No Turning Back

No Turning Back

by | May 4, 2025 | Sermon Recaps

The conversation about following Jesus tends to be confusing. Discipleship is often presented as black and white, clean-cut, and straightforward in theological circles, books, and Christian media. Yet the reality of discipleship rarely matches this simple portrayal.

For many believers, discipleship feels messy and sometimes infuriating. It’s a journey of steps forward and backward, a mixed bag of good intentions and failed follow-through. What many present as a one-time decision (I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back) doesn’t align with the complicated reality most Christians experience.

The painful truth we must face is that we lack the unwavering commitment to follow Jesus fully. We hesitate and turn back due to our divided hearts and misplaced priorities.

When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem. And He sent messengers ahead of Him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for Him. But the people did not receive Him, because His face was set toward Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do You want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” To another He said, “Follow Me.” 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.”

Luke 9:51-62

Jesus Sets His Face Toward the Cross

Luke 9:51 marks a pivotal turning point: “When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem.” This wasn’t a casual decision but divine resolve and an unshakable commitment to His Father’s will and redemptive purpose.

Jesus purposely and willfully moved toward sacrifice. From this point, Luke shows Jesus on a journey where the tone shifts as He engages different audiences with tailored messages.

When Luke says Jesus “sets His face” to Jerusalem, the phrase carries significant meaning. In the Old Testament, God set His face toward cities for judgment (a terrifying prospect of divine focus). But God also set His face toward His people in grace: “May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.”

Here, Jesus sets His face toward Jerusalem not to give judgment but to embrace it. Not to receive grace, but to give it. He moves forward to embrace God’s wrath for our sin and to extend the gift of redemption.

Isaiah 50 captures this perfectly: “I turned not backward. I have set my face like a flint.” Jesus, incarnate God, was the only one with divine focus sufficient to accomplish this redemptive mission.

Not everyone welcomed this message. When Jesus passed through a Samaritan village, they rejected Him because his destination was Jerusalem: a cultural and religious affront to Samaritans who worshiped at Mount Gerizim. The disciples responded poorly, asking, “Lord, do You want us to call fire down from heaven?” They failed to understand that Jesus came to bring mercy, not judgment, even to those who rejected Him.

We Turn Our Face Away from the Cross

Jesus’s resolve exposes our weakness. His unwavering commitment to mercy rather than judgment reveals our self-centered nature.

In verses 57-62, three would-be disciples approach Jesus, each eager to follow but ultimately faltering in ways that mirror our own struggles.

The first says, “I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus responds that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but He has nowhere to lay his head. Discipleship comes at the cost of comfort and security. When this reality hits, the would-be follower turns away.

The second is called by Jesus but hesitates: “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus replies, “Let the dead bury their dead. But as for you, proclaim the kingdom of God.” This man wanted to follow on his own terms, clinging to duty and religiosity. When called to radical trust, he couldn’t commit.

The third says, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus responds, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” This potential disciple’s heart was divided between loves, unable to look forward without looking back.

If discipleship becomes merely duty, the kingdom of God remains out of focus. When following Jesus centers on personal accomplishment rather than grace, something other than the kingdom always takes priority.

We often sing “no turning back,” yet turn back constantly. Our hearts remain divided and our priorities misplaced.

Thankfully, the story doesn’t end with our ability to follow Jesus. Our discipleship succeeds only through union with Christ, the one went to the cross knowing we would turn back, break promises, waver in commitment, and look away from the cross.

That’s precisely why He went. He set His face toward Jerusalem without looking back. Every step He took was for us. Every motion toward the cross happened because we couldn’t and wouldn’t make that journey.

Jesus didn’t flinch, hesitate, or say “but first.” He embraced every ounce of judgment for our sins to pour out every measure of grace. When He cried, “It is finished,” He completed our discipleship. He went to the cross in our place because we couldn’t.

Discipleship isn’t about mustering strength to follow perfectly. It’s about trusting that Jesus has already done it for us. It’s not earning His love through unwavering commitment but resting in His unshakable commitment to us.

When we turn back, hesitate, and wander, Jesus doesn’t turn away. He carries, holds, and remains in us as we remain in Him. His face was set toward the cross so His heart could be forever set on us.

