Luke 9
Introduction
“summum supplicium”, meaning the supreme type of torture.
It was the phrase the accused would have dreaded to hear of all judgements.
For in practical terms it meant: death by crucifixion.
[crucifixion description]
But this wasn’t about efficient killing this was about slowly squeezing the life from an individual one breath, one drop at a time.
Some of us were horrified by the botched execution of of Christa Pike, two lethal injections and didn’t die – the Romans would have loved it.
Some of us were perhaps shocked by the suggestion of the live-streamed execution of Nidal Hassan – the Romans would have loved it.
Yet there critique in both accounts, would be “not sufficient humiliation”.
For the cross wasn’t primarily designed to take away someone’s life, the process had in mind something way more important to someone who lived in the ancient world, it was designed to remove:
their legacy,
their reputation,
their dignity.
Imagine, a loved one dies. No longer physically with you,
but imagine every photo of them on your phone,
every search entry of their name on the web,
and every memory you have of them,
is replaced by an image of them hanging naked to two beams of wood, their skin marked by blood and faeces,
their feet, (unlike the polite oil painting where Jesus’s feet are crossed with a nail through the front, instead) are nailed through each ankle to the side of the cross, spreading their legs open to world,
Imagine that is the only image you will ever have of that loved one when they are brought to mind. You would never mention their name again at a family gathering.
And that is the real cruelty of the Roman cross – it is as much designed to destroy the mind of your loved ones as it is the destroy the body of the victim.
The writer Cicero
"To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to kill him is almost an act of murder: to crucify him is—what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed."
Cicero, believed that crucifixion was so horrible, that the word “cross” should never be mentioned in polite society.
“summum supplicium” – the supreme torture.
And so it would have been more awkward than a “giggle” at a funeral when Jesus says to his disciples:
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
Can you feel the weight of how this would have been heard?
Note the specific focus on the ancient ritual of forcing the victims to carry the cross beam known as the patibulum.
In an ancient text called Chariton it describes 16 men “were paraded out, chained together by the foot and neck, each carrying his own cross.
It was an act of humiliation.
It was a central part of the process.
It was the only time in the crucifixion experience where you were face to face with the mockers,
Close enough to hear their comments
Close enough to see the laughter in their faces
Close enough to feel their spittal running down your cheek
For most of the crucifixion you would be 15 foot high,
for many unable to see, solely focused on each agonising breath.
But the walk. The carrying of the cross – you could take it all in, every drop of shame you would drink to dregs.
And it’s this moment that – Jesus says: this is what it looks like to be my follower. Not once, but daily.
Mic drop.
What does he mean?
On regular basis, put yourself in a position of significant vulnerability, because you are serving Christ.
In other words, on a regular basis, you take risks that could make you a public joke, because you are serving Christ.
This is a radical call. How is this even possible?
Luke 9, gives us the context for this offensive statement. Because Luke in this chapter is building an argument.
So let me show you two things to notice and then we’ll interpret and apply this famous but offensive instruction.
Observation 1: This about recognising Jesus for who he is
Note that in [7-9] the focus zooms into the Palace of King Herod and we find him mentally wrestling not with a crossword, but with a more profound questions of: who is Jesus?
Herod famously killed John the Baptist in a debaucherous act of being seduced by his step daughter, and now hearing about the miracles of Jesus, he is terrified that divine zombie revenge is coming.
You can almost hear narrator Luke, whisper - “Nil points!”
And then in [18-20] It’s Peter’s turn to have a go.
And he shoots and scores - “Who do you say I am?”, Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
Messiah meaning ‘God’s true king’.
Luke is setting up, that the ability to carry your cross requires you to understand who Jesus truly is.
Observation 2: Step out of your comfort zone.
You’ll know I love a good heist movie, and one of the best examples in the Bible is found in [Numbers 13-14].
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The people of Isreal are on the edge of the land of Canaan. A place promised them by God – but the whole project was on a knife edge.
Was the land too dangerous to conquer? Was the risk of stepping into worth it?
And so they select 12 people, a representative of every district- I mean tribe - and send them in to see if they can survive –
We’re told that they see the land is incredible – fertile enough for no child to be embarrassed about asking for seconds.
But we’re told that the ‘Sons of Anac’ are there. That is Bible short-hand for bad warriors. Kings of extraordinary power and evil. Known in ancient parts of the Bible as the nephalim.
But they bring back from their heist the treasure of huge grapes for the people to feast on
[When I was a kid]
So here they are at the boundary, but it was really a crossroads:
Trust God would provide what you need to step into the land;
or look to your own instincts and pull back.
But the people’s response was to reject the plan,
Reject the belief that God would give them the strength to overcome the giants,
Reject the opportunity to feast in full and enjoy the abundance the Lord had promised to give them should they trust him.
As a result, they returned to the desert and were hungry for another 40 years.
The reason I tell you that story is because [3500] years later, Jesus re-enacts this heist.
For as Jesus sends out his followers for the first time – Luke is quietly nudging you: “Notice it’s 12 being sent into the land, just like Moses, for the first time sent the 12 into Canaan! [Numbers 13-14],
Then in [7-9], Luke switches the scene to that random cameo for the villainous King Herod, the puppet king who killed John the Baptist and is a powerful menace to the people of God.
