Luke 9:18-27: “Peter’s Great Confession / Jesus Begins To Tell His Disciples What His
Messiah-ship Means And What Discipleship Brings”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at the first 17 verses of chapter 9
1.1.1. Jesus sent the twelve out on an intern mission trip to prepare them for
ministry once the church was to be inaugurated (see Acts chapter 2).
1.1.2. Herod wondered who this man Jesus that he had heard so much about
really is.
1.1.3. Jesus miraculously fed the 5,000.
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at chapter 9 verses 18 through 27.
1.2.1. Jesus asks the twelve who they think that He is and Peter speaking for
all declares that Jesus is the Messiah.
1.2.2. Jesus warns the twelve not to tell anyone about this confession and who
He really is.
1.2.3. Jesus begins to tell His disciples about His impending death and
resurrection.
1.2.4. Jesus finally begins to tell the twelve what true discipleship
involves.
2. VS 9:18-20 - “18 And it happened that while He was
praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying,
“Who do the people say that I am?” 19 They answered and said, “John
the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets
of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say
that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”” - Peter’s Great
Confession: “Thou are the Christ!”
2.1.
Last week we ended up our
study with Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand.
This incredible miracle by Jesus was the last to be performed before
this Great Confession by Peter. What is
happening is that we have now entered a new major section of the gospel of
Luke.
2.1.1. Physically we are now at the end of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry. Jesus will now travel with His disciples back
to
2.1.2. Thematically, we see that Jesus now begins to explain and reveal to the
twelve His true nature, as well as what the true nature of discipleship
involves. Jesus is beginning to prepare
the disciples for life without Him, for that period of time after His
resurrection when He will give to them their “Great Commission” to go out into
all of the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations (see
Matt. 28).
2.2.
Up to this point in time we
have seen in our study that Jesus has revealed Himself, His power and His
authority, to His disciples in an incredible number of ways:
2.2.1. He has shown that He has power over disease by performing numerous
incredible acts of healings, all of which were complete healings incapable of
being explained apart from the miraculous.
2.2.2. He has shown that He has power over the spirit world by casting many
demons, and even a legions of demons, out of people.
2.2.3. He has shown that He has power over nature by calming the wind and the
waves on the
2.2.4. He has shown that He has power over death by raising from the dead the
widow of Nain’s only son and Jairus’ only daughter.
2.2.5. He has shown that His power and authority are not hindered by distance
and time by healing the Roman centurion’s daughter from a distance when the man
told Jesus that he was unworthy for the Lord to come to his house yet he
believed that if Jesus were to just say the word that his daughter would be
made whole.
2.2.6. He demonstrated that He can transfer His power and authority to those
whom He has called and sent out for the purpose of ministry as He sent out His
twelve disciples granting them the authority and power to perform the very
miraculous acts which He has performed and which have attested to His calling
and sanction by heaven.
2.3.
The disciples have also been
provided an incredible number of witnesses to who Jesus is, including: Zacharias and Elizabeth, Mary, Gabriele,
other angels, shepherds, wise men, Simeon and Anna (in the temple when baby
Jesus was brought in), John the Baptist, demons who recognized Jesus and spoke
out loud to Him, many who were healed of various diseases and ailments,
including demon possession, etc.
2.4.
We see here now that the
twelve have finally gotten to get away alone with Jesus and have some
rest. It mentions here that Jesus was
praying at this time as He and His disciples are alone. Luke often mentions the fact that Jesus was
praying.
2.5.
Jesus now asks the twelve ‘who
do the people say I say’ ? With all
that Jesus had said and done throughout Galilee there was wide speculation
amongst all in
2.6.
The disciples then tell
Jesus what the popular theories were of who Jesus was :
2.6.1. ‘John the Baptist.’
2.6.2. ‘Elijah.’
2.6.3. ‘One of the prophets of old has risen again.’
2.7.
Then, after giving the
summary of the major opinions that existed at that time of who Jesus was, Jesus
asks the disciples the $64,000 question, “Who do you say that I am
?” This is the most important question
that a person ever answers because if you miss this answer you miss God and
eternity with God. To this question
Peter answers, and in answering he is speaking for the entire group, “The
Christ of God.” In Matt. 16:16, in
Matthew’s account of this event, he words Peter’s confession as, “You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The meat of Peter’s confession though has to do with Peter acknowledging
that Jesus is the ‘Christ.’
