July 26, 2026 - The Gospel of Luke - Week 13 - Down the Mountain

Highland Christian Church - Asheville, NC

Communicator - Jason Garris

Luke 6:12-19 - "When they came down from the mountain." After Jesus calls his disciples, they are not set up high and mighty, but they must get down into real life with hurting people. The “calling out” didn’t set the disciples up as high and mighty – it led them to be close to the people. Even a list of names tells us what kind of King Jesus is. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Has Christ called your name? And if he's called your name, then he's asking you to put down all competing kingdom views that you carry to be replaced with his views, the kingdom of God. And together, we take up that vision. The church could learn a lot from this list of names. Welcome in everyone. My name is Jason, and I'm one of the pastors at Highland Christian Church. On behalf of our team, I just wanted to say thanks for taking some time to journey with us through the scripture. Our hope is that these words would cause you to think carefully about this Jesus we proclaim and that you would choose to trust him in your day-to-day. And as always, if you're in the Asheville area, whether you live here or you're visiting, we'd love for you to come join us at the corner of Livingston and Depot Street in person at the Dr. Wesley Grant Senior Southside Center. Our prayer is that God's words would equip you for every good work that He's prepared for you to do today. Anytime a show ends, I'm not one to watch the credits. I'm not one to stick around. And I'm somebody who makes and does filmmaking stuff. And so as an editor or a videographer, I'd love to get some credit, but I don't stay around for the credits. I hit next episode, please. Uh and again, if you have the option on Netflix, you also have the option to skip the intros. You don't have to watch the names of people who were involved or a part of creating the show you're about to watch. Like you can skip names altogether. Netflix actually released a statistic. The next episode or the skip intro button gets pressed 139 million times a day. And it's saving the world 159 years of time a day. Isn't that the weirdest thing? Like, it's just a weird stat to know, but Netflix said it gets pressed 139 million times a day, right? That's that many people skipping over names. Now, uh, I know for those of you that are get into your yearly Bible reading plans, how many of you skip over genealogies? Anyone in here guilty of it? You won't raise your hand. I we all do. We all do. Come on, all right. Um, genealogies, it's all those names. It's name after name after name after name after name, and we're like, bro, get over all the names. Why do I care about all these names? You and I think it's time to skip the names and get to the good stuff. I know I do. I in Luke chapter six, I was so chomping at the bit to jump into the sermon on the plane that he gives in Luke chapter six. I almost skipped the passage we're gonna talk about today. I really did because I was like, I love talking about Jesus' vision for the kingdom. I love talking about kingdom living. I love talking about how Jesus said things are gonna be upside down, but I couldn't skip this. It's like we're going through Luke. We can't skip it. I wanted to get to the good parts. I'm leaving you the good parts, Tim, next Sunday. So, I mean, again, we like to skip lists of names, but I really think these names actually tell us about the kingdom of God before Jesus even tells us anything about the kingdom. So we'll read from Luke chapter 6, verse 12. One day soon afterward, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak, he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names. Simon, whom he named Peter, Andrew, Peter's brother, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon, who was called the zealot, Judas, son of James, Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him. When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large level area, surrounded by many of his followers by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the sea coasts of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. Everyone tried to touch him because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone. Now, in the last couple of weeks, Jesus and the Pharisees have been going back and forth. Like Luke really introduces us to the religious not really digging the way Jesus is doing stuff. And so there's a lot of back and forth between these guys, and it's intensifying to the point to where they're like, we got to do something about this, Jesus. Luke tells us that Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray. This is going to be a recurring theme in Luke's gospel. More than any other gospel, Luke talks about Jesus' prayer life. It's important for us to see those things that Jesus spends time with his Father. And in this moment, he tells us that Jesus prays all night long. Not just for a moment, not just for a quick time to get