Author: Bill Hall

 Luke 9:26 “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, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

   Possible meanings of the word ‘ashamed’ here are very revealing. Normally we think of ashamed from the standpoint of being shamed by guilt of having done something wrong. Or we think of being shamed by another person’s actions, and thus having our pride wounded. But, this word can also mean to be afraid of embarrassment due to your hopes being ultimately proven false.

   So, what Jesus is saying is that if a person is hesitant to make their belief in Him, and their acceptance of His message, known, He also will be hesitant to recognize that person in eternity. Thus, such an action is quite dangerous. Many people however, are guilty of this. Many see Jesus as a good man, or a prophet, or some exalted human, but fail to believe in Him as the Son of God. They give Him lip service, but they do not take Him seriously for fear of reprisal, and disappointment. Or, even claiming to believe all of His divinity and accepting His message, some live in such a way as to make it seem that this belief is to be kept a secret. In either case, the result is disastrous.

   Jesus knows who are His. He is aware of our sentiments. He cannot be fooled. We can fool those around us possibly, but He knows the score. God is not mocked. He seeks the genuine.

Heavenly Father, thank You for not accepting fakes. As much as we are weak and error so badly, You have made it possible for us to be genuine. Thank You for that. You are so wise! May we never forget all that You do for us each and every day. You are so gracious and merciful, and Your power is beyond all we comprehend. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:25 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”

   The world is not enough! All the the old devil may offer is this old world. That was his offer to Jesus in the temptation. But, the world cannot compare to eternal life. One single eternal life, free with God and in His care, is worth a million million of this old world of ours. As Paul says it, the great and eternal weight of glory is so much more to be grasped. We are pursuing something of absolutely infinite worth.

   This is one of the most foundational virtues of Christianity. The value of a single human life is extremely great. This is absolutely vital to a good understanding of the teaching of Christ. His is a doctrine of life. As He tells us, He came to give us life, and to give it to us more abundantly.

Heavenly Father, may life be ever before me! Make me a great lover of the life that You give. Not this earthly temporary part of it only, but also the eternal part that is so much greater. Thank You for life in Christ! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:24 ” “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

 Luke 9:23 “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

   Jesus here gives them three things to do if they desire to come after Him. What does He mean by this, to come after Him? Well, there are many who have come after in the sense that they have come along later in time. However, Jesus here is using the word ‘after’ more in the sense that others were to pursue Him and His mission. Thus if we seek to be a part of His work, in His kingdom, we must do these three things. And what are these?

   First, we must deny ourselves. This means a couple of things. For one, it means that we cannot please our flesh and follow after Christ. We must turn aside from the pleasures of this life so far as they are intended to gratify the base nature of sin in us. Also, we must not seek our own. This means that we are to not make our own fame, fortune, pride, and sense of power and place in this world our aim. We must give all of these things over in order to pursue Him.

   Second, we are asked to take up our cross daily. The cross was known to the disciples as the chosen method of Roman execution. For Jesus to mention the cross in this way was the same as when we say, ‘take your life in your hands’ or do something ‘at your own risk’. It means that we are liable to die while we are at this. No price is considered too high for the privilege to pursue after Christ. For, indeed, the highest price may be exacted at any moment.

   This second item means a couple of things as well. Firstly, it means that one may not pursue the mission of Christ and serve in His kingdom with any reservations. Nothing may be held back as precious. All must be held with an open hand. And, secondly, danger is not to be a consideration. Risk to life and limb are to be considered a reasonable sacrifice. The prize of obedience is to be the ultimate treasure.

   Then we find the third thing Jesus says. He asks those who would pursue His mission, following after Him, to do just that, to follow Him. This seems simple at first. But, we must detail what He has in mind here. Firstly He means to say that we are to follow His example. As the Almighty Son of God, He took on flesh and lived lowly among us. He was obedient to the Father and died alone for us in the most shameful way. This is the pattern to emulate, and it is the most humiliating and degrading in the world’s eyes. We are not called to a glamourous fate.

