OUTSIDER COMPASSIONS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 26, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: August 26, 2020 from Luke 9:49-56

Theme: Jesus teaches us, as His followers, to be both tolerant toward those who are on our side, and merciful toward those who are not.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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As much as people talk about ‘tolerance’ today, it doesn’t seem that there is actually all that much of it to go around. We live in a time when—increasingly—people either see you as with them or as against them; either within their circle our outside their circle; either in complete agreement with them or at war with them. A sense of gracious civility is being forsaken; and the sound of shouting matches fill the air. Lines of division are drawn more clearly than ever. And sadly, this attitude shows itself very often among those who say they are Jesus’ followers.

But how did Jesus Himself behave toward those who were outside of His close circle? Clearly, He was compassionate and loving toward those who would have ordinarily be considered His adversaries. He gained a reputation of being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners”. He never compromised with sin, and clearly never acted in a way that was contrary to His holy nature. And yet, those who seemed the least likely to have fitted into His company were actually drawn to Him and felt wonderfully welcomed by Him. And as His followers, He would want us—without ever compromising truth or holiness—to walk those broad paths of compassion that He walked toward those who are ‘outside’.

As we continue our study of the Gospel of Luke, we find a couple of stories that illustrate this to us. The first story has to do with our Lord’s treatment toward those who were outside of His circle, but nevertheless sympathetic to His cause. The second story has to do with those who were outside His circle, and who were clearly in opposition to His plans. His manner of responding to these two groups was distinct and yet bound together by compassion.

We find these two stories in Luke 9:49-56;

Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village (Luke 9:49-56).

You might say that, in these two stories, we see that Jesus was tolerant toward those who are on His side, and yet merciful toward those who were not. And He teaches us to be like Him.

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Let’s notice a couple of things about these two stories. First of all, we see that the main characters in them are two brothers—the apostles James and John. They were both fishermen by trade. They were partners in a fishing business with Peter and his brother Andrew. And they were both, evidently, men of great passion. They had even earned a nickname from the Lord Jesus: “Boanerges”; that is, “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). It was probably meant as an endearing nickname; but it clearly reflected something of their personality. They might have been ‘thunderous’ in their hot-headedness; and the Lord had to sometimes reign them in a bit. They were the ones that came up to Jesus once and said;

“Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able” (Mark 10:35-39).

Of course, they weren’t able. But they were pretty confident that they were. You can tell that these two brothers were not the kind of guys who were all soft and mushy with love for those who were not a part of their group. They were defensive of whatever they considered to be their turf. You wouldn’t cross one of them without hearing from the other; and you certainly wouldn’t want to cross them both at the same time. You’d get struck by thunder if you did. How ironic that these two men are a part of the story of our Lord’s manifestation of patience and tolerance!

And another thing to notice is when it was that these two stories occurred. We see that it occurred right after a debate among the disciples over which of them would be the greatest. No doubt, these two brothers were very much a part of that discussion. Luke 9:46-48 told us;

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great” (Luke 9:46-48).

Perhaps that word of instruction from our Lord caused one of these two brothers—John—to do some thinking about something that had occurred a little while before. The first of these two stories that we’re considering this morning seems to have John speaking in the context of that whole ‘least among you will be great’ discussion. It begins with John “answering”—as if he was responding to what he had just heard. If someone who wishes to be great in Jesus’ kingdom needs to humble himself like a little child, then might it be that John had just made a mistake in the way he treated someone who was ‘outside’ their group? Might it be that John, in this first story, is not just offering a report; but was actually making a kind of confession?

This first story teaches us to …

1. BE TOLERANT TOWARD THOSE WHO ARE ON OUR SIDE.

It begins with John saying, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us” (v. 49). We’re not told any more details about the man than man. Who he was isn’t told to us; nor are we told how it came to be that he was casting out demons (apparently more than once). But we know that he was doing it ‘in Jesus’ name’. And he was apparently successful—not merely ‘attempting’ to cast out demons in Jesus’ name, but actually doing so. And because this person wasn’t a part of Jesus’ circle of ‘twelve disciples’; John and the others took it upon themselves to stop him and forbid him from doing this.