2.8.
The word ‘Christ’ is
the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ‘Messiah.’ This word had and has many connotations for
Jewish people. Its roots are numerous
and go all the way back to many of God’s promises from the Old Testament, and
all the way forward to the consummation of all things under the kingdom of
God. The Lord prophesied that the
Messiah would be His “Anointed One” (see for instance 1 Sam. 2:10, 35; 12:3,
5; 16:6; 24:6, 6,
10; 26:9, 11, 16,
23; 2 Sam. 1:14, 16, 21;
19:21; 22:51; 23:1 , “a
prophet” (Deut. 18:15), “a priest” (1 Sam. 2:35), and “a king”
(2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 9:6-7),
and that He would come and sit upon the throne of Israel ruling over all of the
nations for eternity. Consider just the
following Messianic prophesies from the Old Testament:
2.8.1. The Davidic promise of 2
Samuel 7:12-16, “12 “When your days are complete and you lie down
with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come
forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build
a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14
“I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits
iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of
men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it
away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 “Your house
and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be
established forever.” ’ ””
2.8.2. Isaiah’s promise of a son in
Isaiah 9:6-7, “6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be
given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will
be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it
with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.”
2.8.3. Daniel’s promise of the
timing of the coming Messiah in Daniel 9:25-26, “ “So you are to
know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of
distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut
off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy
the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to
the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”
2.9.
You see, having seen all of the miraculous works
that Jesus performed as well as the things that He taught, the disciples had
come to the point where they now recognized that Jesus was the ‘Christ’
who was prophesied all throughout the Old Testament.
2.10.
This moment with Jesus and His disciples was the
most critical yet in Jesus’ ministry.
The most important question a person will ever answer is who he believes
that Jesus is. From God’s perspective,
if a person does not understand who Jesus is, then he will never progress any
further in God’s plan for him. As was
mentioned, if you miss the mark on
understanding Jesus, then you miss God, and if you miss God you miss eternity
with God in heaven.
2.11. A pastor friend sent me the following excerpt of a sermon entitled “My King” delivered once by a fiery Afro-American preacher named Dr. S.M. Lockridge, and it is a powerful illustration of the truth of who Jesus is which the disciples were pondering on this day as Jesus asked them who they thought that He was:
The Bible says my King is a seven-way king....He's the King of the
Jews; that's a racial king....He's the King of Israel; that's a national
King....He's the King of Righteousness....He's the King of the Ages.....He's
the King of Heaven....He's the King of Glory....He's the King of kings, and
He's the Lord of lords. That's my King. Well....I wonder, do you know Him?....
David said, "The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows
His handiwork. My King is a sovereign
King. No means of measure can define His
limitless love. No far seeing telescope
can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore-less supply. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out
His blessings. He's enduringly strong....He's entirely sincere....He's
eternally steadfast....He's immortally graceful....He's imperially
powerful....He's impartially merciful....... Do you know Him?
He's the greatest phenomenon that ever crossed the horizon of this
world. He's God's Son....He's a sinner's Savior....He's the centerpiece of
civilization....He stands in the solitude of Himself....He's august....He's
unique....He's unparalleled....He's unprecedented....He's the loftiest idea in
literature....He's the highest personality in philosophy....He's the supreme
problem in higher criticism....He's the fundamental doctrine of true
theology....He's the cardinal necessity for spiritual religion....He's the
miracle of the age.... He's the superlative of everything good that you choose
to call Him....He's the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Savior......
I wonder if you know Him today?
He supplies strength for the weak....He's available for the tempted and
the tried....He sympathizes and He saves....He strengthens and sustains....He
guards and He guides....He heals the sick....He cleanses lepers....He forgives
sinners....He discharges debtors....He delivers captives....He defends the
feeble....He blesses the young....He serves the unfortunate....He regards the
aged....He rewards the diligent....and He beautifies the meek....... I wonder
if you know Him?