away and be with the Lord, but it is an all-night prayer vigil. And the names that Jesus is about to call are not random. They're not thoughtless. Jesus spent time with his Father. These names were given as a result of praying all night long. These names were going to be responsible for continuing Jesus' kingdom revelation in the world in a special way that's different from anyone else. Why? Because they were eyewitnesses and they were with Jesus from the beginning. Apostles means sent one. So today, when you see a pastor or person introduce themselves as apostle so-and-so, it's not in the same nature as the original apostles. The apostles were eyewitnesses to everything that Jesus did, said, walked through. They were the ones, their names are recorded. Why? Because there were people who might have said, I'm one of the original apostles in their day. And they're like, no, no, no, no. Luke took care of that. The gospels took care of that. They told us who was there. They gave us names and families of who they were connected to. So if somebody were to falsify information, they could go to this list of names. Again, another reason names are important. But after this intense prayer, these names are called so that no one could say, I also am an apostle, right? There's the practical side to it, and we have to make sure that that's addressed. But notice whose names do get called. Not the priests, not the rabbis, not the scholars, not the political heroes, but ordinary fishermen, small business owners, tax collectors, a political activist, skeptics, a zealot. Jesus chooses his representatives not from the top layer of society, but from ordinary life. This is an incredible picture of the kingdom, even before Jesus says a word about it. In Luke's second book, the book of Acts, the religious leaders actually take note of how ordinary Peter and John are. They are like, these guys have zero special training, but they've been with Jesus. It's something that marks the people of God. They are unimpressive to the world. Paul actually said in 1 Corinthians chapter 26, chapter 1, verse 26, he says, Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. God delights in choosing what the world overlooks. He takes great joy in delighting in the things the world seems to ignore and not care about. This is an important kingdom reminder for us. But they weren't just ordinary. And this is what I love about this group. Because they weren't just ordinary, they were actually incompatible. They were not a compatible group. Like if you think through this, Matthew is a tax collector, Simon is a revolutionary, weren't they who just voted differently. These were guys who were opposed at each other's lifestyle and view. Matthew, he chose to work for Rome, and he had gone the kingdom, the worldly kingdom route. I'm gonna build my own kingdom, and Rome's gonna help me get there, and I'm gonna build this way. Simon, on the other hand, belonged to a movement that believed Rome should be overthrown. Prayer and violence. Right? So you have Matthew, who loves the system, you have Simon who's like, I want the system to burn. And yet Jesus says, Welcome to the same dorm room, boys. Like it's crazy to think about it. The guy who profits from the occupation, the guy who wants the occupation to be over, are now journeying together. Matthew, full of compromise. Simon, violent revolutionary. Matthew, surviving Rome. Simon, fighting Rome. Matthew made his living because Rome existed. Simon wanted Rome gone. And Jesus never asks either of them, and this is where I love this. Jesus never asks either of them to go, would you just see each other's views and the good parts to both? Would you just get along based on, oh, or you know what, Matthew, why don't you see Simon's way of thinking? Or Simon, why don't you see Matthew's way of thinking? He doesn't do any of that. Jesus actually tells Matthew and Simon the same thing, follow me. This is a beautiful reminder for the church. Jesus doesn't try to convince Matthew to see things from Simon's perspective, and he doesn't, vice versa that. Jesus calls both of these guys to lay down their identities that had defined them, and he unites them around something greater, the kingdom of God. It is almost as if Jesus expects his church to be made up of people who don't see eye to eye. How strange a kingdom. How strange and upside down to the way the world works. In a very divided world, Jesus' calling of these twelve is incredibly relevant to us today. The church was never intended to be built upon political sameness. The church is built on one thing: allegiance to Jesus. So my question to us is who are you thinking they shouldn't be here? Or if they'd think about things like I do, then everything would be better. Jesus didn't ask the zealot or the tax collector to think like the zealot or the tax collector. He said, Follow me. As Christ called your name. If he's called your name, then he's asking you to put down all competing kingdom views that you carry to be replaced with his