Introduction to Luke 9
This morning, I would invite you to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 9. We're going to be looking in the middle section of this chapter this morning.
As I began Luke chapter 9 last week, I pointed out that Jesus had been demonstrating the kingdom values that he preached in the Sermon on the Mount by going out to the people and working among them, preaching his kingdom and performing miracles.
Beginning in chapter 9, Jesus gives that same task to his disciples. And he has not only shown them what to do by doing it himself, but he now tells them how they are going to do it as well.
He told them in verse number three: "To go, prepare for the journey. Take nothing with you: no staff, no bag, no bread, no extra money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. And if people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."
Jesus gave his 12 closest followers marching orders for what they were called to do as his representatives.
Understanding the Who and How
But now, beginning in verse number 18, Jesus is going to clarify who they're representing and how. They will do that. So first he gave them the what. We sometimes say, especially in our American context, we want to know why before anything else. But Jesus gave them the what. Now he's going to remind them of the who and tell them how this will be done.
All of us can remember a time when we started something new. Maybe it was your first significant job. As important as your first job was when you were a child or teenager, I'm talking about the job that after you finished your college education or some level of preparation or certification and you finally got the big job that you were hoping to get. There was the anticipation of, what is this job going to be like? How exactly am I going to do the job? Who will I be reporting to? And what kind of culture is going to be in this company? How will I fit into it?
You may remember what it was like getting ready that first morning and heading in and wondering how it was all going to sort itself out. Were you going to be able to keep up with the assignments? Would you understand the assignments? Would you be able to complete the assignments? You had so many questions. You simply did not know what you did not know.
For some of you, looking back on that time seems so distant because you're immersed in a career where you have developed so many habits and so many patterns that you don't even realize you take them for granted because you've done them for so long. But at the very beginning, you had many questions. You wondered who was going to shape your career. You also wondered how your career was going to work out.
And boys and girls and teenagers, if you can't relate to that—and I hope you can't because you're not in a career yet—you can think about it in terms of the school that you're attending. Whether you think about whether it's home school, public school, or Christian school, the next grade level that you'll begin this fall, you may wonder, "I'm starting elementary school. I'm starting middle school. I'm starting high school. What is it going to be like as I go into this next grade? Who are my teachers going to be? What are the assignments going to be like? How am I going to get it done? How am I going to fit in?"
So whether we're an adult in a career or a child in the middle of our education, we all can feel the uncertainty of what's next. Jesus' disciples in this section, in the middle of chapter nine, are in that transition where they've been given the what. They know they're getting a promotion, so to speak, of a new assignment. But they're still wrestling with who and how it will all come together.
So let me read beginning in verse 18 through verse 36. But this morning for this sermon, in case you're nervous, I'm just going to cover verses 18 through 27.
The Question of Identity
But I want to read the whole section. Once, when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "God's Messiah."
Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. And he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
Then Jesus said to them all, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their very soul? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the Holy Angels. Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom."
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment of Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying.
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud saying, "This is my son whom I have chosen. Listen to him." When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. And the disciples kept this to themselves. He did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen. Amen.
So we have in this passage Jesus continuing to instruct his disciples and prepare them for the mission that he would assign them after his departure. But in this moment, he's not departing yet. He's beginning the process that will lead him to Jerusalem, where he will offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Yet in this moment, Jesus is preparing them by warning them or announcing to them in advance what he is preparing to do and what their role will be after that.
Jesus Confirms His Identity
Jesus wants the disciples to go, taking nothing with them for the journey of representing Jesus, but knowing who it is that they're serving. So Jesus spends some time in this section confirming his identity. And that's my first point this morning, and that is that Jesus confirms his identity.
Jesus confirms his identity after their initial effort to get away from the burgeoning crowds had failed. Jesus ended up feeding 5,000 men plus women and children in the countryside of Bethsaida. Now, sometime later, we don't know how many days have elapsed, but he is gathering with his disciples for prayer and they finally have some privacy. He says in verse 18, "Once when Jesus was praying in private with his disciples and they were with him, he asked them, 'Who do the crowds say that I am?'"