Rest in him. Trust him. Let his grace define your journey. His decision to love us stands firm, with no turning back in His promise or His love. And because of Him, we move steadily toward the New Jerusalem.

This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, May 4, 2025 entitled No Turning Back. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.

Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.

No Turning Back

The Fake Glory

by | Apr 27, 2025 | Sermon Recaps

In this exploration of Luke’s gospel, we discover what happens when we invert the Christian life by pursuing glory over the cross. Following Jesus’ transfiguration, where His disciples saw His divine glory on the mountain, Luke presents several scenes that reveal the consequences of desiring glory without embracing the cross. When we seek personal success, strength, and achievement rather than surrender, humility, and trust in Christ’s work, we find ourselves caught in cycles of sin and brokenness.

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met Him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit siezes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

But while they were all marvelling at everything He was doing, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

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 me receives Him Who sent Me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

John answered, “Master, we say someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

Luke 9:37-50

Pursuing Glory Over the Cross Always Results In Faithlessness

After Jesus and His disciples descended from the mountain, they encountered a man whose son was possessed by a demon. The father had begged the disciples to cast it out, but they could not. Jesus responded with a strong rebuke: “Oh faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and to bear with you?” This rebuke was directed at the disciples who, despite being previously empowered by Jesus to cast out demons, had failed due to their lack of faith.

The disciples had stopped banking on God’s authority and started relying on their own abilities. We often think of faith as something people possess, a quality they own or achieve. But true faith begins at the point of having nothing at all—a humble nothingness and desperation that forces us to trust something outside ourselves. As Jesus later explained privately to His disciples, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Their prayerlessness revealed their faithlessness, as they had lost sight of their dependency on God and the miracle of His mercy.

Pursuing Glory Over the Cross Always Results In Confusion

While the crowd marveled at Jesus healing the boy, Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” Yet the disciples could not understand this saying and they were afraid to ask Jesus about it.

Their confusion stemmed from having no perspective for a Messiah who would go to the cross. With their natural bent toward glory theology (the idea that things should continuously improve and become more glorious) they couldn’t grasp the Lord’s warnings about coming darkness and suffering. Their hardheartedness and unbelief, combined with their orientation toward self-improvement and self-glory, prevented them from understanding Jesus’ mission.

When we operate with a theology of glory rather than embracing the theology of the cross, we will always encounter confusion about who God is, what He is doing in our lives, and how to handle suffering and sin. Only through the lens of Jesus’ cross can we find clarity and peace.

Pursuing Glory Over the Cross Always Results In Speculation

The disciples’ confusion led to speculation about which of them was “the greatest.” Instead of trying to understand Jesus’ words about His coming sacrifice, they engaged in meaningless debates about their own status and importance. Jesus responded by placing a child beside Him, saying, “Whoever receives this child in My Name receives Me… For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

This focus on greatness reveals our struggle with comparison and envy. In today’s world, social media amplifies this problem, creating what psychologists call “comparisonitis,” or the constant measuring of ourselves against others. We even experience self-envy, where we compare ourselves to the idealized versions we present online.

This life of constant comparison is lived in the quicksand of our own insecurity—the insecurity of being unable to achieve our desired levels of self-glory. It is empty and devoid of grace, unlike the simplicity of being like a child embraced by Jesus.

Pursuing Glory Over the Cross Always Results In Isolation

John confessed to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow with us.” The irony is striking. The disciples couldn’t cast out a demon themselves, yet they rebuked someone who could simply because he wasn’t part of their group.

Their view of the kingdom as being about greatness meant that their tribe was the only legitimate one. We build similar walls around our churches, denominations, and social groups, believing our way is the only right way. We bristle when God works through those who don’t share our theology, worship style, or cultural values, revealing hearts that crave control and exclusivity rather than humble unity.

The cross eliminates these extra walls that shouldn’t exist by revealing our common need and the same Jesus who died in our place. While a life of personal glory will always divide, a life marked by Jesus’ cross unites believers, focusing our attention on Him rather than ourselves.

Where the disciples failed, Jesus succeeded. Where they were faithless, He was faithful. Where they were confused, He set His face toward Jerusalem with clarity of purpose. Where they compared and competed, He became nothing to make us everything in God’s eyes. Where they isolated themselves, He died to tear down every divide. His grace declares that we don’t need to achieve, understand, outshine, or exclude to be whole. Jesus is our wholeness, and His blood forever declares that we are enough.