view of the kingdom of God. And together we take up that vision. The church could learn a lot from this list of names. But what about your name? Every week we read this benediction slide. It says, as we go from here, we desire to celebrate Emmanuel through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I think sometimes that phrase becomes so rote and routine that we're we've lost the shock of the individual name that God calls when he says, I want you to be my follower. I want you to follow me. I want you to surrender your ways. I want you to put down your political view or your um idealistic kingdom view that has nothing to do with my kingdom, and I want you to trade it for mine. I think we've forgotten of the power that God invites us into a relationship with Him beyond just Sunday morning. Right? This is not like peak relationship with God time. This is a this is a part of it. But every moment that we breathe, every moment that we're out, every moment that we serve, every moment that we shake a hand or high five or or we weep with somebody who's in mourning or we we pray for like we are experiencing God's presence, you are invited to that personal relationship with God. And I know that it's such a cliche uh term, and everybody uses it, but you can't get away from the personal invite because Jesus uses names. He doesn't call a blob to himself, he doesn't call a whole giant group. And I love that there's names in all the gospels. Like he doesn't just go, and then there were these 12 dudes. Jesus called these 12 guys and they walked around together, and these 12 guys did this. No, he uses names. And to hear their name called by the creator of the universe, this one they weren't sure about, but they had seen him and heard him and walking with him, and they were like, Oh, he said, My name. Whoa. To hear your name, to be invited into that conversation, that is what God has done for you and for me through the death of his son. And that's why I love vision and revelation when Jesus is like, mine. That one's mine, right? To be known and to be claimed. Like, isn't that what we all want? We want to be claimed. We want people to say they know us, not be embarrassed by us, right? And Jesus is like, nah, that's mine. That one, Judas. What? Wait, me? Yes. What's about you? Does Jesus know your name? And have you responded to hearing your name? Before we move too quickly past the names, there is a name included in this list that surprises a lot of people, and that's the name Judas Iscariot. I do laugh every time I read through this list because before Judas Iscariot, there is a other Judas, Judas, son of James, or what everyone else will know him as. No, not that Judas. Right? Like, if you think about it, Judas is like, greetings, people, church of whatever. My name is Judas. And they're all like, and he's like, nope, not that Judas. Come on, right? But Judas Iscariot is a name that is called even after a night of all-night prayer. Judas still heard his name called. And as I've I've talked with people, and they love that Judas was chosen because it looks like it try they try to use it as like this man, it's just so crazy that God will still call somebody to the table, even though truth is staring them in the face and they can make bad decisions and all that stuff. God just has this love for us, and he calls the people with messed up thoughts and mindsets and kingdoms, and he calls, and I and I get it.

unknown 15:35

Right?

SPEAKER_00 15:35

There's the t-shirt. I've seen it. Jesus even chose Judas, right? Like that t-shirt, it's like this boast that he picks people that are messy. Guys, the whole list is a mess. Right? Just because Judas is called doesn't mean he calls messy people. Look at the list. The whole list is a mess. But but Judas's selection, I believe, isn't primarily about proving Jesus welcomes imperfect people. The rest of the apostles, they prove that. Instead, Judas reveals something else about Jesus. And that is, Jesus is absolutely committed to the Father's plan of redemption, even at his own discomfort. Like, can you imagine knowing the end and still saying, Judas Iscariot? Right? Jesus prays all night long and he still calls his name. Jesus wasn't fooled, he wasn't manipulated, there wasn't a campaign about pick this guy. He chose Judas, knowing. As Jesus moves towards the cross during the Last Supper, Jesus gives a few details. He has just talked to them about serving and be an example. In verse 18, he says, I'm not saying these things to all of you. I know the ones I've chosen, but this fulfills the scripture that says, The one who eats my food has turned against me. I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens, you will believe that I am the Messiah. In the Old Testament, through the prophet Zechariah, we know how much Judas is going to betray Jesus for. Jesus knew the cheap amount that his friendship was worth to Judas, and he still said his name. That's God committed to his plan moving forward. The Apostle Paul would later describe Jesus' commitment this way in Philippians chapter 2. