Luke 9:18-27

(cf. Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Jn 6:1-15)

vv. 12-13, Transitioning from Jesus welcoming the crowds in Bethsaida, Luke expounds on that day, where it was coming to an end and Jesus was being “advised” by the disciples to send the people away for lodging and getting their meal, for they were in no position to provide. Jesus responds to them, “You give them something to eat.” Oddly, after witnessing Him calm the storm, exorcise Legion, heal the bleeding woman, raise the dead girl, participated firsthand in the power of God, they are baffled, telling Jesus that they couldn’t possibly feed the 5,000+ people with a child’s lunch; you couldn’t even afford to purchase a meal for these people with even half a year’s wage! John notifies us that Jesus is testing His disciples in this situation.

vv. 14-15, Luke notes how many men are in this crowd, leaving us to presume that if there was a lad there to give Jesus his meal, there were other children and wives among the crowd. Jesus instructs His disciples to have the crowd sit in groups of 50 and the disciples follow through on the instruction.

vv. 16-17, Jesus blesses the meal, looking to heaven, and breaks the bread and fish apart and KEEPS giving them to the disciples. The disciples hand out the food and not are the people fed, they were satisfied; what’s more is that the leftovers accumulated provided 12 baskets full of fish and bread.

vv. 18-19, Luke transitions the narrative further along to where Jesus is praying alone and then asks His disciples who are with Him, “Who do the people say that I am?” They tell Him that the people believe John the Baptist has returned, others Elijah, and others that one of the old prophets (much as what Herod heard in vv. 7-9.

v. 20, Jesus then specifies His question to the disciples, asking who they think He is. Peter responds, the Christ of God.

Interesting phrasing, Christ of God! Christ is a Greek rendering of Messiah (Anointed One), so anointed one of God.

v. 21, Jesus warns and instructs the disciples to speak nothing of this to anyone.

v. 22, Upon Peter’s confession and the following instruction of Jesus, He declares that He must suffer many things and be rejected and killed by the covenant nation of God and astonishing, Jesus declares that He will be raised on the third day.

v. 23, Upon this premise, Jesus tells them that if anyone wishes to follow Him, they must deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow Him.

Jesus calls His disciples to bear their own crucifixion?

If this is so, think then of the kind of life Jesus expects His followers to partake in

vv. 24-26, Note, following Jesus is associated with saving your life; Jesus assures His followers that following Him will lead to them losing their lives, but to lose your life for His sake, they will paradoxically save it. Jesus associates seeking to maintain your life in the world ultimately ends with destroying yourself, suffering the loss of life. Furthermore, to side with the world is to set yourself against Christ and to be ashamed of Him and His Words, He will be ashamed of him when Jesus returns in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

v. 27, Then Jesus concludes this discussion with the confusing statement, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

There are multiple views on what this means, however the best to consider would be the seeing of Jesus’ resurrection-ascension (as this is a key facet of Luke’s account) or Pentecost (since it shows the significance of Jesus’ exaltation) or the transfiguration (a preview of Jesus’ later glory)

The Kingdom of God is often presented as “already, not yet” form of the inaugurated kingdom, the dynamic coming upon those present (Lk 11:20; 10:9), beginning and following John the Baptist (Lk 16:16), and in our midst in the form of Jesus (Lk 17:21)

Exegetical Idea/Big Idea:

Jesus tests the faith of His disciples through commanding them to feed the crowd of 5,000+ (notably after they partook in depending solely upon God’s provision)

After feeding the crowds with an abundance of food left over, Jesus takes time to pray by Himself and questions the disciples with Him about His identity; who do the people say He is and who do they say He is.

Warning them to keep His identity as the Christ to themselves, He proceeds to lay out the prophetic validity of His identity and thereby the cost required to follow Him: total submission.

Big Idea:

Jesus affirms His messianic identity in multiple ways in this passage:

He satisfies the needs of His followers

Prophesying over His suffering, rejection, dying, and resurrecting

Declaring His supremacy over the way of the world

Notably how the way of the world is incompatible with following Him

Rejection of Him in the finite results in a rejection of you in the infinite

Promises a preview of the Kingdom of God to come

As Christians, our hope in Christ stands against the scrutiny of the world solely because Jesus fulfills our needs and promises that to embrace His way will conclude with being embraced by Him. Therefore to partake in the embracing of Jesus and His Word is to submit our lives entirely to Him, in life unto death.

What should we praise God for? (Rejoice)

What should we confess to God? (Repent)

What should we ask God for? (Request)

What should we lift up to God? (Sacrifice)

What should we live out for God? (Service)

As Christians, our hope in Christ stands against the scrutiny of the world solely because Jesus fulfills our needs and promises that to embrace His way will conclude with being embraced by Him. Therefore to partake in the embracing of Jesus and His Word is to submit our lives entirely to Him, in life unto death.

Recap:

Luke 9:12-17, Jesus tests the faith of His disciples through commanding them to feed the crowd of 5,000+ (notably after they partook in depending solely upon God’s provision)

Read Luke 9:18-27

(15-20 min.)

vv. 18-20,

vv. 18-19, Luke transitions the narrative further along to where Jesus is praying alone and then asks His disciples who are with Him, “Who do the people say that I am?” They tell Him that the people believe John the Baptist has returned, others Elijah, and others that one of the old prophets (much as what Herod heard in vv. 7-9.

v. 20, Jesus then specifies His question to the disciples, asking who they think He is. Peter responds, the Christ of God.