Jesus' private prayers revealed that he was totally dependent on God the Father, and he relied on the Father to give him strength for his public ministry. Jesus was modeling throughout how he wanted the disciples to live their own lives, that they too would pray and continue in this pattern of dependence. In this case, after Jesus prayed, he asked the disciples who they thought that he actually was.
Jesus knew already in advance without having to ask what the disciples thought. He also knew what the crowds were saying about him. He knew what Herod had thought about him when Herod thought perhaps John the Baptist has come back to life. So Jesus did not need the disciples to give him a scouting report or to conduct an opinion poll and find out what the numbers were, what it was looking like in terms of people's response to him or thoughts about him. No, Jesus was asking the disciples what other people believed about him so he could inquire about their own beliefs. They talked to others or they talked about others so Jesus could talk to them.
And the disciples answered his question very directly. They knew what the score was. They were hearing what people were saying about Jesus. So they said to him, "Some people think you're John the Baptist. Others say that you're Elijah. And yet others think that you're a prophet from long ago."
The disciples understood very well that people saw religious significance in Jesus. They believed that he was a prophet like John, Elijah, or one of the others. And they also thought that perhaps he had returned from the dead, though he was living and ministering at that time. They understood that Jesus had religious authority, but they did not recognize him as God.
Ultimately, though, Jesus wanted to know what his disciples believed. So he asked them a follow-up question. After they gave their answer about all the other people, he said, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?" (Verse 20).
The disciples had accurately reported about other people's opinions and their speculations about Jesus' identity. Luke doesn't record for us Jesus responding or saying anything biting on those ideas. Instead, he directs the question to them. He wants to know what they believe about him. After all, these men are on the precipice of going out as his representatives. So they need to know who he really is.
Without discussion or deliberation, Luke reports that Peter simply answered, "God's Messiah, the Christ." Luke doesn't say in this context whether Peter was confident or cautious about his answer, but he hung it out there as Peter normally does. He spoke on behalf of the other disciples, giving the right answer that Jesus was the promised one, the one who had been anointed by God the Father to come and to rescue the world from sins.
So Peter was affirming Jesus' true identity, but Peter probably didn't understand the significance of what he said. God the Father had already revealed Jesus' identity to Peter. Matthew tells us that in his gospel. But Peter did not understand exactly what it meant that he was the Christ or the Messiah. He probably expected Jesus, like other people of Israel, to deliver them from Roman oppression. They thought that a Messiah would come that would restore Israel to political prominence, even independence, and their own authority. The one that the Old Testament scriptures foretold meant far more than what Peter understood.
Though he gave the correct answer, there were far more implications to his answer. And Jesus would go on to clarify this beginning in verse number 21. What I want us to see from this first section where Jesus is confirming his identity is he wants his followers to know who he is so we can believe in him.
People, especially non-Christians, have strong opinions about Jesus Christ and whether or not they believe in him. Even individuals who have never read the Bible usually have an opinionated comment or two about Jesus. Some of them simply use the name Jesus Christ as a curse word. Others consider him a historical figure. A few think that Jesus was a great religious teacher. But most ignore him and think that he's just historical fiction. He's an amalgam of what the hierarchy has constructed to gain control over people. Those are all curious ideas, but none are what Jesus actually is.
It's not enough to merely know other people's opinions and some of these that I've shared. Being a follower of Jesus involves knowing what we believe about Jesus for ourselves. That means, boys and girls, you need to come to the place where you understand who Jesus is and how you should respond to him. It's not enough to say, "Well, my mom and dad believe in Jesus. My mom and dad bring me to church. Therefore, I must be a Christian." No, boys and girls, I would say you need to wrestle with Jesus yourself. You need to understand that Jesus is the Son of God that came to save you, not just your parents.
Similarly, if you're an unbelieving spouse who's married to a Christian, you must decide what you believe about Jesus. It's not enough to simply say, "Well, that's for my husband" or "my wife," but you need to reckon with who Christ is for you. In fact, all of us must do that. It's not enough to simply have an opinion about Jesus or say, "Well, this is what other people say about Jesus." Christ's question, "Who do you say that I am?" applies to us all.