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. These names matter because Jesus knows what it means to walk forward when it costs. Something for you and for me to consider is to know that Jesus knows what it means to face betrayal and hardship and still remain faithful. How many of you have used the line? You just don't understand what I've been through. Right? When we try and justify our actions or the things that we're thinking or doing, well, you just don't know all that I've seen or been through. Jesus does. You are not alone. The scripture says we have a Savior who is well acquainted with our struggle. He is not far off, he is not distant to what you are walking through, in fact, has experienced it without sin. That is the Jesus we proclaim. And now, having been up the mountain, calling out these twelve, having prayed about it, verse 17, it's a fascinating phrase. When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. The kingdom of God has always moved in one direction. I can tell you this: it moves down the mountain towards people who can't climb. That is the direction the kingdom moves. When they came down the mountain, Luke could have skipped this detail. He could have. He could have just been like, yeah, they were in on the they were up in the mountain, and then the next thing you know, they're among the crowds. But he did not. He continues the story along. For the people to be healed and to be whole, they did not have to climb to get to Jesus and his boys at the top of the mountain. Jesus and his newly chosen team move toward the hurt and the pain. Listeners in this era would have heard these things. And what Luke is trying to proclaim is not that Jesus is just a good teacher. He's trying to communicate Jesus is God. He is the Savior, He is the rescuer, He is the God man, He is the Son of Man who is described as a divine, heavenly, sinless being in the presence of the ancient one who has now come to earth to bring reconciliation. Messiah has come. Like that's what he's saying. And so for them to hear Jesus and his crew move down the mountain would have been very different for them because kings and gods were known to have high places that if you were worthy of the climb, you could get your healing, you could get your rescue, you could get your reward, you could get whatever it is that you want. Every man-made religious philosophy or worldview. There is not one that does not teach this. Every man-made religious philosophy, worldview tells you climb, improve, ascend, earn. Doesn't matter what it is. At the heart of it, it is always about itself getting better. The arrow always has to move this way. The gospel. Alone. Alone. There is no message like this on the earth. That God puts on flesh to dwell among us. Among us, he lived among us, and the scriptures say we beheld his glory, we got to see it, experience him, touch him, be with him, hear from him. Things that no heart or mind or ear or eye had ever seen. The gospel says that Jesus descended, that's the incarnation, right? That's I that's why I wish we celebrated not just at Christmas time that God put on flesh, but the incarnation is everything God putting on flesh and coming close. It's the whole story, it's everything. That's the gospel. And Luke intentionally describes that when God descends, when Jesus and his followers descended down that mountain, he says there were Jews there, he says there were Gentiles there, he says there were people from Tyre and Sidon, which is symbolic to them of places far away and pagan. Tyre and Sidon were not even close to the heart of Israel. They were on the outskirts and considered pagan and overly wealthy, and they cared about only those things. He said the sick were there, the demonized were there, the desperate were there. These were exactly the kind of people that kings would avoid. But not the gospel. In Jesus, we see that these are exactly the people that God chooses to embrace. So why would we study this list of names? Because before Jesus teaches the ethics of the kingdom, he reveals his heart. And you and I must consider and meditate and marinate on the idea of what kind of king is Jesus. Jesus calls the unexpected. Jesus is committed to God's plan even when it costs him. And Jesus moves down the mountain. If this is our king, then this is what his kingdom will look like. It'll be filled with unlikely people. It'll be filled with people who are obedient even if it costs them. And it will be filled with people always moving towards those who need grace the most. This name list, it matters. Band, you and the team can come. 668 days ago, Hurricane Helene hit our community. And uh, you know, some of these images, you you may remember some of them. Those were that was from the West Asheville Bridge and our neighborhood. I mean, streets completely underwater, probably somewhere you were at. But I went back through and was looking at some of these down the mountain photos because when Helene hit, the church