Luke 9

A favorite song in our household lately has been “Watching You” by Rodney Atkins. If you don’t know it, you would probably recognize the sweet, father son ballad, narrating the adventures of a young child trying to imitate his dad. Having a toddler myself, I see these stories becoming reality in my own life. Following anything I do, I hear, “I do it, I do it.” As I read about Jesus’ ministry, this is exactly what comes to mind, children following their father around saying, “I do it, I do it.”

In this chapter we see such a clear example of Jesus’ leadership. In verse 1 we see that he empowered his disciples. In verses 3 and 4 we see that He gave them specific instructions on what to do. He gave them encouragement on how to deal with hard times in verse 5, and in verse 10 we see him meet again with his disciples and hold them accountable. 

Knowing the whole picture, we are aware that Jesus will soon die, rise again, return to his disciples, and send them out to begin their own ministry with their helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus is modeling exactly what the disciples will do once He’s gone. Jesus' ministry modeled the heart of God our Father. He healed people of their physical illnesses and their spiritual ones. He fed those who were hungry, and declared that darkness had no hold on His people.

On our journey of making disciples, it’s vitally important that we don’t turn from Jesus' words. Just as a child imitates their parent(s), our disciples are looking to us to learn how to follow Jesus. Disciple-making isn’t a checklist of accomplishment, but similar to parenting, it’s the daily choices, discipline and trust that leads to fruit. Jesus spent time with his disciples. He knew them each personally. He challenged and encouraged them. He gave them responsibility, and showed them what to do. Your disciples will look to you to learn how to follow Jesus, would you relentlessly cling to Christ as they learn from you.