   Secondly, to follow Him means to take heed to Him. Every command, every idea, every particular of His way and work are to be our pleasure and banner. We are to be completely submitted to His will and work. His word is to be our battle cry. Loyalty to this cause must be absolute and a sheer delight to His devoted followers.

   Lastly, to follow Christ means to be on His timetable. This means to have always a sense of what time it is in relation to the message of the gospel and the truth as we see it revealed in the Bible. His followers are to live with the reality of His return ever before our face. The fact of His death and resurrection are to always energize us. The times and workings of this worldly life are then not meant to galvanize us. Instead, it is to be where we find ourselves in relation to His eternal plan that really gets us going. It is His timetable that determines our next steps.

Heavenly Father, You are truly worthy or our best life! Not only is it altogether worth it to die for the cause of Christ, but it is also worth it to live for Him! Indeed, it would matter little if it was ‘worth it’ or not since You deserve our best, and may reasonably expect it of us. But, the added bonus is that it is indeed more than worth it. To be counted heirs of Your dear Son is beyond our wildest hopes. We can never deserve it, but will say as all of Your servants, what have we done? Nothing, it is all of You. You have made us the most happy of people. You are so gracious and good. I will serve You forever! Your will and way are my delight. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

 Luke 9:22 “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 the third day.”

   Notice how Jesus words His prophecy concerning what would take place over the next several days. He specifically mentions the Jewish leadership, and that they would ‘reject’ Him. This is significant. This rejection was mentioned, and the role of the Gentile Romans was not. Why?

   The Roman involvement was surely a bad thing, and a condemnation of the Gentile world. But, the rejection by the Jewish leaders is pointed out here because these people were the ones that should have recognized Christ. For a Roman politician to not understand Who Jesus was is indeed bad. But for the people of God and their most biblically literate contingent to not understand and see the Lord Jesus for what He is, was unconscionable. How blind they were!

Heavenly Father, oh give us eyes that we may see! Today we think that we know everything. We think we would surely recognize Your working in every case. But do we? Oh Father, give us the eyes of faith, and open our hearts to Your Word. We assume that if we read and study Your Word, we surely see and know Your way. But we would fall into the same trap as the Jewish leaders in the first century. Keep us humble Lord! We will search and know, we will ask and receive, please illumine our heart and mind by Your Spirit as we look into Your Word! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

 Luke 9:21 “And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,”

   Why this? Wouldn’t it be best to share this truth with all? To answer this, we must remember that God’s ways are not our ways. His timing is always perfect. Why send Jesus when He came and not much sooner, or much later? Prophecy of course had fixed the time of His arrival, but God could have had the prophets fix a different time.

   So it is all on God’s timetable, not ours. Making the truth concerning Christ known makes the most sense to us. This is nice since we are in the age of grace and the church, in which that is exactly what we are to be doing. But, though Jesus did give the command to go and tell to His disciples, it was not His command for them at this time. At this time He wanted the nation of Israel to do what it would do on the basis of its faith, such as it was.

   This is a good reminder for us. We do not go and tell other about Jesus because it makes sense to do so. We do it because Jesus commanded us to do it. The day is coming when the Holy Spirit will be removed from this old world, and all Christians with Him. At that time the proclamation of the gospel will be done in a different way entirely, and with different results.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus! We praise You for this age of grace. Without it we could not have received the truth and been given eternal life. Thank You for bringing us into the fold. Your grace and love are truly so amazing! I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:20 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

   Peter stated it directly, correctly, and succinctly. Jesus is the Christ. This is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew concept of the Messiah. So, Peter was stating that Jesus was the Messiah, the Chosen One. This does not indicate Jesus was just a man who God chose in a special way. To be the Messiah, Jesus had to be divine. The Old Testament had already made clear the role of the Son of God. He would be more than any man could ever be.

