Who Do You
Say That I Am?
[Luke chapter
9, verses 18-36 (part 2 of 4)]
For
this week's study we'll be moving on to part 2 of the gospel of Luke
chapter 9. When we left off last week, Jesus and the apostles had fed
the 5,000 men (not counting all the women and children) using only 5
loaves of bread and 2 fish, and had just finished collecting 12
baskets full of scraps. I'm sure those were some mighty fine fish
sandwiches, considering they were served by none other than the 12
apostles! But for today's study, the time is just a few days after
this had occurred, followed by another 8 days after that. Let's go to
the starting point of today's lesson, beginning at verse 18.
“Once
when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he
asked them, 'Who do the crowds say I am?' They replied, 'Some say
John the Baptist; some say Elijah; and still others, that one of the
prophets from long ago has come back to life.' 'But what about you?',
he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' Peter answered, 'The Christ of God'.
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 he said to
them all, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or
forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the
Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in
the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth,
some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the
kingdom of God.'” (Luke 9, verses 18-27)
So
Jesus asked the apostles directly, “'Who do the crowds
say I am?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; some say Elijah;
and still others, that one of the prophets from long ago has come
back to life.' 'But what about you?', he asked. 'Who do you say I
am?' Peter answered, 'The Christ of God'.”
This is the third confirmation in Luke's gospel of the true identity
of Christ, with the first being Jesus' baptism in the Jordan river by
John the Baptist, and the second being when he calmed the storm in
chapter 8. But my New International version has what I think is a
somewhat lackluster translation of Peter's reply to Jesus in verse
20; “Peter answered, 'The Christ of God.”
My New Living Translation does a better job; “You are the
Messiah sent from God.” That's
about as crystal-clear as can be, so if any of you hear anyone
expressing doubt that Jesus was the Son of God, simply point them to
this verse and help win another soul for Jesus!
“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.'”
Here we have some real insight into the character of Jesus. He didn't
want the apostles to tell anyone who he was, which is quite the
reverse of what would normally happen with any start-up, whether or
not it's a business or a church. In our world of today, we use social
media, marketing and as much advertising as we can afford when we
want to get the word out about a new enterprise or even a nonprofit.
Jesus did exactly the opposite, warning the Twelve not to tell anyone
who he really was. He relied on the Holy Spirit that was living
inside of him, and which had been since his birth. By using the Holy
Spirit instead of the religious establishment of that time to convey
his true identity, Jesus never relied on himself alone to perform his
ministry, always relying on his heavenly Father for his strength and
willpower, not to mention his insurmountable faith! Jesus could strip
the elders of the synagogues, the chief priests of the Temple at
Jerusalem, and the teachers of the Law (the equivalent of modern-day
seminary professors) of their authority just by walking into the
Temple court, or any other room for that matter. This infuriated the
religious establishment of Jesus' time, and that's why he was
ultimately crucified. The religious establishment saw him as a
threat.
“If
anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is
it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his
very self?” There is no such
thing as a part-time Christian! They don't exist, or at least not in
real life! Christ followers are deniers of self, not as a means to
show off, but as a means to bring themselves closer to Christ, and to
make him the center of their lives instead of themselves and all
their stuff (or the lack thereof in some cases). The King James Bible
reads, “What does it benefit a man to gain the whole
world and yet lose his own soul?”
The human individual is sovereign, even from the God who created him
or her, because God made us all with a free will. We are all
irreplaceable, and if only we would all start treating each other as
if we were, all the fighting, killing and bullying would stop all
over the world all at once!
“If
anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed
of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and
of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here
will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
I am not ashamed to be a proponent of the Gospel! I am glad to be a
servant of the Lord and an ambassador for Christ! If I will not
acknowledge Christ, how can I expect him to acknowledge me? And if
Jesus won't acknowledge me, how will I ever live eternally with him?
The answer is that I can't, just as the Bible says, “Without faith
it is impossible to please God.” The following verse is a little
more controversial: “some who are standing here will not
taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Since Jesus was talking primarily with his apostles, and all but two
were martyred for their faith (one was Judas; only the apostle John
died of old age, by all accounts in his 90's), it could be argued
that they all “tasted death” before they went home to be with the
Lord. My own theory about this is that since at least several of the
apostles were beheaded for their faith and ministries (and I'm pretty
sure it was more than a few), those that were would have died
instantly since the spinal cord gets severed at the base of the skull
when one is beheaded. Consequently, the victim feels no pain and
death occurs instantaneously. If anyone knows a better reason, please
leave a comment at the end of this article. Meanwhile, let's move on
to the second half of today's lesson, beginning at verse 28.
“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 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 at Jerusalem. Peter and his
companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they
saw his glory and the two men standing there 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). As he was
speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped 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. The disciples kept this to
themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.” (Luke
9, verses 28-36)
Although
the mountain most commonly named as the site for the transfiguration
– as this part of the Gospel is called – is Mt. Tabor just
outside Jerusalem, no one is 100% certain of the exact location of
this particular occurrence since the Bible does not name the
location. But Jesus is transfigured into what is apparently a higher
form of life while simultaneously Moses and Elijah appear in the same
way before Peter, James and John. So we can conclude from these
happenings that Jesus, along with all who have come home to him in
the presence of the Father including Moses and Elijah, originate from
beyond space and time as we currently understand it. They are not
physical beings like ourselves, they are spiritual in nature. In my
NLT Bible, the next verse reads, “And they were speaking
how he was about to fulfill God's plan by dying in Jerusalem.”
So right here we have sufficient proof that everything that was going
on was and is all a part of God's grand master plan for all of
humankind. Everything happens for a reason, as it is written: “There
is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
As
the apostles woke up, they were confronted by what they saw and,
based on Peter's reaction, had no idea how to interpret what they are
looking at. Peter manages to make himself look silly with his
babbling response. Just as he was doing this, Luke wrote, “As
he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were
afraid as they entered the cloud.”
My NLT describes it this way: “But even as he was saying
this, a cloud came over them; and terror gripped them as it covered
them.” Suffice it to say the
apostles were completely unnerved by what they were seeing and
experiencing! The next thing that happened unnerved them even more.
“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. The disciples kept this to
themselves.....” As soon as
the voice, which obviously was that of the Father, had said what
needed to be said, everything vanished right before the apostles'
eyes and things returned to 'normal' for them. God certainly didn't
waste any time conveying his message! He didn't stick around for
coffee or tea afterwards, either. And the disciples said nothing
about this to anyone, including the other apostles, for a long time
afterwards – possibly as late as after the resurrection of Christ.
On that note, I think we've found a comfortable place to close for
now. And next week we'll move on to part 3 of Luke chapter 9.
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