This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, April 27, 2025 entitled The Fake Glory. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.

Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.

No Turning Back

Who Do You Say That He Is?

by | Apr 7, 2025 | Sermon Recaps

We find ourselves at a critical crossroads in Luke’s gospel. Jesus ends his Galilean ministry and begins moving toward Jerusalem. Here, Jesus makes his purpose, mission, and identity unmistakably clear. This passage represents a significant moment in the narrative where Jesus pinpoints who He is and what He’s about to do, yet nobody around Him fully grasps it.

Now it happened that as He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him. And He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

And He strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priest and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

And He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:18-27

The Identity of the Messiah

We must know who Jesus truly is, not just our imagination of Him. The world remains confused about Jesus, attaching Him to every political thought and philosophy imaginable. But, we must come to grips with who He is.

Peter nails it: “The Christ of God,” the Messiah, the one sent by the Father to bring the kingdom. Yet Jesus doesn’t bring what we often expect. He brings pardon rather than power, grace rather than force.

Throughout Luke’s gospel, the evidence was there in miracles, teachings, moments that should have shouted this confession. The angels knew it (Luke 2:11), and even the demons recognized Jesus as the Christ (Luke 4:41). But humans, those for whom the Messiah was sent, remained silent on His true identity until this moment.

We have a real problem with weakness. Our addiction to progress makes it difficult to study things lower than ourselves. We desire things that win, that climb, that shine; a God who conquers, not One who bleeds. We can’t stomach a Messiah who loses.

The crowds recognized Jesus as supernatural but couldn’t precisely identify Him. Maybe He was Elijah, or a resurrected prophet, or John the Baptist. They sensed something extraordinary but hesitated to name Him as Messiah. Until Peter cracked the case: “The Christ of God.”

What’s remarkable isn’t just that Peter had the right answer, but that God gave him this revelation even though Peter didn’t fully understand what it meant. Peter would later deny even knowing Jesus. He gets the right answer but doesn’t grasp what kind of Messiah Jesus is.

This is why knowing who Jesus is matters not as a test answer but in real life. What saved Peter wasn’t his ability to answer correctly and then live perfectly, but the actual truth of his answer despite his inability to live up to his confession. Peter was saved because the truth of Jesus held onto him when he failed.

We miss Jesus when we try to understand Him apart from our sin and suffering. We only understand the reality of His salvation as we see grace in the midst of our mess.

The Direction of the Messiah

This is the messianic secret. Jesus wanted His identity kept under wraps. Not because He didn’t want it revealed, but because He wanted it revealed with clarity and at the right time. Peter knew, but didn’t know. He believed, but didn’t believe. Jesus was telling him to wait until he could see more clearly what kind of Messiah Jesus would be—not a political or forceful one, but a suffering one.

As the Messiah, Jesus must die. These things have to be done according to the Father’s will. To demonstrate power, He must become weak. To accomplish holiness, He must become sin. To bring life, He must succumb to death.

Where do we look to find God’s power and holiness? We might choose nature, a magnificent cathedral, or theological texts. But God’s holiness and righteousness are displayed most clearly on Christ’s cross.

The power of God in the gospel is seen as He forgives sins, silences the law, crushes Satan, breaks death’s grip, reconciles rebels, clothes sinners in righteousness, and reigns with grace. This is the direction of the Messiah. This is where He’s going. It must be this way.

The Demands of the Messiah

One way we know we don’t want a God who suffers is that we don’t want to suffer. We’ll follow a victorious God, a God of progress and upward mobility, but what about following Him through loss, surrender, and pain?

Jesus is clear: if you want to follow Him, it will look like death. Just as Jesus died and gave up His life to embrace life with the Father, His followers must follow His path.

Real life isn’t found inside you but outside of you. The only way to gain real life with the Father is to give up control and godlike status of our own lives. This is what Jesus means by “deny yourself.” Discipleship is a return to creaturely status, drawing life from the outside source.

