Luke 9:18-20

Luke 9:18-20

And it came to be while He was praying by Himself that the disciples were with Him.  And He inquired of them while saying, “Who does the crowd say that I am?”  And the ones who answered said, “Joh the Baptizer, and others Elijah, and others a prophet who was risen from long ago.”  And He said to them, “You all, who do you say that I am?”  And answering, Peter said, “The Christ of God.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we see Jesus modeling.  What do we see Him model?  Of course we see Jesus modeling prayer.  Prayer is important, and Jesus does it regularly.  We also see Jesus getting some time by Himself.  Again we see Jesus making sure that He has time to abide, to recuperate His strength, and make Himself ready for the next task God has Him do.  We also Jesus modeling the need to make Himself available for His disciples.  Whenever Jesus goes into the public, the public demands His time and He doesn’t have much time left for the disciples.  Therefore, the disciples get their time now.  Jesus makes sure that the disciples get time with Him.  This works out to their favor, because this is truly quality time.

Do you model prayer in your life?  How well do you do with abiding and preparing yourself for the work of the Lord?  How well do you make yourself available for the people around you who can learn from you?

Second Thought:

When Jesus asks for the disciples to give Him the crowd’s opinion, you notice that the opinions are all over the place.  Some are looking for the Messiah, so they want Jesus to be Elijah because that would mean that the time of the Messiah was near.  Little did they know how close the Messiah was!  Others thought that He was John the Baptizer reincarnated because they were looking for Herod to find judgment for His sinful lifestyle of corruption.  Still others thought that Jesus was just a prophet from old.  In other words, they thought that Jesus was just a really good teacher with a sharp message to get us to think about God and His ways.

Who is Jesus to you?  How would you respond to each of these ideas from the crowd?

Third Thought:

Finally, Jesus asks the disciples who they think that they are.  Peter leaps at the opportunity to proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah. Peter knows the truth.  Peter isn’t afraid to proclaim the truth, either.

Are you as willing to proclaim the identity of Christ?  Are you so confident in your discernment so as to be so bold?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 9:21-22