Rachel Workman: 21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 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.”
23 Then
he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and
take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants
to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save
it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and
yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of
me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his
glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Admittedly, I'm
not very good at denying myself.
27 “Truly
I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the
kingdom of God.”
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John Burnett:
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were
with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of
long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who
do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” Exactly right. There will be no mistaken identity when Jesus
returns. As this world gets more out of control, I am witnessing the man
of lawlessness at work on a daily basis and we know the Holy Spirit is not
going to hold him back forever. Thank you Lord Jesus for giving us the
Holy Spirit to hold him back and removing us before he is unleashed on this
earth.
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to
anyone. 22 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.”
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to
be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow
me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever
loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose
or forfeit their very self? This is the complete opposite of what the world
teaches. Material things and power are the focus of the world and doesn’t
leave any time for Jesus Christ. 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son
of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory
of the Father and of the holy angels. I am not ashamed of the gospel. I am a
wretched sinner in need of my glorious Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you
LORD Jesus for dying to pay the price for my sins and bestowing the blessings
of belonging to you to me.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here
will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” This verse and it’s corresponding verses in Matthew 16:28 and Mark
9:1 are some of the most controversial verses in the Bible because Bible
Scholars have no consensus on what Jesus was getting at with this statement.
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Mike Grimm:
21 Jesus strictly
warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 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.”
The Son of Man must suffer many things: After receiving
the polling data, both from the crowds and His own disciples, Jesus now
explains what He has really come to do: suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be
raised the third day. This isn't what His disciples or the crowds wanted! This
would be an unbelievable shock to anyone expecting, or hoping, that Jesus was
the national and political messiah. It is as if a presidential candidate
announced towards the end of his campaign that he is going to Washington to be
rejected and executed. Must suffer many things: An important word here is must.
This isn't just a plan or an idea or a prediction; this is the fulfillment of
what was planned before the world began for our salvation (1 Peter 1:20;
Revelation 13:8). But the resurrection was as much a must as any other aspect
of His suffering; Jesus had to rise from the dead.
23 Then he said to them all: It was bad enough for the disciples to hear that Jesus
would suffer, be rejected, and die on a cross. Now He tells them that they must
do the same thing. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must
deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Taking up your cross wasn't a journey; it
was a one-way trip. There was no return ticketing; it was never a round trip.
Jesus makes deny himself equal with take up his cross. The two phrases express
the same idea. The cross wasn't about self-promotion or self-affirmation. The
person carrying a cross knew they couldn't save themselves, and that self
was destined to die. Denying yourself means to live as an others-centered
person. Jesus was the only person to do this perfectly, but we are to follow in
His steps. Take up his cross daily: Jesus makes it clear that He is speaking
spiritually when He adds the word daily. No one could be crucified literally
every day. But they can have the same attitude as Jesus daily. This is
following Jesus at its simplest-He carried a cross, He walked down death row;
so must those who would follow Him. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses
their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone
to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever
is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he
comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you,
some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of
God.”
For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for
My sake will save it: We must follow Jesus this way because it is the only way
that we will ever find life. It sounds strange to say "you will never live
until you walk down death row with Jesus," but that is the idea. You can't
gain resurrection life without dying first. You don't lose a seed when
you plant it, though it seems dead and buried. In truth, you set it free to be
what it was always intended to be. For what profit is it to a man if he gains
the whole world: Avoiding the walk down death row with Jesus means that we may
gain the whole world-and end up losing everything. Jesus Himself had the
opportunity to gain the whole world by worshipping Satan (Luke 4:5-8), but
found life and victory in obedience instead. Amazingly, the people who live
this way before Jesus are the ones who are really, genuinely happy. Giving our
lives to Jesus all the way, and living as an others-centered person does not
take away from our lives, it adds to it. For whoever is ashamed of Me and My
words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory: It
isn't easy to walk death row with Jesus. It means that we have to associate
ourselves with someone who was despised and executed-but if we are ashamed of
Him, He will be ashamed of us. But I tell you truly, there are some standing
here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God: Walking with
Jesus doesn't just mean a life of death and crosses. It also means a life of
the power and glory of the kingdom of God. Jesus promised some of His disciples
would soon see a glimpse of that power and glory.
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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 9:28-36
28 About eight
days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up
onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he
was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as
bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious
splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure,[a] which he was about to bring to fulfillment
at Jerusalem. 32 Peter
and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw
his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 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.)34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
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