Training for the Heart

Jesus Trains the Hearts of His Disciples

Luke 9:46–56

Jesus had personally chosen these twelve men. They had heard His teaching, witnessed His miracles, and received authority to preach, heal, and cast out demons (Luke 6:13; 9:1–2). What an honor! Yet their calling had not removed the sinful tendencies of the human heart. They still needed training.

In this passage, Jesus addresses pride as it appears in personal ambition, spiritual elitism, and contempt toward others. These are the apostles, but they are men like us. As we watch Jesus train their hearts, we should recognize our own need for His correction.

The connection: Misconceived glory

Coming down from the mountain, Jesus encountered a father whose demon-possessed son the disciples had been unable to help. His response exposed the unbelief of that generation. They had received abundant evidence, yet faith was still lacking. Jesus delivered the boy, and the people were astonished at the majesty of God (Luke 9:37–43).

Now notice what happened amid that amazement. Jesus turned to His disciples and insisted that they listen to His announcement about being delivered into human hands. While everyone marveled at His works, He directed their attention toward His coming humiliation (Luke 9:43–45).

The pattern had already been set before them. Jesus announced His suffering, death, and resurrection, then called His followers to deny themselves and take up their cross daily. Afterward, Peter, John, and James witnessed His glory on the mountain. Even there, Moses and Elijah spoke with Him about His departure at Jerusalem (Luke 9:22–32).

The disciples expected glory, and their anticipated glory depended upon His. If their Master were exalted, they expected to share in that exaltation. Yet they had not grasped the suffering He announced. Luke records that the statement was concealed from them and that they were afraid to ask.

Their argument about greatness reveals how deeply their expectations still needed correction. The suffering Messiah stood in conflict with their conception of glory. Paul later described Christ crucified as a stumbling block to Jews (1 Corinthians 1:23). The cross was difficult even for these chosen men to receive.

For Christ, suffering preceded His entrance into glory; His followers must also understand their participation in His sufferings and future glory (Luke 24:26; Romans 8:17–18).

Pride that asks, “Which of us is greatest?”

Luke 9:46–48

Immediately after Jesus’ warning, the disciples argued about which of them might be greatest. Their Master had spoken of His humiliation, but their attention turned toward their own elevation.

The parallel accounts sharpen the picture. Mark records their argument along the road and their silence when Jesus questioned them. Matthew records their question about greatness in the kingdom. Luke draws particular attention to Jesus’ knowledge of what was within their καρδίας (Matthew 18:1–5; Mark 9:33–37; Luke 9:47).

Jesus knew the pride beneath the discussion.

He took a child—παιδίον—and stood him beside Him. What an object lesson for men concerned with position! They were considering who should stand above the others; Jesus directed their attention toward someone they might consider insignificant.

He connected receiving that child in His name with receiving Himself and the Father who sent Him. Their treatment of the lowly mattered to God.

We need to consider that carefully. How do we receive people who cannot improve our standing, increase our influence, or offer us anything in return? Do we honor them, or do we reserve our attention for those we consider important?

Jesus corrected their whole conception of greatness. They were to aspire to the lowly place, willingly serving others. Matthew explicitly connects the child with humbling oneself, while Mark records Jesus’ instruction about being last and serving all (Matthew 18:4; Mark 9:35). Jesus would again teach that whoever desired to be first must become the slave of all (Mark 10:43–45).

His own life demonstrates the humility He requires. The One whom they followed humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:5–8).

Pride that says, “He is not one of us”

Luke 9:49–50

John then described someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name. The disciples had tried to hinder him because he did not follow along with their company.

Notice their objection. This man was acting in Jesus’ name, but he was outside their particular group.

Their selection as the Twelve was a real distinction. Jesus had called them personally. But here we see how a genuine privilege can become an occasion for pride. They understood their uniqueness from a position of superiority. Their calling to serve had become grounds for elitism.

Jesus told them to stop hindering the man. His expression ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐστιν (“for us he is”) confronted their judgment: the man they opposed was serving the same cause. He did not have to belong to their traveling company to serve their Master.

There is a humbling contrast with the preceding scene. The disciples had been unable to cast out a demon, yet they tried to stop someone who was doing so in Jesus’ name (Luke 9:40, 49).

We should recognize this danger in the church. Christians can differ over interpretation and doctrine, but pride can turn those differences into claims of superiority. One group considers itself more spiritual; another considers itself more knowledgeable. Instead of seeking to serve the body, we begin protecting the importance of our own company.

Where someone is faithfully following Christ, our concern should be shared service to Him. Our gifts, knowledge, and privileges should make us useful servants, never a self-appointed spiritual elite.

The Master continues toward Jerusalem

Luke 9:51–53

Luke now turns our attention back to Jesus’ mission. As His being taken up approached, He resolutely set His face toward Jerusalem.

The disciples needed to understand His person and purpose because He would not remain with them indefinitely. Their training was preparation for the work ahead. Their character needed to be shaped by the Master they would represent.

Jesus sent messengers into a Samaritan village to make arrangements, but the village refused to receive Him because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

The historical setting matters. John 4 records both the division between Jews and Samaritans and their disagreement over worship. Jerusalem was central to that dispute. Here, Luke explicitly identifies Jesus’ destination as the reason for the village’s refusal (John 4:9, 20; Luke 9:53).

This rejection now provided another occasion for the disciples’ hearts to be exposed.

Pride that wants to retaliate

Luke 9:54–56

James and John proposed calling down fire to consume the village. Mark identifies these brothers as the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17).

They had been commissioned to preach and heal. Now they wanted to destroy.

Against the background of Jewish–Samaritan hostility, their reaction reveals the danger of pride joined with ethnic contempt. People they regarded as beneath them had refused their Master. Their proposed response was destruction.

Notice the contrast with Jesus’ earlier instructions. When a community refused them, they were to depart and shake the dust from their feet as a testimony. Matthew places that mission among the people of Israel (Luke 9:5; Matthew 10:5–6, 14). Here, confronted with Samaritan rejection, James and John proposed something far more severe.

Scripture certainly records divine judgment by fire: at Sodom, at Elijah’s sacrifice, and against the companies sent to seize Elijah (Genesis 19:24–25; 1 Kings 18:36–39; 2 Kings 1:9–15). But those occasions did not authorize the disciples to answer this refusal with destruction. Revelation likewise describes specific authority given to the two witnesses; that commission was not theirs to assume (Revelation 11:3–6).

Jesus turned and rebuked them—ἐπετίμησεν. The correction fell upon His disciples.

The bracketed words in the supplied text express the contrast with His saving mission:

[“You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”]

These men needed to become like the One they followed. Rejection did not give them permission to act from wounded pride. Their work was to carry His message and seek people’s salvation.

Then Luke closes the scene: they went on to another village.

Jesus continued His mission. The disciples continued with Him, still learning.

The heart still needs His training

The apostles’ failures should cause us to examine ourselves. They were men with weaknesses like ours. Their closeness to Jesus did not make correction unnecessary, and our Christian service does not place us beyond that same need.

Do we seek recognition? Do we treat our own group as spiritually superior? Does rejection uncover contempt we would rather leave unexamined?

Jesus trains His disciples to receive the lowly, take the servant’s place, recognize faithful service beyond their own company, and seek people’s salvation even when those people refuse them.

The Master knows the heart. His disciples must allow His teaching to reach the motives beneath their conduct.