Heavenly Father, You are so awesome! Only You could come up with a plan so perfect! Your Son is the King and Lord of all. You have truly done all things in accordance with Your Divine Will. Nothing has surprised You. You knew what You would do from before ever there was anything. You are so wise and powerful, and above all, holy! Thank You for all of it! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

 Luke 9:19 “So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

   Each of these represents a different perception of Christ. People who said He was John the Baptist were likely only repeating what they had heard elsewhere. Herod was of this opinion. It was of course a fanciful idea with no basis in fact. It was likely assumed by some only because they couldn’t accept that God would send two powerful prophets back to back. So it was a way to minimize the issue.

   Those who believed he was Elijah either were unaware of the ministry of John the Baptist, or misunderstood his ministry completely. But, to be fair, saying Jesus was Elijah at least betrayed a good understanding of the Scriptures. Elijah returning was indeed a biblical idea, and was to be expected. However, John was the fit for this, not Jesus.

   As for the rest, who assumed Jesus was one of the old prophets come back to life, there is little to say. They obviously also simply made assumptions based on rumors, but had not much of their own ideas mixed in.

   All of this brings up a subject. Jesus obviously knew that people were confused about Him. So then why not give them very specific instruction to help them along in their understanding? Why did Jesus stay a step back in the shadows so to speak? Ah, here we find one of the most important concepts of Scripture. Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the truth will not be seen clearly. Jesus expected Jewish people to go and consult the Scriptures, and to ask Almighty God to show them the truth concerning Christ. I sincerely believe that any Jewish person in that day who actually sought God on the issue of the identity of Jesus obtained the correct answer. But, the vast majority of the Jewish population looked to their leadership, the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc. to spoon feed them the truth.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the truth the way You do! We do not understand it at first, but when we study it, we see Your vast wisdom. You are the Expert. You know us better than we know You, and better than we know ourselves. You understand how we learn and grow. Thank You for ministering to us the way You do! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

 Luke 9:18 “And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

   This is still such an important question today. Jesus asked this to start a conversation about belief. He wanted His disciples to get this in front of them. Everyone must answer this. What do you think about Jesus Christ?

   In our day, two thousand years later, this is still the most important question to wrestle with. In fact, as the religions of our world coalesce to a greater extent, this question becomes that much more crucial. The true nature of Jesus is of very little consequence if He is not Who He claimed to be.

   If Jesus is only a man, we can afford to use Him for our purposes. We can mold Him to our will and present Him any way we please. But, if He is the Christ, well then that makes all the difference. If He is the Christ we owe Him our very existence.

Heavenly Father, all praise be to You for Jesus Christ! In Him You have set the truth before us. Even now humanity is wrestling with His will and way. We cannot escape it. Thank You for Him! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 119:62 “At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.”

   Sometimes we rise in the middle of the night. But, usually this only for important needs to be met. We must relieve the bladder. Or, there is a ‘bump in the night’ that must be investigated. A child is sick and requires attention. A spouse is unwell and requests assistance. Any number of things might be a just cause to awaken one from their beauty rest (or for some of us, ugly rest).

   The psalmist here reminds us that God’s Word is so important that it is something to rise in the night and thank the Lord for. We often want to raise our hands in praise to Him. But to raise ourselves from sleep is surely a clearer indication of our heart’s love for the Word. It is worth the effort.

   Maybe we have never arisen at midnight to offer worship to the Lord for His Bible. But, even if we have not, it is vital that we understand it is that important in our lives. If anything else can wake us, surely the very Word of God has more right to do so. Beyond this, we must not forget to thank the Lord for His Book.

   As you give thanks on this special day, do not forget to thank our Lord for the wonderous blessing of His Word. Without it imagine how you would live. It is the greatest mercy to our sinful hearts to have the Truth about Jesus available to us.

Heavenly Father, Your Word will always be precious to us. You have made all things good. And, Your Book shows us the way that we must take. Thank You for the comfort of the Word brought to us by the Comforter. Holy Spirit saturate us with Your Scriptures and make us whole. You can change us inside out! Make us clean that we may lift holy hands to you, or rise early in praise. We love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.