Luke 9:21-22

Luke 9:21-22

And the one who rebuked them commanded them to say this to nobody, after saying that it is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer much and to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be killed and to be raised on the third day.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I find it interesting that Jesus seeks a confession from His disciples and then commands them to tell this to nobody.  The usual explanation given here is that Jesus doesn’t want to stir up more resistance than is necessary any sooner than it is necessary.  In other words, Jesus wants to make sure that He has the full amount of time to accomplish the will of the Lord.  While I think this is a completely valid and logical rationale, I also think that there is something more to this.  I think Jesus is trying to protect His disciples.  We’ve seen that while they have the faith to believe, they don’t necessarily understand.  This also means that they aren’t ready to defend themselves, either.  Furthermore, I think that Jesus is also indicating that the people need to come to this conclusion on their own.  People need to come to faith on their own terms, not believe because other people told them what to believe.  It is good to get the opinions of others.  But in the end, faith must be our own.

Why do you think Jesus would make a comments like this to the disciples?  Would you have had it within you to obey if you knew that Jesus was the Messiah?

Second Thought:

I am also amazed that Jesus can declare His destruction as articulately as He did.  He tells the disciples exactly what is coming.  Now, of course He is god.  Of course He can know what is going to happen.  I’m not amazed that He can do this.  I’m amazed that He can say it and mean it and still go forward with the plan.  This shows the character of God.  He is willing to die for our sake.  He is willing to set Himself aside so that we can know restoration in Him.

Where have you been led to imitate Christ in making sacrifices for others?  When have others made sacrifices for you?

Third Thought:

I can only imagine what it is like to be completely rejected by the leaders of a population yet still love them.  Jesus is rejected by the chief priests.  He is rejected by the teachers of the Law.  He is rejected by the scribes.  The majority of all of the people with power would reject Jesus.  This also meant that most of the population of followers would reject Jesus, too.  Yet, Jesus still went through with the plan.  Jesus did it for His disciples.  Jesus loved His disciples so much that He went through with all of the rejection.  How does Jesus respond to rejection?  Jesus loves.

Is it easy for you to love in the face of rejection?  What makes it difficult?  What can ease the difficulty?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 9:23-27