Well, my King....is the King....He's the key to knowledge....He's the
wellspring to wisdom....He's the doorway of deliverance....He's the pathway of
peace....He's the roadway of righteousness ....He's the highway of
holiness....He's the gateway of glory....... Do you know Him?
Well....His office is manifold....His promise is sure....His light is
matchless....His goodness is limitless....His mercy is everlasting....His love
never changes....His word is enough....His grace is sufficient....His reign is
righteous....and His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. I wish I could
describe Him to you, but He's indescribable....He's incomprehensible....He's
invincible....He's irresistible.
Well, you can't get Him out of your mind....You can't get Him off of
your hand....You can't out live Him, and you can't live without Him....The
Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop
Him....Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him....The witnesses couldn't get
their testimonies to agree....Herod couldn't kill Him....Death couldn't handle
Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him. Yea!!!, that's my King, that's my King.
Father..."Thine is the Kingdom....and the Power....and the Glory....Forever"....and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever. How long is that? And ever...and ever...and when you get through with all the forevers, then.... AMEN!....AMEN!
3. VS 9:21-22 - “21 But He warned them and instructed
them not to tell this to anyone, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” - Jesus ‘warned’ and
‘instructed’ His disciples to tell no one of their newfound confession of His
Messiah-ship, and then He began to tell them of His impending rejection,
suffering, death, and resurrection
3.1.
Now that Jesus had finally
revealed to His disciples His true nature, that He was the Messiah, the One prophesied
all throughout the Old Testament, the One who is the hope of Israel, you would
have thought that He would now tell His disciples to go and spread the news far
and wide. After all, wasn’t it Jesus’
mission to train His disciples to understand who He is so they would then go
out and testify to every nation about Him?
However, instead Jesus strictly tells His disciples that they must tell
no one about this new knowledge.
3.2.
Why then could it be that
Jesus did not want His disciples to now go and to tell everyone far and wide
that He is the Messiah, the Anointed One sent of God? The answer to this question I believe is
basically twofold:
3.2.1. The disciples did not yet understand Jesus’
Messianic mission. They didn’t know what kind of a Messiah they
had on their hands. They were expecting
Jesus to now become a political Messiah and immediately raise up an army and go
and conquer
3.2.1.1. We know that this is true because after Peter’s “Great Confession”
Jesus immediately begins to speak plainly to the disciples about His impending
suffering, death, and resurrection.
3.2.2. The disciples also did not yet understand what true
discipleship consisted of. They were not yet able or equipped to become
effective evangelists for Him. They
needed to understand the basic nature of what a discipleship relationship with
Jesus consisted of before they were to go out and to begin making disciples.
3.2.2.1. We know that this is true because immediately after Jesus begins to
tell His disciples next of His impending suffering, death, and resurrection, He
begins to instruct them about the fact that following Him means that a person
must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Jesus.
3.3.
There had already been hints
given several times to the disciples that Jesus was going to suffer and die for
mankind, for instance:
3.3.1. John the Baptist had called Jesus the ‘lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world’ (John 1:29).
3.3.2. Jesus had spoken prophetically about the destruction of the temple of
His body in John 2:29.
3.4.
This is the first of three
times in the gospel of Luke where Jesus speaks to His disciples of His
impending suffering, death, and resurrection.
However, we know from the accounts in the gospels that the disciples
will not really understand what Jesus is saying about this until after His
resurrection when the Lord opens their mind to this glorious truth.
4. VS 9:23 - “23 And He was saying to them all,
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross
daily and follow Me.” - Jesus begins to tell His disciples what true
discipleship with Him consists of
4.1.
Having told His disciples of
His impending suffering, death, and resurrection after Peter’s “Great
Confession,” Jesus now begins to instruct His disciples about what was expected
of those who would follow Him.
4.2.
Up until this point in time,
Jesus’ disciples might have thought that Jesus was soon to bring in His kingdom
and that they were only temporarily going through a process of experience
humbling circumstances which would soon pass and see them exalted to reign as
regents under Jesus. They probably had
high hopes, big expectations, and grandiose dreams for themselves. We know from the scriptures for instance that
the twelve were constantly arguing about who would be the greatest in Jesus’
kingdom. Arguing about who would be the
greatest in God’s kingdom appears to be the thing that the twelve did the most
actually.
