Luke 9:24-27

Luke 9:24-27

“For whoever desires to save his life will destroy it.  And whoever should destroy his life for my sake, this one will save it.  For what man gains an advantage after gaining the whole world after also destroying himself and suffering loss?  For whoever should be ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of this one when He should come in the glory of Him, His Father, and the holy angels.  And I speak truth to you all: some of the ones standing here are ones who should surely not taste death until they should see the kingdom of God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus talks about seeking to save life in the opening part of this passage.  What Jesus is talking about is people who are living their life to get the most of what they want.  Jesus is speaking about people who are pursuing their own desires.  Such people will lose their life, even though they have sought to attain all of their hopes and dreams.  However, the people who give up on their own hopes and dreams and instead embrace the hopes and dreams that God has planned for them find their life.  They find their true life because they are willing to lose their worldly desires.

Have you given up on a dream because of something God desires for you instead?  How has that worked out better for you than your own desires would have worked out?

Second Thought:

Jesus also talks about being ashamed of Christ.  Those who deny Him before others will be denied eternally.  Those who feel shame because of their faith will be shamed before their Eternal Father.  Whoever is ashamed of Jesus’ words and tries to manipulate the words of Jesus to align with the common practices of the world will find that Christ is ashamed of them.

Have you ever been ashamed of your beliefs?  Have you ever reacted less firm in your faith than you should have because you were afraid of how people around you might react?

Third Thought:

This concluding statement of Jesus is shrouded in controversy.  There are some people who think that it is proof that Jesus is not God, because all of the people who heard Jesus say this died before He would return.  In fact, this was one of the major controversies of the early church.  Many people were ceasing to believe in Jesus because He didn’t return before many of the people who saw Jesus in the flesh died.  However, remember the first message of Jesus in the Gospels.  Jesus tells us that “the kingdom of God has drawn near.”  When people meet Jesus, they see the kingdom of God.  When people meet Jesus, they get a taste of the kingdom.  When people follow Christ, they enter into the kingdom of God.  Therefore, Jesus is spot on correct about this passage.  There are people around Him who would see the kingdom of God before they taste death!

Have you seen the kingdom of God?  Where?  What catches your attention and points you to the kingdom of God at work in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 9:28-31