And Luke’s giving a nudge to say: “Do you remember how the 12 spies became afraid of the Sons of Anak, the warrior kings from Genesis – isn’t it fascinating that this time round, it’s the bad king who is terrified of Jesus”.
And then in [10-17] the 12 return in triumph and the scene flips to the feeding of 5000.
What is Luke trying to say by echoing the story of the spies?
In [Numbers 13-14] the people eat the starters of what would be a future banquet (if they step into the land and trust God’s leader).
Here in [Luke] the people actually feast and that’s followed by the declaration of Jesus being God’s true leader.
So there’s a fulfilment theme going on.
But more than that, the theme of risk and potential failure and immense vulnerability runs through the story of spies like a stick of Blackpool rock.
But this theme of risk, failure and vulnerability is also at the heart of Jesus’s call to carry your cross.
Which is the punchline of this whole passage.
How does it all tie together?
Notice what Jesus does in [13],
In front of a crowd of 5000 people, Jesus says to his disciples – “You feed them.’
Can you imagine – stress levels through the roof.
In other words, “You fix this”, “You carry this seemingly impossible burden” – And you don’t get more public than 5000 people.
Do you see, Jesus is putting them in a position of (almost) inevitable failure – yet he asks them to take the risk anyway.
It is a version of asking them to ‘carry their cross.’
“Regularly put your self in a vulnerable position for Christ,”
But notice what then happens. They return with barely anything (five loaves and two fish), their public shaming is almost upon them,
moments away from the embarrassment of turning the crowds away,
moments away from crisis –
Jesus takes the results of their failed attempt, and in his hands he feeds the people with next to nothing,
with his hands he carries the burden of the disciples in his greater power,
in other words: Jesus is {5] verses after this, about to ask them to carry their burden, their cross, but he carries it with them, and more than that, he turns their failure into glory.
For, although the disciples do not at this point understand it, they will learn that the cross is both horror and beauty to a believer.
So let’s apply this more concretely.
Application
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. “
[24] makes clear that this can include a call for Christians to be willing to die for their faith, as many do even today (North Korea, Somalia, Yemen).
But we must remember crucifixion is the “summum supplicium”, - the supreme type of torture. Its focus was to stain you in more shame, than blood.
The historian and writer Tom Holland – when describing the intention of the Roman soldiers - puts it like this:
“Making the victim look ridiculous, grotesque and foolish was a crucial part of the punishment. The more amusing you could make it the more credit you would get with your colleagues.”
And note the most chilling aspect of Jesus’ comment that propels this to its most offensive level - ‘take up their cross daily’
Jesus is clear, the perpetual life markers of someone who is a follower of Jesus is quite simply – your society around you think you are joke, think you are mad.
I’ve wrestled with the application of this all week, and I cannot see a way around it, but: a polite socially acceptable, culturally tame – “I'm a Christian at the weekend,” in the same way you have a commitment to golf or football –
is so far from Jesus’s idea of a genuine follower, that if that’s a description of you, you should feel unsettled.
It seems to me a follower of Jesus, according to Jesus’ own definition, is someone, at best, is always on the edge of being:
laughed at,
mocked,
ridiculed,
trolled,
discriminated against,
isolated
for – believing that Jesus is son of God and is alive today.
I’m not suggesting we look for trouble, or become antagonistic or obnoxious – just to provoke persecution so that we can say “Look at me I’m the real deal!”
No. But it strikes me, that we cannot come close to what Jesus is getting at, unless we are ‘regularly’ - talking publicly about some aspect of our faith.
There is no easy place in Luke 9 for the idea of a Christian with a private faith.
To follow Christ, is to be vulnerable to shame,
to be perpetually vulnerable to shame,
you must be a gospel disruptor in your school, your seminar group, your office, your neighbourhood.
Uncomfortable yet?
The response we feel, is “Ouch this is hard teaching! You don’t realise how many people are already gunning for me, seeking to discredit and take me down!”
I get it, but Jesus is saying in [23] give your enemies the ammunition they want so long as it’s your allegiance to Jesus.
The issue is – I'm afraid.
[I have excuses]
Fear is a sub theme of the passage –
Ten of the twelve spies were so afraid they would not step out.
No doubt the 12 disciples were afraid when they were sent out on their own.
No doubt they were afraid when Jesus asked them to feed the thousands.
You cannot get away from stepping out of your comfort zone.
But the key factor if you believe Jesus is the Messiah, and if you believe Jesus is with you then everything changes.
For just as Jesus took the disciples failure in the form (a return) of five loaves and two fishes, which would have almost certainly would have got them fired on the Apprentice, and he does a miracle and shares his glory with them.
The invitation to take up your cross isn’t a call to strength or heroism- it looks like:
[Hope Cumbria]
Imagine the instructor said:
You are equipped with everything I have.
You’re not alone- I’ll come with you.
Shall I go first.
From this point on in Luke’s gospel Jesus heads to Jerusalem, when he arrives
