Luke 9:51 “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,”

   Being a part of the Divine Essence Jesus knew the timing that the Godhead had determined beforehand for everything. Jerusalem was His target. And, thus we see this shift to go there and to begin the process that would lead to His sacrifice.

   This comes fairly early in the gospel of Luke, though also it is prominent in the other gospels as well. So as we study these we should keep in mind that much of what is related is from the end of the ministry of Christ rather than the beginning.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus! We are every day reminded of all that we can be because of Who He is. We are so blessed to live in Your world Father! We find reasons to complain because of the horrible consequences of sin. But, even with all that we see glimpses of the glory that is to come. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:50 “But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

   Jesus doesn’t have to fight everybody. We do need to contend for the faith. There is a hill to stand on. But, often we tend to fight those who are fighting on our side. We must be careful to look for friends, rather than looking for enemies.

Heavenly Father, may we always look to You for truth! You alone can keep us on track. You are the One Who we are to seek. We need not seek our own glory, or promote ourselves. Thank You for Your leading and guidance, for without it we are blind. I will praise You forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:49 “Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.”

   In context they had just been talking about who was great. So, this conversation followed naturally. The disciples may have thought that at the very least they would be considered greater than others who did not follow Christ as they did. However, not all who followed Him were selected to be one of the twelve.

Heavenly Father, thank You for using people from all over the world to minister for You. Thank You for reaching to the least of us! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:48 “and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”

   Jesus just went form the least of the least to the greatest of the greatest in two hops. Children occupied the lowest social standing in Jewish life. And yet, Jesus lets them know that He cares for these little ones. And, to get to the Father, Who is Above All, one need only receive Christ. And in receiving the child in Christ’s Name, one has received Christ. So, the implication is that to be receptive to the God of All is to be receptive to the least of His children.

   And, Jesus states the lesson clearly. The least will be the greatest. What can He mean by this? He means that in the kingdom of God, measure is done by God, and not by man. He looks through everything and knows the inner heart. He sees in secret. And, He will use those who the world deems to be weak and low. He will glorify Himself, and not humanity. Nobody is to be left out of His care. And, nobody is so low that they escape His notice.

Heavenly Father, thank You for caring for the least ones! Without that surely we who stand so many centuries apart from the beginning of Your church would be cast away. But, we are not. We are drawn to You because nothing in us is everything in You. Thank You! We praise You! We magnify Your Name! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:47 “And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him,”

   Jesus is always teaching. Always. His disciples gave Him lots of opportunities for it, and so do we even today. And, He is always patient. And, He is always very effective.

   Jesus knew what was in their hearts. This isn’t the only time that we are told Jesus perceived the thoughts of others. The wording here makes it plain that he knew what they were thinking. And, it was by this knowledge that He formulated the best teaching example.

   By the way, there is only one person that can read the thoughts of others. That person is The Person. Though the devil, demons, and humans can be very good guessers of the thoughts and intents of people’s heart, God alone can actually read minds. Jesus knows EVERYTHING we have ever thought, and ever will think. To Him we are an ‘open book’ as we say.

Heavenly Father, thank You for knowing us so well, and yet still being the Good and Gracious One that You are towards us. We marvel when we think of Your great wisdom and knowledge. And we shall never understand the full extent of Your great mind. You are so far above us! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:46 “Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.”

   Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record debates of this kind. Indeed it seems there was likely several instances of such a discussion, even if they are not recorded. It is strange to us that these men would have made their ambition so obvious to each other. But we must not forget that they were expecting Jesus to shortly set up a physical kingdom. Though this does not excuse their behavior, it does explain the cause. They were not only assuming to be greater than one another. But, as the close confidants of Christ, they expected to be greater than all the rest of their countrymen.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness! Sometimes it is a wonder Your don’t trash the whole world and start over. But this story is not about us, it is about You, and that is exactly why You do not do that. Thank You for loving us by Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You for giving Him to us. You are so wonderful! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:45 “But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.”

   There are several things going on here. The disciples did not perceive Christ’s meaning in what He said to them. But, then, the Father also prevented them from complete understanding so as to fall in with fulfilled prophecy. Added to that, their own pride prevented them from exploring the matter further.

Heavenly Father, remind us of Your greatness! There are so many things that we do not understand. Though we know we will have much more knowledge in heaven, we must remember You will still be the One with ALL knowledge and understanding. We will forever look to You for Truth and find it always. Thank You so much for what we are given by Your Spirit! You are the One Who opens to us the secrets. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:44 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

   Jesus wanted His disciples to try and understand what He was telling them. They had, up to that point, not yet understood His purposes. Indeed, they surely knew that He had been at risk of being captured by the authorities before and had escaped the danger. So they may have expected that He would never allow Himself to be taken.

   But, He also reveals that it would be by betrayal that this would occur. This was a fulfillment of prophecy. The Messiah would be betrayed, mistreated, and killed.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the Lord Jesus! Thank You for His sacrifice for us! Never can I ever thank You enough Father. Please help us to live to Your glory. May we constantly bring praise to You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:43 “And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,”

   Peter, James, and John were still in awe because of what they saw on the mount. Though they did not speak of it at this time, they may have had more of a reaction to the situation before them than normal. Jesus was about to speak to them about the coming days. The disciples and the people still expected the kingdom just any minute. Jesus on the other hand, was preparing for the consummation of His ministry.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Who You are and that we can be certain of that no matter what happens from day to day. We are totally dependent upon You, and that is a good place to be. I will praise you forever and give You the glory for the great things You have done! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 9:42 “And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.”

   The behavior we see here is consistent with the demonic world. The power of Christ was terrifying to the powers of darkness, which operate only on the basis of fear. Where it says here that Jesus ‘healed the child’ the scriptures are indicating that the demonic presence had injured the boy. This is the way it is with the devil, he is a sore loser and will create havoc any way he can.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the power of Christ in our lives. We cannot ever thank You enough! The unlimited access that we are given to Your working in our hearts and lives is so wonderful. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.