When we first believe in Jesus, we accept him as our Lord and Savior. He is our master, which is to say he is our God. He is the authority over our lives. And he is our Messiah, the one who rescues us. We believe very simply at the beginning of the Christian faith that Jesus forgives our sins. We may not understand how. We don't understand all the details. We can't give a list of all the Bible verses, but we know enough to know that we have broken God's moral law and we need to be pardoned. And Jesus offers that pardon. It's called forgiveness. He restores us so we can have a right relationship with God.
Initially, God gives us childlike faith and then we grow in our understanding of Christ and the application of the gospel. That's why, boys and girls, you can believe that Jesus is your savior and your parents can believe that too. And as you grow older, you'll come to understand more about what that means. You'll come to appreciate the depth of your sin and the magnitude of Christ's forgiveness as you walk with him over many years.
We don't need a certificate from a Sunday school class or a seminary degree in order to become a Christian. We simply need childlike faith in Jesus. I'm not saying that Peter was a child, but he had a simplistic view of Christ, but it was enough. And his view of Jesus was that Jesus was the promised one that the Old Testament foretold.
To illustrate this, think about when you get into a car. I would say most of us drove here today. Maybe one or two of us walked here, but most got in a car and drove. And when we got in the car, we believed that the car would transport us from our house to the church. Only a few of us probably understand how an internal combustion engine works or how a variable speed transmission manages the engine's power. A driver and the passengers only need to know that the car can take them from one place to another. A driver and the passengers put their faith in the engineers who designed the car and the mechanics who service the car and keep it running.
Believing in Jesus Christ works in a similar way. We only need to know that Jesus saves us from our sins to become a Christian, confessing that we are sinners and that we need a savior. Some people out there, however, insist that they need to know everything about the Bible. They need to understand all Christian doctrine. Have a perspective on church history. Understand atheism and responses to atheism. Delve into apologetics where they can defend the faith before they can really become Christians. Childlike faith, however, believes Jesus and grows in our knowledge of him over time.
Peter and the other disciples needed to know who they were following, and as they followed him, he showed them more of himself. Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, beginning in verse number 16: "So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer." Continuing in verse 21, Paul says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
The point Paul is making is similar, that we cannot view Jesus from simply an unbelieving point of view. We must view Jesus from a position of faith in Jesus. We don't regard him as the world. We regard him as followers. And when we do that, we see that Jesus dealt with our sin. And that is enough. Once we understand that, we accept that and we believe that for ourselves, we become Christians and we start the journey of faith and we grow more and more like our Savior.
Back to the illustration, I said, do you remember when you started your first significant job, or children and teenagers when you started a new grade level, and you wondered what it would be like and how it would go?
As you entered into that new area with new people and new responsibilities, you started to grow into your own role in the organization. You found your place on a team and teammates. You found your responsibilities as they were assigned and as they were changed and adjusted and even as they grew.
As you grew into the role in all of that, Jesus is preparing the disciples the same way. He's saying they don't have to know everything to get going, but they need to know one main thing. And that one main thing is that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the one who had come to save people from their sins. And now they would go out and they would represent Jesus.
So we see Jesus here confirming his identity. And the second thing I want you to see, beginning in verse number 21, is that Jesus clarifies his mission.
Jesus Clarifies His Mission
Jesus clarifies his mission. So he's given them the who. Now he's going to give them the how of what they were expected to do. Jesus understood that the disciples did not fully know what his identity meant or how they were going to work for his mission. Therefore, Jesus, it says in verse 21, strictly warned them not to tell anyone.
Jesus was not giving the disciples a gag order because he wanted to remain unknown, or he was trying to do things in secret. No, he was warning them not to tell anyone because at this point, they might misrepresent his mission. Jesus was not going to be a political savior of Israel. He was going to be Isaiah's suffering servant that was foretold by the ancient prophet.
That's why Jesus clarified his mission for the disciples in verse number 22 by saying, "the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. And he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
This had already been happening in Jesus' ministry, that as he traveled around Galilee preaching and ministering miracles, the skeptics, the cynics, and the opponents was this group of people. It was the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of the law that were standing back going, "Hmm. Not sure about that. Hmm. Is that really what the scriptures say? Are you really the Messiah or are you an imposter?"