Denying Your Unrighteous Desires

As followers of Jesus, we are to embrace the truth that ultimate satisfaction cannot be found in this world. You won’t find your purpose through an ideal career, more money, marriage, parenthood, or experiences of pleasure. This world cannot satisfy you.

Denying Your Self-Righteous Desires

We are also called to reject the notion that we can earn life on our own terms with God. It was the religious who crucified Jesus. Grace always rubs the religious the wrong way. We must deny the self that resists the free grace of God.

You’ll never understand grace until you’re convinced that winning isn’t the goal. In progressive sanctification, you learn how to lose, how to give up, how to deny self, and how to rest on someone else’s victory.

To follow Jesus into His life is to follow Him through His death. Gaining the world but losing yourself is a net loss. The only way to experience God’s grace and the full life He offers is to become skilled in the art of losing.

The Promises of the Messiah

In our passage, Jesus gives two promises:

  1. “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This promise can only be caught on the flip side. Faith is like being pushed from an airplane and hoping your parachute works. Jesus walked out of the grave. The parachute of power works! His power is enough.

  2. “There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Jesus is pointing to the cross and resurrection, which are the pinnacle of God’s good news working in real time and space. The disciples will see the kingdom in action.

In baptism, we’re marked by the cross. The life of the crucified Christ is forever impressed upon us. We will experience the loss of self and the anguish of self-denial. But through that same baptism, our lives are impressed upon His body. Everything that is His is now forever ours. The kingdom and all its eternal blessings have been given to us freely.

So who do you say that Jesus is? Not just the right test answer, but where is He saving you? What parts of your heart is He bringing good news to? What in you is He drawing out in death and applying His life to?

Collectively, we say He’s our Messiah, but we don’t pretend to understand everything that means for our lives. We look to the sufferings of the cross, see His all-sufficient grace, and let go of every lesser thing. We know who He is, we see where He’s going, we die to it all, and we receive Christ.

Take His promises for whatever you need them for. Take them to the deepest, darkest part of your heart—the part you think Jesus can’t save. Let His promise run to your most suffering and sinful places, and let Him do His life-giving work.

This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, April 6, 2025 entitled Who Do You Say That He Is?. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.

Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.

No Turning Back

An Unfixable Problem, A Superabundant Savior

by | Apr 1, 2025 | Sermon Recaps

Luke 9:12-17 contains one of Jesus’ most famous miracles. This story appears in all four gospels and marks a pivotal point in Jesus’ ministry as He transitions from His Galilean ministry toward Jerusalem.

In the gospel of Luke, three critical meals mark different stages of Jesus’ ministry, each described with similar phrasing: this feeding of the 5,000, the Last Supper, and the post-resurrection Emmaus dinner. Each features Jesus blessing and breaking bread, highlighting the significance of these moments.

The crowd had just experienced divine healing and heard about God’s kingdom of grace. They were content in Jesus’ presence, experiencing true transformation. But as evening approached, the disciples grew concerned.

Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Luke 9:12-17

Faithless Disciples and the Unfixable Problem

When the day began to wear away, the disciples urged Jesus to send the crowd away to find food and lodging. These disciples, who had just been preaching the gospel and performing miracles in Jesus’ name, suddenly forgot who was standing before them. Their gaze shifted from what Jesus came to do to what they thought they had to do.

The disciples weren’t wrong to notice the crowd’s hunger. But they jumped straight to logistics. Counting loaves, calculating mouths, checking hotel vacancies. They were quickly overwhelmed by their inadequacy. “We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said. They traded faith for a spreadsheet and trust for triage.

This is performancism: the belief that your identity is fully tied to what you do. When you see yourself this way, you live and die on the success and failure of your own performance. You can’t admit weaknesses. You become too critical and judgmental, seeing people only as cheerleaders, threats, or insignificant.

The parts of your life you cannot control are precisely the parts that need Jesus’ miraculous grace the most. We’re not asked to ensure our children turn out perfectly or to maintain flawless health. We cannot make ourselves holy no matter how hard we try. The burden of responsibility for righteousness isn’t on us in Christ.

A Good News Savior and a Super Abundant Solution

Jesus responded to the disciples’ problem by no less than a miracle. “Have them sit in groups,” He instructed. Taking those five loaves and two fish, He blessed them, broke them, and distributed them to the disciples to give to the crowd.

