Video is usually posted early Sunday afternoon.
Text: This week we’re covering Luke 9:18-36 which contains Peter’s confession of Jesus as “the
Christ, the Son of the Living God”, Jesus prediction of his coming death, a
lesson on the cost of discipleship, as well as an episode called the
Transfiguration.
Other passages to read: There are parallel passages to
these pericopes in the other gospels:
·
Peter’s Confession of Christ: Matthew 16:13-20; Mark
8:27-30
·
Jesus Predicting his own death: Matthew 16:21-23;
Mark 8:31-33
·
Take up your Cross: Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:34- 9:1
·
The Transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13
Points to ponder: In your study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:
- When Jesus asked who the crowd thought he was, how
could the crowd have come to those conclusions? John? Elijah? Jeremiah?
One of the other prophets?
- Does Jesus deny the title of “Christ” or “Son of
God” (in the Matthew’s longer account)?
- What did it mean to be the Christ?
- How did Jesus’ understanding differ from that of the
disciples and the common cultural view?
- Could Jesus have been any clearer about what would
happen to him?
- What does it mean to take up your cross daily?
- What did Jesus mean in verse 27, that “some standing here will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God”?
Questions to ask
ourselves: The
following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of what we learn about
Jesus…
- What is the confession of our family regarding
Jesus? Our co-workers? Our neighbors?
- What is our confession about Jesus? Who do we say
that He is? What do our words reveal?
- Do our actions (attitudes, behaviors, lifestyle
choices) say about who we really think Jesus is?
- Have we ever been like Peter and said stuff without
really knowing what we were saying?
- Peter, James, and John learned an important lesson
direct from God that day on the mountain what was it?
Pastor Randy’s Sermon Notes: "Disciples: Believing,
Following, Revealing"
1.
Believing: Seeing and Confessing
(9:18-22)
2.
Following: Denying and Dying (9:23-27)
3.
Revealing: Listening and Trusting
(Luke 9:18-36)
2 Corinthians 3:18 And
we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being
transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the
Lord, who is the Spirit.
We are
reflectors of that glory in two ways:
A) When we worship Jesus. B) When we listen to his words and live.
2 Peter 1:19-21 “And we
have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay
attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and
the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no
prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
1 John 3:1-3
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called
children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what
we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Word Studies: There are several words in
this passage whose meanings we may have never stopped to consider.
- Christ = (Strongs #5547 Χριστός, Christos) The Greek word translating
the Hebrew word “Messiah” which mean “Anointed One.” What was Jesus
anointed to do?
- Son of Man = Jesus’ favorite term to use to refer to himself. Indicates not
only his humanity but alludes to a passage in Daniel 7:13-14. Also was favorite term of Ezekiel’s.
- Transfigured = (Strongs #3339 μεταμορφόω, metamorphoō) While Luke did not use this actual word, it is used in the parallel accounts (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2). Warren Wiersbe writes, “The word means ‘a change in appearance that comes from within,’ and it gives us the English word metamorphosis.”
Quotes & Commentary:
In this familiar passage, we
have two important events which occurred eight days apart—Peter’s confession,
and the Transfiguration. Hopefully as you read this chapter you can see why
these events are connected. Are there common words and actions? Is there a
developing theme that unites the following sections of the text? Yes and yes!
·
Peter’s Confession of Christ (v.18-20)
“Jesus’ first question
and the answers he receives are reminiscent of the earlier report about Herod’s
concern over Jesus’ identity in 9:7-9.This suggests the thematic nature of
Herod’s question, but also prepares for the conspicuous and important contrast
between vv 7-9 and 18-20: Herod is aware of public opinion, rejects it, but
remains perplexed, unseeing, while the disciples are aware of public opinion,
reject it, and go on to respond (accurately!) to the question of Jesus’ status.”
(Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 369.)
Jesus makes it very clear
that they were to speak no more of his being the Messiah at that time, for if
they had done so it most likely would have sparked a revolution against Rome
and that was not the ordained purpose of God that Jesus was following. Jesus,
after warning his followers strongly about this began to clarify what it really
meant to be the Messiah and what it really meant to be a follower of the
Messiah.
“Luke’s presentation of
the inseparability of Christology and discipleship reaches its acme in the
tightly woven sequence of this narrative unit. In the moments following Jesus’
acclamation by Peter as the Messiah of God, Jesus moves immediately from his
clarification of the nature of messiahship to his interpretation of the nature
of discipleship.” (Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 366.)