These individuals not only questioned who Jesus were, but they would come to oppose him, reject him, and even kill him. Jesus is telling his disciples in advance that he came to suffer, not to conquer. He came to be rejected, not accepted; to be killed, not spared; and ultimately rise from the dead rather than be silenced.
Once Jesus clarified his God-given mission, which was a mission of suffering, he also clarified the disciples' mission.
The Call to Self-Denial
Verse number 23, he said to them all what their new assignment would be. They would be more than Jesus' assistants as he traveled, preached, and performed miracles. They themselves would join in Jesus' suffering, and ultimately they would give their lives to advance his mission.
Becoming a disciple, Jesus says here, involves self-denial, death to self, and following Jesus. He says in verse number 23 that you would deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. The values of Jesus' kingdom turn the values of the world upside down. By default, every one of us strives against every obstacle to indulge our desires.
Think about a toddler when they're playing with toys. What do they do when they see a toy they want? There's no restraint. They go for it. They lunge, they grab, they pinch, they pull, they do whatever is necessary to get the object of their desire. Adults are far more sophisticated than toddlers, but think about how much energy is invested in pursuing what we want and all the lengths that we'll go to do it. And probably the biggest skill that we have as adults is our rationalization that the end justifies the means.
This is a value that God wants to turn upside down, that instead of pursuing our own selfish desires, he says we would deny ourselves because we live for something greater, Christ and his mission. He goes on to say that taking up our cross, which is death to ourselves, is the idea that we recognize that we are dying to our flesh and to this world. It's not to say that we are living dead people, though you could say that, but it's to say that we're living for eternal life, not just the life we have now. We're not trying to get our best life now, as some have written. But instead, we're trying to follow Christ and the act of his life, which is an act of laying our lives down as a sacrifice, not as martyrs who are punishing ourselves, but as those who recognize this life gives way to eternal life.
And this is why we would follow him in verse number 23. We follow Jesus showing that we are obedient to someone who has authority over us. We're not free agent Christians doing our own thing in our own way, but instead we work under the authority of Christ. And as we do all of this, we're resisting the values of the world.
This is why Jesus goes on to say in verse 23 and 24, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. And whoever loses their life for me will save it. Being a disciple means self-denial, death to self, and submission to Christ. We should not grasp after the world, but give ourselves fully to Christ's mission.
After all, Jesus warns the disciples in the next verse: What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their very soul? We may achieve success by the world's standards. We may accumulate multi-generational wealth. We may even achieve celebrity status for ourselves. But all of it is worthless if we're not in a right relationship with God, if we lose our souls. Jesus did not come to deliver Israel from Rome and simply gain political power. He came to save his disciples and all who would follow him, including us. He came to save us from ourselves, from our sinfulness.
Upper and middle-class Americans like us spend most of our time and energy striving. We're striving to earn and keep what the world values the most. We're striving for education and career, for health, for wealth, and for family. None of these values are inherently wrong, but Jesus gives us something greater to live for. He calls us to surrender our own agendas and our own lives, our own self-centeredness to join his mission.
This is why Jesus says in verse number 26, whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Jesus does not leave room for half-hearted disciples. Being a Christian is not simply a ticket to heaven while you do other things. It's not simply insurance that you don't go to hell. But being a disciple of Christ means giving your life to him and following him completely.
Jesus does not accept "denos." So a "deno" is a disciple in name only. Jesus expects people who are all in and follow him. He calls us to be bold followers who accept his identity and his mission as our own. The Life Application Study Bible, which I have given to teenagers for years, says this in its note.
Living for Eternal Life
If this present life is the most important thing to you, you will do everything you can to protect it. You will not want to do anything that might endanger your safety, health, or comfort. By contrast, if following Jesus is the most important thing, you may find yourself in unsafe, unhealthy, and uncomfortable places. If we're willing to follow Jesus, then we will see that this present life is temporary and it will one day give way to eternal life.
So how does Jesus want us to follow him? He wants us to follow him in a way that recognizes we don't live for ourselves. We live for him, and that is far, far more important. Yet we live in a world that wants to protect image, that wants to project certain images. We want people to think one thing about us or another, and sometimes we can be obsessed.