This sounds a bit like another story in the Old Testament. In Numbers 11, we’re told about how God had taken the Holy Spirit that had been upon Moses and placed Him upon seventy men who were appointed leaders with Moses—to help him bear the burden of ministering to the people. Those seventy men prophesied as a manifestation of the Spirit’s anointing upon them. But there were others outside that group of seventy—still within the camp of the people of Israel—who also prophesied. Some men came and reported to Moses that these two ‘outsiders’ were also prophesying.

So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:28-30).

I wonder if John was remembering that story at this time. And I wonder if, because of it, he was wondering if he had done wrong in forbidding some ‘outsider’ from casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Was he being intolerant toward someone who was not a part of his special group? If so, it wouldn’t be too unfamiliar a situation for us. We all often fall into the same trap.

And notice what Jesus said in response. We don’t read that Jesus thanked John for stopping some outsider from using His name without authorization. Instead, in verse 30, we read that Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.” A little later—in Luke 11:23—Jesus will say, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” But here, He makes it clear that the opposite is also true—that whoever does not scatter against Him is gathering with Him.

This comes as quite a surprise; doesn’t it? It leaves us with a lot of questions. But the point seems to be that, when we encounter someone who is not a part of our particular group—who may not be from exactly our own particular denomination or tradition of the Christian faith—or who even may only be partially knowledgeable about who Jesus is and what He has done—but who nevertheless wants to serve His cause—we need to be tolerant toward them in doing so. They are on the same general side as us. They are seeking to serve our Lord—just as we do. And as they serve His cause, Jesus may be drawing their hearts closer and closer to Himself.

Now; this takes careful thought and discernment. We should, of course, always insist on the truth that “you must be born again”. We should never compromise matters of biblical holiness and biblical truth. But we shouldn’t forbid anyone or hinder anyone who is in the process of sincerely moving toward our Lord in faith or who are sincerely serving His cause. We should—like our Lord—be tolerant toward all those who are on our side in the faith.

The next story deals with the same general theme, but in a different direction. It teaches us to …

2. BE MERCIFUL TOWARD THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON OUR SIDE.

Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus was moving more and more toward the sacrifice He would make for us on the cross. Luke wrote, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him” (vv. 51-52). As the Old Testament tells us, our Lord ‘set His face like a flint’ (Isaiah 50:7)—with unshakable determination—to go to Jerusalem and die on the cross as our Redeemer. And as He made His way in that direction, He sent someone ahead to a village of the Samaritans to prepare lodging for the night.

The Samaritans were a mixed people. When the king of Assyria had conquered and deported the northern tribes of Israel from the land, they ended up mixing and mingling with the Gentile nations. As a result, they were viewed as distinct from the pure Jewish people. The woman at the well in John 4, you’ll remember—who was surprised that Jesus would speak with her—was a woman of Samaria. The hostility between the Jewish people and the Samaritan people was strong. And when Jesus sent some men ahead to prepare the way for Him—when the Samaritans learned that He was set for Jerusalem—they would not receive Him.

And that’s all that the Sons of Thunder needed to hear! “Lord,” they said, “do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” Not all of the ancient copies of Luke’s Gospel contain the words “just as Elijah did”; but clearly these two brothers were thinking of the prophets of old who called down the fire of God and destroyed those who opposed God’s call upon them. How it may be that James and John thought they could do such a thing isn’t told to us; but most likely, they thought they could do it because of who they were with.

But that is not our Lord’s manner of dealing with those who oppose Him from the outside. He turned and rebuked James and John for suggesting such a thing. Some of the ancient texts of Luke’s Gospel do not have these words: “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” We find those words in the King James Version and in the New King James Version; but not in other versions. But nevertheless, those words certainly reflect the heart of our Lord. The Bible tells us that a day of judgment is coming, and the outpouring of God’s just wrath upon the wicked will occur;

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9).

Our Lord is not of the same attitude as James and John was toward those who are hostile to Him. He does not wish to call fire down upon them—though He certainly could do so. Instead, He went to the cross to die for them so that they might be saved. Rather than call down fire, He and His disciples simply went to another village.

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So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; even though this world is filled with division and intolerance and hostility, let’s not follow its pattern. Let’s be like our Lord. He was not a sectarian, but was tolerant toward those who were outside His immediate circle—and yet who sought Him. And He was merciful toward those who were outside of His circle and hostile toward His cause.

In being like Jesus in these ways, may we be used by Him to win others to Him!

EA