What Made Jesus Happy? (Luke 10:1-24)

What Makes Jesus Happy

Luke 10:1-24

Introduction: A Divine Joke (vs. 1-4)

We have been slowly making our way through the third biography Jesus found in the Bible, the one written by Luke, and this week we come across one of God’s jokes. It is found part way through the 10^th chapter:

²¹ At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. – Luke 10:21

Sometimes we miss the jokes in the Bible because we always think we have to use these big sounding church words. You know, the kind of words that other people use when they have to pray in front of church or something. We forget how to pray: If we’re by ourself hanging off a cliff we pray: “God help me I’m in trouble. Amen” And start praying like “O Lord God Almighty, king of kings and lord of lords, if though mightst in thine eternal benevolence extend thine hand of mercy to meet me in this my grievous and trying time of tribulation.” That happens to Bible translator to. Let me give you Tim’s translation:

²¹ Just then, Jesus got the joke relayed to him by the Holy Spirit and burst out laughing, “I have to give you credit, Father, you really are the master. That was a good one. You slipped it right past the experts and handed it straight to the newbs. Smooth, Father, really smooth—just like you wanted.”

So God the Father and Jesus are having this little private joke and then Jesus realizes that none of his friends—the disciples—got the joke. So he takes them aside and tells them the punch line to the joke. You ready for this? Here it is:

²³ Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen.²⁴ I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”

Oh wait. Here’s the Tim translation:

As soon as they got away from the paparazzi, he said: “You are the newbs. But, because you are with me and doing stuff for me, you scored the back stage passes to the kingdom of God that make the pope and president drool with envy.”

So, how to we get in on this? How do we score the back stage passes? How do we get the amazing, inner-workings, behind-the-scenes look into what God is doing? And why does it make Jesus happy? Well, let’s go back to the beginning of the chapter and see if we can pick up some clues:

Our Stuff Isn’t What Makes Jesus Happy (vs. 1-4)

¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.⁴ Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

If you remember, this is actually the second time Jesus is sending out people. The first time he sent out just his twelve closest friends—the apostles (in fact, that’s where the got the name ‘apostles’)This time he’s sending out six times as many. The first time, he sent them out alone. This time he sends them out in twos. But one thing remained the same: they weren’t supposed to bring supplies: no clothes, no supplies and this time, they couldn't even try to sponge off the people they might meet on the road.

So whatever it was that made Jesus happy wasn't their stuff.

There are people who come into life situations with all sorts of advantages. Maybe they come from a good family—a mom and dad who stayed together and didn’t fight too much--maybe they had money, maybe they went to good schools, and moved on to good jobs themselves with good connections. It seems like they have all the advantages in the world.

But whatever we think we bring into the situation, that’s not what makes Jesus happy. Jesus, I have a Ph.D. Jesus, I can give a lot of money. Jesus, I’m connected to the right people, let me introduce you. Jesus, I have experience.  Jesus, I can solve that problem. Everything that we would put on our resume, doesn’t make Jesus happy.

That’s why he asked the disciples to leave that stuff behind. Because they would have missed the point. Just like us.

Our Popularity Isn’t What Makes Jesus Happy (vs. 5-12, 16)

So if it isn’t our stuff that makes Jesus happy, what was it? Well, let’s read a little bit more:

⁵ “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

⁸ “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. ⁹ Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Jesus himself was traveling so he sent out these teams into towns ahead of him to prepare for his ministry. Some people might not like Jesus. Some people might like Jesus. They had to map out which areas were ready to meet with Jesus and then facilitate Jesus’ ministry there.

But, whatever it was that makes Jesus happy, it wasn’t because they were accepted or popular in these towns or successful in persuading them about Jesus.

We are not responsible for making people like Jesus. Instead, we responsible to meet people, figure out if they are ready and, if so, arrange an introduction with Jesus himself. His power and his persuasiveness will ultimately be what they must welcome or not welcome. That’s why Jesus said, in verse 16:

¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

That’s why he asked the disciples to go ahead of him and talk to people. Because it wasn’t about whether they liked the disciples—whether they were acceptable—it was about whether they liked Jesus. 

Our Experience Isn’t What Makes Jesus Happy (vs. 13-15)

So Jesus wasn’t happy because of their stuff, or because they were acceptable. So what was it? Keep reading:

¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.

Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were part of Israel—Jewish cities-- where Jesus performed big miracles, in previous chapters, where he healed people and fed the 5,000 men with two loaves of bread and five fish (Luke 9:10-17). On the other hand, Tyre and Sidon were both pagan Phoenician cities that Jesus didn’t go into.

So, whatever it was that made Jesus happy, it wasn’t because they received or saw one of his miracles.

God does do miracles. They are like street signs, telling us to pay attention to what God is saying. If we are healed, but forget the healer; if we are provided for, but forget the provider; if we are rescued, but forget the rescuer, then we miss the point.

Missing the point of the miracle makes you miserable.

Jesus wasn’t happy because they got to see his miracles.

Our Expertise Aren’t What Makes Jesus Happy (vs. 17-20)

It did matter what stuff they had, it didn’t matter how acceptable they were, it didn’t matter if they’d seen a miracle and, it turns out, it didn’t matter that they had performed a miracle. None of these seemed to be what made Jesus happy. Read along with me:

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

¹⁸ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

You might remember the last time they tried to cast out demons (Luke 9:37ff), they couldn’t, and Jesus chewed them out for it (vs. 41). This time they went out, and they could. They are stoked. They are happy. Now, it kind of looks like Jesus is being a kill-joy here. But he’s not. He wants them to be happy, he just wants them to anchor their happiness in the right place.

Jesus isn’t happy because they could perform miracles. He says: you will do this and even more because I give you the authority. I was there when Satan was kicked out of heaven and fell to the earth.  Do you know how you did that? Because you were tight with me! When amazing things happen through us in our life, it is tempting to claim credit for it.

But Jesus wasn’t happy because of the miracles we do (because it wasn’t our miracle anyway). Jesus is happy because of our relationship with God. Look what Matthew said in another place in the Bible:

²² Many will say to me on that [judgment] day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! – Matthew 7:22-23

Our Position Isn’t What Makes Jesus Happy (vs. 23-24)

So it’s not our stuff. It’s not our popularity. It’s not our experience. It’s not our expertise. Next we find out it is not our position.

²³ Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. ²⁴ For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The disciples are confused by Jesus’ joke. They don’t get what makes him happy. So he takes them aside to tell the punch line. That “blessed” can be translated “fortunate” or even “happy” You should be happy because you see what you see. Because people with bigger titles, like “king” and “prophet” wanted to see and hear what you got to see and hear. But God didn’t show it to them.

When I went to work at Insyde, my current job, one of the conditions was that I would get the title of CTO. So they offered me the position of “Chief Technical Officer” I said “No, no, not Technical. It should be Chief Technology Officer” So they gave that to me. I wanted to be the CTO.

So I may be the CTO to the PC industry, but for Jesus  those kind of titles don’t carry any weight. There is only one title that Jesus pays attention to: disciple. A disciple is a student, not just of what a teacher says, but also his way of life. Jesus doesn’t reveal himself to CEOs and Presidents and Popes. He reveals himself to disciples.

Conclusion: What Made Jesus Happy?

Jesus is happy when ordinary people move out because they know an extraordinary God. Ordinary people don’t get their happiness from their stuff, their popularity, their experience, their expertise or their position. They are only happy that they have a relationship with Jesus.

¹¹ And not only that, but now we are also very happy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we are now God’s friends again. – Romans 5:11 (NCV)

We want to hold handfuls of those things up to God and insist, “See what I did? You should love me because…” But that’s not grace. It is anti-grace. Grace is God liking you because he likes you because he likes you. Period. There’s no little asterisk. No fine print. Jesus did everything that was required.

Imagine enrolling in medical school and on the first day of your first term they shake your hand and give you the diploma. You are confused and try to give it back, insisting that you have not completed the course work required. The dean smiles and says it’s all right; the valedictorian fulfilled all of the perquisites for the M.D. program on your behalf and you start at the hospital immediately in the place he specifies. You protest, saying it isn’t fair, that the diploma is worthless, that you don’t like the terms and conditions, that patients will be hurt, that the valedictorian is out of touch with reality, and so you rip up the diploma and decide to start a different program elsewhere. Or you can gratefully accept the diploma, use the amazing resources offered by the hospital and seek to grow into the position you have been given.

Don’t you see the joke? Why Jesus was laughing? Why he was happy? Because God has let a bunch of first year medical students loose in the hospital. And it’s working. As long as they go and pay attention to their teacher, Jesus.