I was reading in the Wall Street Journal last week about Bill Gates. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bill Gates now has a significant image problem. According to the article, he was once ranked the world's most admired man. He spent decades creating an image of being calm, approachable, thoughtful, and generous. This was to counterbalance the reputation that he had when he was the CEO of Microsoft, where he was not always viewed that way. Now Bill Gates Foundation has over $89 billion that are earmarked for global health initiatives. And there are two teams of professionals who oversee his image and his projects.
But Bill Gates, the philanthropist, is quickly losing his reputation. Revelations of his association with the late Jeffrey Epstein and others are undermining the image that he has worked so hard to present. Even his vast wealth and his celebrity status and his team of professionals cannot spare him from scrutiny and scandal. Now Mr. Gates is doing everything he can to save his reputation and spare his legacy.
Followers of Jesus live for far more than this passing world or a legacy that we may leave behind. We live a life for Christ to invite others to follow Jesus. We live for Christ and his kingdom, which transcends us. And this is why Jesus told his disciples in verse number 27, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Most of the disciples that were with Jesus in this moment would die martyrs' deaths, just as Jesus would die. But all of them would in fact see his kingdom because they would see his resurrection power initiate his kingdom on this earth.
Jesus is comforting his disciples about the cost. He's told them who he is and how they will minister by giving their lives away, but he's assuring them that the cost will be worth it. That even though they will taste death, they will ultimately be in his kingdom. It will be worth it. Jesus was clarifying his mission so the disciples could put their hope in him and align their lives with his values.
Jesus does not want any of his followers to worry about our status in this world. We don't need professionals like Bill Gates has to present an image of us being one thing when we have Christ where we find our identity. No, we are living our lives now in light of God's eternal kingdom. Jesus wants us to give our lives completely to him as living sacrifices, Paul says in Romans 12, and we can fulfill his mission to take the gospel to the nations.
Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. The Apostle Paul says it like this in 2 Corinthians 5: "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone and the new is here. All of this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us."
Paul is saying exactly what Jesus taught the disciples because Paul had learned as well that Paul's life was not his own. Paul's life was found in Christ. Paul knew, like the disciples, who he worked for and how he wanted him to work so that he could accomplish the mission of spreading the gospel and strengthening churches.
As God has called each one of us, he wants us first to become followers of Jesus, to know that he is not only the Messiah, but that he is your Messiah and my Messiah. And then he also wants us to embrace his mission and follow him wherever he will go. It has been said that millennials and Gen Z care more about mission than people older than them. I don't think that's exactly true. But the point that's being made is young adults entering into their first jobs are looking for purpose. They want to know why, what's the big picture, how does this all fit together? And what part do I have in it? I don't think those are illegitimate. I think those can be helpful. They can be motivating. And Jesus is giving that kind of motivation here by telling the disciples, know who you're living for, how you are living, and where that will take you.
Living for the Gospel
Jesus is going to show them his authority beginning with the transfiguration in verse number 28, and we'll cover that next Sunday. The point that I want you to see from it now is that the disciples were in the presence of the Son of God. Jesus appeared to them and the Father confirmed his identity to clarify their mission.
And we have the same mission and response today. So, what are you living for? Who are you living for? And how are you living? Are you living for the mission of the gospel or for something lesser? Are you living for yourself or for Christ? And are you living in a way that shows your commitment to Christ? Or does your life reveal that you're committed to your education, your career, your health, your wealth, or your family?
God wants us to live in such a way that we are announcing and advancing the gospel and showing people Jesus. So, whether you're a boy or girl, a teenager or an adult, you can live knowing who Jesus is and carrying his message forward.
In just a moment, we're going to receive the elements of communion to be reminded of this message about Jesus, to be shown that Jesus gave his life and his blood so that we could have eternal life. And now we have the opportunity to respond to Christ by offering our lives to extend this message.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us as we come to the communion table. We pray that we would come as those who recognize who you are, that you are our Savior. You have dealt with our sins. You've given us your righteousness.
And then, Father, help us to come as those who are eager to go, knowing that the way we will go, the how, is by laying our own lives down, making sure that we give our lives as living sacrifices, which is reasonable as an act of worship for you. And God, we pray that you would help us do this well. And we ask it in Christ's name. Amen.