follow show that Jesus was teaching truths that didn’t come naturally, but provided a new found way of life built on the Messiah, rather than society’s legalistic standards.

So often in scripture, the disciples, the Jews, the Gentiles, the Romans - they missed the point. They missed the point to the point of the cross. Judas turns him in; Thomas doubts; Peter - the most impassioned of them all - denies Jesus!

And yet, it is also through the broken people that Christ disciples that the church is built. It’s on the shoulders of Peter the denier, and Paul the persecutor, that we stand 2000 years later.

As I read Luke 9, it’s easy to get discouraged – they are missing the point! They aren’t understanding Jesus! As I look around me today and see apathy in the church, false teaching, consumerism Christianity, and harmful hyper-spirituality, it’s easy to get discouraged. How could anyone ever truly know God when we keep missing the point?

But of course, as I point a finger at the disciples and the broken believers of 2023, four point back at me. How could I call myself a believer or a leader for Christ when I struggle daily? How do I so often return to the lies of the enemy about myself and my calling? How do I so often seek sin instead of Christ?

How do I keep missing the point?

I am lost. The disciples were lost. All of mankind is lost. But that’s the beauty of Luke 9. The disciples didn’t have to get it right. They didn’t have to have all of the right answers, the Samaritans didn’t have to accept Jesus, followers didn’t have to respond properly to God’s call – because just a few pages later Christ would do the work for us. 15 chapters later Jesus would rise from the dead for the very disciples who misunderstood him, for the Samaritans who rejected him, for the men who didn’t follow him, for the Christians today that misunderstand his name, for the sinners who feel more lost than ever, for you and me on our very worst days.

It’s easy to get frustrated at the disciples when they misunderstand Jesus, but it doesn’t take long for us to realize that’s us.

It doesn’t take long for shame to creep in and say, “See you’re just like them. You can never get this following Jesus thing right.” But you have to keep turning the pages, friend. You can’t stop in Luke 9. He did the work for you – he righted the wrongs on the cross so we don’t have to get it all right. We can miss the point and misunderstand and struggle, but we wake up each day and repent. And by the grace of God, he works through broken, messy people like you and me.

Maybe today you feel like you’ve missed the point. Maybe you feel like you can never quite get this Jesus thing right. Good news friend, you’ve got good company. Peter gets you, John gets you, I get you. We can’t get it right. But we keep returning to the feet of the resurrected Jesus. We keep seeking him, and his grace covers all the wrongs. His Spirit sanctifies us more and more into his image. And maybe we keep missing the point, but maybe that’s the point of it all, that we could never get it right.