Interesting phrasing, Christ of God! Christ is a Greek rendering of Messiah (Anointed One), so anointed one of God.

Summarize:

After feeding the crowds with an abundance of food left over, Jesus takes time to pray by Himself and questions the disciples with Him about His identity; who do the people say He is and who do they say He is.

vv. 21-22,

v. 21, Jesus warns and instructs the disciples to speak nothing of this to anyone.

v. 22, Upon Peter’s confession and the following instruction of Jesus, He declares that He must suffer many things and be rejected and killed by the covenant nation of God and astonishing, Jesus declares that He will be raised on the third day.

Summarize:

Jesus warns His disciples to keep His messianic identity to themselves, foretelling His rejection, murder/sacrificial death, and resurrection; a prophetic identity.

vv. 23-27,

v. 23, Upon this premise, Jesus tells them that if anyone wishes to follow Him, they must deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow Him.

This means that as Christians we will not set our desires and our will against the right Christ has to our lives. It does not mean cultivating a weak, nonassertive personality or merely denying ourselves certain pleasures. Further more, we are to recognize that we now live for the sake of Christ, not for our own sake. The next words about the daily cross explain and intensify this principle. A condemned criminal was forced to carry one bar of his cross to the place of execution. He was “on a one-way journey. He’d not be back” (Morris, Luke, p. 170). To take up the cross daily is to live each day, not for self, but for Christ.

This is not merely an image of self-denial, but of violent death by execution. The term stauros (“cross”)originally meant a stake set in an upright position. Persians, Greeks, and Romans used stakes both as instruments of execution and as a means of exposing an executed body to shame and humiliation (and as a warning to others). The Romans raised crucifixion to an art form, and it became a favorite method of torture and capital punishment. Roman prisoners bound for crucifixion were forced to carry the horizontal cross beam (the patibulum) to the place of execution (cf. 23:26). This cross beam would then be affixed to a permanent upright beam, while ropes or nails in the wrists and feet were used to fasten the victim to the wood (see “Crucifixion” at 23:33 [cf. 14:27]). Jesus is here referring to a life of total commitment to him, even to the point of suffering and martyrdom.

vv. 24-26, Note, following Jesus is associated with saving your life; Jesus assures His followers that following Him will lead to them losing their lives, but to lose your life for His sake, they will paradoxically save it. Jesus associates seeking to maintain your life in the world ultimately ends with destroying yourself, suffering the loss of life. Furthermore, to side with the world is to set yourself against Christ and to be ashamed of Him and His Words, He will be ashamed of him when Jesus returns in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

v. 27, Then Jesus concludes this discussion with the confusing statement, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.

There are multiple views on what this means, however the best to consider would be the seeing of Jesus’ resurrection-ascension (as this is a key facet of Luke’s account) or Pentecost (since it shows the significance of Jesus’ exaltation) or the transfiguration (a preview of Jesus’ later glory)

The Kingdom of God is often presented as “already, not yet” form of the inaugurated kingdom, the dynamic coming upon those present (Lk 11:20; 10:9), beginning and following John the Baptist (Lk 16:16), and in our midst in the form of Jesus (Lk 17:21)

Summarize:

After laying out the prophetic validity of His identity, He thereby declares the cost required to follow Him: total submission. He concludes with a promise that there would be some alive during His ministry who would see the Kingdom of God come before death.

Big Idea:

Jesus affirms His messianic identity in multiple ways in this passage:

Prophesying over His suffering, rejection, dying, and resurrecting

Declaring His supremacy over the way of the world

Notably how the way of the world is incompatible with following Him

Rejection of Him in the finite results in a rejection of you in the infinite

Promises a preview of the Kingdom of God to come

(15-20 min)

Open the discussion for any questions.

(Let group answer these questions)

What verses stood out to you and why?

What personal reflections did this reading trigger?

What should we praise God for? (Rejoice)

What should we confess to God? (Repent)

What should we ask God for? (Request)

What should we lift up to God? (Sacrifice)

What should we live out for God? (Service)

As Christians, the cost to follow Christ is exclusively narrow, but infinitely more profitable. To partake in the embracing of Jesus and His Word is to submit our lives entirely to Him, in life unto death. This is fundamentally Kingdom Living.

(10-15 min)

Walk with God: What does Kingdom Living look like personally in your walk with God?

Keep Christ first: What does Kingdom Living look like personally when we keep Christ first?

Keep sin out of your life: What does Kingdom Living look like personally when you are keeping sin out of your life?

Personally,

Prayer Requests

Nava, didn’t get COVID, pray for his priorities

Gabe, rest for family

Casey, EM2 Jordan Hunter

Luke 9:18-27

Observations:

Homiletical Idea

Liturgical Idea

Intro:

Prayer

Head- What does it mean?

vv. 18-27, Who do you say that I am?

Heart- Do I buy it?

Hands- So What? How then should I live?