4.3.
Jesus reveals to His
disciples however that their whole idea of discipleship in following Him was
upside-down. Though greatness was
promised for the afterlife, Jesus’ disciples are told that what lay ahead for
them on this earth because of following Him was the exact opposite of all that
their minds dreamed of. All of the
disciples’ natural instincts were opposite of what the Lord had in mind for
them.
4.3.1. Christian, can you not relate to this?
Is it not true that when God reveals to you His will and His way for you
that you were often thinking in exactly the opposite direction? I have said many times that if I were to just
continually do the opposite of what my natural instincts are to do in a
situation most of the time I would be doing what the Lord wants me to do.
4.4.
The first term that
Jesus introduces concerning what it means to be His disciple is that one must ‘deny
himself.’ That is, his life is not
going to be lived to gratify or satisfy himself. Rather, if a person seeks to follow Jesus as
His disciple then he must set aside all of his goals and plans in order to be
directed by the Lord. Jesus allows none
to follow Him but those over whom He reigns as “Lord” and “Master.”
4.4.1. This cuts against the grain in our lives. It is also contrary to everything that we
hear in this world. In this world it is
constantly beaten into us that a person needs to look out for number one, do
what he wants to do, be a non-conformist, do it his way, etc. However, whenever a person comes to follow
Jesus it is required of him to begin to do things Jesus’ way and by His
sovereign leading.
4.4.2. Sadly, in many churches in our world today one may seldom if ever hear
this message of self-denial and lordship of Jesus. Many are encouraged to become Christians by
believing in Jesus however they are never instructed that to be a follower of
His that this means that you must deny yourself, your goals, your plans, etc.
and follow the Lord’s leading alone.
4.5.
Secondly, Jesus tells His disciples that a true disciple must ‘take up his
cross daily and follow’ Jesus.
What? This was not an appealing
thing to consider for Jesus’ disciples.
Crucifixion was such a horrible act that people never even spoke about
it in normal conversation. In our day,
we Christians wear crosses and speak of crucifixion as if it is a glorious
thing, however this is the opposite kind of response you would find in Jesus’
day. Wearing a cross in Jesus’ day would
be like if a person today were for a necklace to wear an electric chair! In fact, for hundreds of years the church did
not embrace the cross as we do today.
4.5.1. In Jesus’ day, if a person had committed such a horrible and heinous
crime that he was sentenced to crucifixion, he would be required to carry his
cross to the place where he would be crucified, just as Jesus’ was required to
do on the day of His betrayal and death.
Carrying one’s cross was considered a great humiliation and shame. It was also a way that
4.5.2. Spurgeon, the great English preach of a century and a half ago once
said, “There are no crownwearers in
Heaven that were not crossbearers here below.”
4.5.3. Here is a poem by an unknown author that is called, “God Counted
Crosses” :
I counted dollars while God counted crosses.
I counted gains while He counted losses!
I counted my worth by the things gained in store.
But He sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I coveted honors and sought for degrees;
He wept as He counted the hours on my knees.
And I never knew ’til one day at a grave,
How vain are these things that we spend life
to save!
4.6.
Thirdly, Jesus tells His disciples that if anyone wishes to become His
disciple that he must ‘follow Me.’
The disciples new what Jesus meant when He said that a disciple must ‘follow’
Jesus for they had been following Jesus and had been required to leave everything
behind in their life to come and eat, walk, and be with Jesus wherever He
went. What does it mean though to ‘follow’
Jesus?
4.6.1. Following Jesus involves being with Him more than anything else. A person who desires to ‘follow’ Jesus
must be a person who spends time with Jesus, desires to be with Him, and even
desires to worship corporately with the body of Christ which is comprised of
those whom He has called out of the world to Himself.
4.6.2. Following Jesus means to listen and heed His teaching. The word ‘disciple’ means to be ‘a
learner’ and therefore a person must make it a priority in his life to
study God’s word so that he might understand Jesus’ teachings, admonishings,
and commandments.