had a decision to make. Does she stay up high? Or does she come down off of her mountain? One of the craziest parts of this, of the the Hurricane Helene element was it caused the church to go, what kind of savior do we believe Jesus is? Is he one who stays far away or is he one who gets close? And what happened as we were doing that without communication, people from this church just started showing up at the grant center. We didn't have communication. We didn't have email, we didn't have internet, we didn't have phone service, we had no way of talking. But in a place with no power, people started showing up, boxes started showing up, people started showing up and began filling boxes. People began began filling bags and just going, I don't even know how to do this, I don't even know what to do. The stories of I just felt like I was supposed to show up. That's all we kept hearing over and over and over. We didn't know what to do, but we wanted to move towards the need. We did not know what we were going to encounter. But here's the deal: when those men followed Jesus down the mountain, did Jesus say, I'm gonna give you all the answers before we get to the bottom of this mountain? No, he just went with them. That is the only thing they had was that he would go with them. Jesus moved towards us in our mess so we can be the ones moving toward the unknown with confidence. When this hurricane hit, your political view didn't matter in that moment. You loaded trailers with people who didn't see like you. Your view on left or right things didn't matter in that moment. You knocked on doors with people together. None of these extreme views that we used to keep ourselves separate didn't seem to be so loud. And you want to know why? Because we were following Jesus down the mountain. We were busy following Jesus. When you're busy following Jesus, all that extra stuff seems to fall to the side. The reason we're so obsessed with the side stuff is because we're not following Jesus. It's hard to admit because we all think our side stuff is the most important thing to Jesus, too. Until we surrender those things, just like Jesus asked Matthew to do and Simon to do, it's like y'all are gonna be roommates in the kingdom. You better be okay with that. Jesus moves toward. And what we did for four months after Helene wasn't a new ministry strategy. We come up with a new ministry strategy. We weren't like, hmm, let's brainstorm and come up with a new thing. No, it was simply following Jesus down the mountain. That's what we did. When the church is busy following Jesus down the mountain, you forget who's a tax collector and who's a bloody revolutionary. With such great need around us, you just keep your eyes on Jesus. And together we do that. Highland, while you may not be called in the exact same position as those who were with Jesus at the beginning, each of us is called now to come to Christ. To surrender your views on the world, heaven, God, life, all of those things to learn from Jesus and to follow him into the world. Sit. It's not just sitting around talking theology and ideas. Nah, it's surrendering my ideas about everything. Learning from Jesus, following him down the mountain. Sit. So if Jesus has called your name, I'm not asking if he's called your family name. I don't care about your family name. I don't care what bloodline you were born into. I don't care about your past history story that you can't know. No, no. Has Jesus called your name? And if he has, follow him where it's costly. Why? Because Jesus did that. And then go down the mountain with him. If Jesus walked down the mountain, please stop trying to build your life on top of one. It's gonna be so frustrating. I gotta keep it up top. No, you don't. Jesus didn't. All the divine privileges of God, and he gave them up so that he could descend into the mess. You, me. World was a change because twelve guys stayed on top of the mountain with Jesus. The kingdom of God has always moved in one direction down the mountain toward people who can't climb. And if this is the kind of king we're following, we know what direction we're supposed to be walking. Let's pray. Father, forgive us for believing that somehow walking with you means we get to stay high and mighty. Forgive us for putting up boundaries and barriers and walls where you clearly said that's gotta come down. Forgive us for having thoughts and ideas about our version of what your kingdom should look like rather than going, Jesus, what does your kingdom look like? And when our kind our kingdom ideas conf conflict each other, would we surrender to yours? Even if it's uncomfortable. Father, thank you for saving us. Coming close. May we be a people who follow you down off the mountain. We just wanted to say thank you for listening to the Highland Christian Church podcast today. And if you ever want to connect with us at request, ask questions or for any other reason, you can visit our website at www.highlychristian.com. Or you can send us an email at info at highlychristian.com.