·
Jesus Predicting his own death (v. 21-22)
“Now that the crucial
question has been answered, Jesus must undeceive his followers. For them, the Messiah
is the victorious conqueror of the Romans who will set up his earthly kingdom.
Never could any of them have believed that the Messiah had in fact come to die
for them and for the Romans as well. So before the echo of Peter’s answer has
died away, Jesus tells them that being the messiah means he must “suffer many
things…be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Michael Card, Luke: The
Gospel of Amazement, IVP, 124.)
·
Take up your Cross (v. 23-27)
“Jesus was known as a
prophet, and when people asked what he was up to they went for models to
prophets old and new, from Elijah to John the Baptist…But Jesus was more than
that. Prophet he certainly was; but he was not simply pointing to God’s kingdom
some way off in the future, he was causing it to appear before people’s eyes,
and was setting into motion the events through which it would become firmly
established.” (N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, 111.)
“As dreadful as his destiny as Son of Man
might be, those who choose to follow him may expect nothing other than the
opposition that will become his trademark by the end of the narrative. This is
not because Jesus is a masochist who embraces suffering, but because he is
unreservedly committed to the purpose of God—a purpose that resists, and is
resisted by, the habits and patterns and powers of the larger world. As the Son
of Man fulfills God’s design, he will encounter hostility and experience great suffering;
can those who follow him along the path of God’s purpose expect less?” (Leon
Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 371-372.)
“The world is being
turned upside down, and anyone who wants to come through and be present when
God’s kingdom appears will have to be prepared to be turned upside down and
inside out with it…Jesus didn’t come with the message that if we followed him
we would have an easy life, with everything happening exactly as we would like
it. Just the reverse. To save your life you have to lose it…Jesus’ swift
movement, from asking who they think he is to summoning them to follow him even
to the death, shows clearly enough that we cannot separate thinking from action
in the Christian faith…There are no half measures in the kingdom of God.” (N.T.
Wright, Luke for Everyone, 111-112.
·
The Transfiguration (v. 28-36)
“The purpose of the Transfiguration was to
strengthen the heart of Jesus as he was praying long about his approaching
death and to give these chosen three disciples a glimpse of his glory for the
hour of darkness coming. On one on earth understood the heart of Jesus and so
Moses and Elijah came. The poor disciples utterly failed to grasp the
significance of it all.” (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New
Testament, Vol, 2 Luke, Baker, 131.)
“Though his work is built on and shaped by theirs
[Moses and Elijah], their interpreting and legitimating presence is no longer
needed. God himself has unveiled and sanctioned Jesus’ status and mission. The
journey that must be fulfilled in his. The voice the apostles are to heed is
his. Indeed, as Luke will make clear, even these OT figures are now interpreted
by Jesus, for his role as divine spokesperson has been endorsed by God himself.
That is, it is not so much that the time of the law and prophets has passed as
it is that Jesus has been designated as their authorized interpreter.” (Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke,
Eerdmans, 384.)
Previously
on Ponderables:
- How
does Jesus’ sending of the apostles out to minister in power effect our
lives and how we minister? We also have been given authority in the name
of Jesus and power in the Holy Spirit to fulfill our calling.
- Is
Jesus still able to work miracles in the lives of those that put their
trust in him? Yes he is. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today,
and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
- Leading
up to Luke 9:11 (also Mark 6:34; Matt.14:14), what stresses and pressures
had Jesus and his disciples experienced that would cause them to go on a
“retreat” and that makes Jesus’ response all the more amazing? In chapter
8 they had endured a sudden storm on the lake, encountered a terrifying
demoniac and the whole herd of pigs event and were squeezed by the crowd.
Them in 9:1-11 they had been sent on a mission for the first time on their
own, healing, preaching and casting out demons. It had been a wildly
successful time but one that surely produced fatigue. In addition, it was
likely at this time that the news about John the Baptist’s murder reached
them. It had been a period of extreme emotional ups and downs.
- How
would we respond in similar circumstances? You would have to answer this
for yourself, but as an introvert I would certainly be really ready for
some quiet time away from people for a bit.
- What
is the relationship between “brokenness” and “usefulness” in this
miraculous narrative? Before it is useful it is blessed and broken. I
think it is the same with us today. We are not useful for the kingdom
until we are humble before the Lord.
- What
did your reading of the parallel accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 add
to your understanding of this miracle? Don’t let its familiarity
short-change you…read it closely! Lots of unique details that smacks of
authentic eyewitness testimony.