The text says they “all ate and were satisfied.” When Jesus is your righteousness, your holiness, your everything—you need nothing else. You don’t have to fix things or be strong to be enough in God’s economy. He provides it all.

Not only were they satisfied, but they collected twelve baskets of leftovers. Jesus proclaimed a new kingdom marked by faith in God’s provision rather than our efforts or religiosity.

Jesus’ grace is super abundant. Like manna from heaven, God provides enough grace for every day. His “enoughness” is always more than enough. Jesus doesn’t send us away to fend for ourselves. His grace feeds our faithless hearts with abundant love and patience.

You are not what you do. You are not the sum of your performance, successes, or failures. You are what Jesus has done for you. His cross has already put to death the worst problem you’ll face, and His resurrection assures that everything broken will be mended.

Like the crowd, Jesus calls us to simply sit at His feet and hear the good news. Sometimes the best thing we can do is let Him do all the work and bear the responsibility of fixing every problem.

This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, March 30, 2025 entitled An Unfixable Problem, A Superabundant Savior. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.

Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.

No Turning Back

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

by | Mar 24, 2025 | Sermon Recaps

The message of Luke 9:1-11 presents a striking contrast between two kingdoms. This passage challenges us to examine where we place our trust. Do we cling to fragile control, or do we step into the security of Christ’s kingdom?

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.

Luke 9:1-11

The Kingdom of Good News

Jesus gathers His twelve disciples and grants them power and authority over demons and diseases. He sends them out with a mission: to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. This moment marks a shift in their role. They move from being followers to active participants in Jesus’s work.

Their authority is not their own. It is borrowed, given by Jesus for a specific purpose. They are not spiritual elites who have reached a higher level of faith. They are ordinary men, flawed and often confused, yet entrusted with the message and power of the kingdom.

Their mission consists of two key tasks: preaching and healing.

Preaching the Kingdom

The disciples are sent to proclaim that God’s reign has arrived in Jesus. This is the same message Jesus has been declaring. The kingdom of God is not distant or theoretical. It is present, unfolding in real time. It is an invitation to repent and believe.

Preaching is not about offering advice or giving people a list of things to do. It is the declaration of good news: God has acted to save, forgive, and restore. It is not about the listener; it is about Christ. True preaching does not leave people with burdens of self-improvement. It leaves them with Jesus, the one who has already done everything for them.

Healing as a Sign of the Kingdom

Alongside preaching, Jesus sends the disciples to heal. This healing is not just about physical restoration. It is a sign that in God’s kingdom, brokenness is being undone. Disease, oppression, and suffering do not have the final word. These miracles serve as visible proof that Jesus is making all things new.

While we may not see healing in the same dramatic ways today, the spiritual reality remains. Jesus heals the wounds of guilt and shame. He frees people from the bondage of sin. He reconciles relationships and restores hope. His kingdom brings real transformation, both then and now.

The Kingdom of Fear

In contrast to the kingdom of good news, Luke introduces us to a kingdom of fear. Herod hears of Jesus and is deeply unsettled. He is perplexed, unsure of what to believe. Some say Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead. Others think he is Elijah or another prophet. Herod, who had John beheaded, wonders if his past actions are coming back to haunt him.

Herod has a very real and relatable fear of losing control. He is a ruler clinging to power, threatened by the idea that Jesus might disrupt his kingdom. This is the same fear that grips many people today. When Jesus confronts the false securities we build, our first visceral instinct is to resist. We fear what surrendering to Him might mean for our carefully constructed lives.

Jesus calls us to trade our fragile kingdoms for His unshakable one. He is not a tyrant who takes joy in our loss. He is a king who offers something far greater than anything we try to hold onto. His kingdom is not about fear. It is about freedom, healing, and grace.

At the heart of Luke 9:1-11 is a contrast between two ways of living. The kingdom of good news, where Jesus reigns, and the kingdom of fear, where we struggle to maintain control. One leads to life, the other to death.

Jesus does not come to ruin and leave us. He comes to rescue us. He offers forgiveness, healing, and eternal security. The call is clear to all with ears to hear: let go of fear, trust in His grace, and step into the kingdom that will never fall.

This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, March 23, 2025 entitled A Tale of Two Kingdoms. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.

Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.