4.6.3. Following Jesus means to ‘follow His example’ in everything that
one does.
5. VS 9:24-25 - “. 24 “For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake,
he is the one who will save it. 25 “For what is a man profited if he
gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” - Jesus tells His disciples
that in order to save one’s life He must lose it
5.1.
In these verses, Jesus
explains how that a person is truly “wise” if he does become Jesus’
disciple, becoming one in the way just described of dying to self, taking up
his cross daily, and following Jesus.
5.2.
The first reason why one is
wise to become Jesus’ disciple is because in doing so he saves his life. Jesus tells His disciples that the person who
becomes His’ disciple ‘loses his life’ because of following Him, however
paradoxically it is precisely in doing this that this person ‘will save it.’ There is both a “temporal” as well as
an “eternal” reason why this is true:
5.2.1. Temporally, that is in this life, a person finds what true life really
is when he dies to himself and becomes a disciple of Jesus. Prior to the point that a person dies to self
and is reborn to new life, he is living in death because he is dead in his
sins. Paul wrote about this truth in a
few places in his New Testament epistles, including Eph. 2:1-9, “1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you
formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of
disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of
our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when
we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated
us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that
in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
5.2.2. From an eternal perspective, a person who refuses to follow Jesus as
His disciple, in the way that He has described, will not spend eternity with
the Lord in heaven but will instead spend eternity in hell. There are many New Testament passages that
teach this fact, including Jesus’ teaching recorded in John chapter 15 where He
states that the branch that does not “abide” in Him will be cut off and
thrown into the fire. Thus, he will lose
his life.
5.3.
The second reason Jesus
gives for why one is wise to follow Jesus and become His disciple in the way He
has described is stated in the rhetorical question that he poses: ‘For what is a man profited if he
gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?’
5.3.1. In saying this Jesus is countering an objection that some have for
following Him and that is that they worry that if they followed Jesus then they
would lose out on some of what the world has to offer. They desire to be rich or live for some of
the pleasures of this life and aren’t willing to give them up to follow
Jesus. Yet this is a foolish reason for
not following Jesus.
5.3.2. This story brings to mind Jesus’ temptation when the Devil took Jesus
up to a high mountain and showed Him all of the kingdoms of the world and then
promised them to Him if He would just once bow the knee and worship him. It is utterly foolish for a person to gain
every treasure and pleasure that this world has to offer in the few years that
a person might live and enjoy these, only to spend an eternity languishing and
suffering in the Lake of Fire promised for all non-believers (see Rev.
20-21).
6. VS 9:26-27 - “26 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and
My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and
the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 “But I say
to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste
death until they see the kingdom of God.”” - Jesus tells His disciples that if anyone is
ashamed of Him or His words that He will be ashamed of him when He comes in His
glory
6.1.
One of the reasons that
people sometimes are not willing to come and follow Jesus as His disciple is
because they are afraid to stand out and suffer the persecution of being one of
God’s people, they are ‘ashamed’ of Jesus. To counter this objection to following Jesus,
He tells His disciples that if anyone is ‘ashamed of him’ and thus not
willing to stand out and suffer persecution for His Name and His sake, that
Jesus will be ‘ashamed of him’ on that day when He comes in His glory to
take up His kingdom. That person shall
suffer eternal punishment for having rejecting Jesus.
6.2.
Jesus words are a little
obscure when He says, ‘there
are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the
7. CONCLUSIONS:
7.1.
As we consider this message
and Peter’s Great Confession, “Thou are the Christ,” I want to ask you
today, “What is your confession?”
Who do you say that Jesus is?
This is the most important question you will ever answer.
7.2.
As we have discussed what
becoming a disciple of Jesus involves, death to self, carrying one’s cross
daily, and following Jesus, are you a disciple of Jesus? Do you meet the criteria for a disciple? If not, I encourage you to humble yourself,
confess your sin of going your own way, making your own plans, seeking your own
destiny, instead of seeking the Lord’s will for your life and following
Jesus. Repent today and turn your life
over to Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
7.3.
Remember, the only way to
save your life (both in this temporal life as well as eternity) is to lose it
for Jesus. Have you lost your life for
Jesus? If not, do so today…