Luke 9:18-27

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Testing The Twelve (Luke 9:18-27)

18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, Who do the people say that I am? 19And they answered, John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen. 20And he said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, The Christ of God. 21But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

23 And he said to all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. 25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:18-21 Crystallization of Confession: Although Jesus wished to withdraw from the multitudes that His disciples might rest and He might concentrate on their personal training, He conducted an extensive ministry between the feeding of the thousands and the confrontation of the Twelve at Caesarea Philippi. The following events, not recorded by Luke, transpired between Luke 9:17 and Luke 9:18 :

1.

Walking on the Water, Matthew 14:1-36; Mark 6:1-56; John 6:1-71

2.

Miracles at Gennesaret, Matthew 14:1-36; Mark 6:1-56

3.

Sermon on Bread of Life at Capernaum, John 6:1-71

4.

Controversy with Pharisees about traditions, Matthew 15:1-39; Mark 7:1-37

5.

Healing Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter, Matthew 15:1-39; Mark 7:1-37

6.

Healing deaf stammerer, Feeding 4000, Decapolis, Matthew 15:1-39; Mark 7:1-37

7.

Pharisees & Sadducees demand sign at Magadan, Matthew 16:1-28; Mark 8:1-38

8.

Warns disciples against leaven of Pharisees on Sea of Galilee, Matthew 16:1-28; Mark 8:1-38

9.

Healing of blind man at Bethsaida, Mark 8:1-38

It may have appeared to the Twelve as if Jesus were retreating. He had refused the crown from the five thousand; He had not yet shown the characteristics expected by the populace in their Messiah; at Magadan it appears as if the Pharisees and Sadducees have him in retreat. The religious leaders have demanded a sign from heaven (a sign of military or political power) but Jesus refused to give such a sign since sufficient evidence for His claims had already been given. Jesus walks away from this confrontation, gets into a boat and heads across the Sea of Galilee toward the northeast. What are the disciples to think? Popular opinion circulating the countryside is confused, trying to find some great prophet with which to compare Him (Jeremiah or Elijah). Jesus seems to have given up the struggle with His opponents.
The Lord knew that this was a critical point in His whole earthly mission. So He proceeds to take the disciples apart from the confused, clamoring multitudes to a place of privacy for questioning and teaching. Jesus knows He must crystallize their convictions concerning His identity and His mission in anticipation of the very dark hours ahead. The only solution to the hopelessness and despair of mankind in rebellion against God is to convince, confirm and commit these twelve disciples to the knowledge of His deity and then to commission them to introduce Him as Savior and Lord to the world.
The city of Caesarea Philippi was typical of the predicament of man in sin (then and now). In earlier times it was called Panium because it was a center of worship for the Greek god, Pan (god of all nature). It was destroyed but rebuilt by the Romans and named after the Roman emperor, Caesar, and eventually became a center of worship to Caesar Augustus. In 31 B.C. the Battle of Actium brought an end to 100 years of civil war in the Roman empire. Men were sick of war and thought they had brought an end to human misery. But 25 years later in the days of Jesus, men were as disillusioned as ever. Injustice, immorality and inveterate hatred between cultures and races was as deeply ingrained in men's hearts as it had ever been. Mankind desperately needed the Anointed One of God, The Christ. Whether mankind came to know its only Savior or not depended upon whether Jesus could crystallize the firm, but immature, convictions the Twelve had about Him.

Jesus called the Twelve to confess (Gr. homologeo, say the same as) Him. He called them to commit themselves to a Person, Himself, and not a cause. It is important to contemplate the questions Jesus did not ask the disciples here. He did not ask them what they thought of the political situation, the religious status quo or the economic circumstances. He did not say to Peter, Who are you, Peter? He did not indicate, as much modern psychology does today, that man's fundamental problem is a self-identity crisisthat man needs above all else to find out who he is. Contrary to the world's way of thinking, Jesus knew man's problem was his confusion about God's identity. So Jesus demanded these men (upon whom the program of the world's redemption would soon fall) solidify their convictions about His identity.

What we possess we profess, and what we profess we propagate. If the conviction of the disciples about Jesus-' identity was really deeply possessed they would profess it. It is also axiomatic that the more a person professes someone or something, the more he possesses it. It is in repeated confession or profession that decision is confirmed and the will is set. Jesus, in asking the disciples who they had decided He was, was aiming for a decision. Jesus Christ always cuts through the jungle of muddled human confusion and speculation and aims at man's logic. Our minds must be made up about His identity. Only he who is convinced will commit himself. C.S. Lewis says, Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you that chooses into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature. The N.T. has a great deal to say about confession (cf. Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 2:23; 1 John 4:15, etc.).

Luke 9:22 Call to Conform: It was the will of God that the Christ should suffer and die and be raised from the dead on the third day. The suffering of the Messiah was predicted in many places in the Old Testament (i.e., Isaiah 53:1-12; Psalms 22:1-31, etc.). Few of the Jews ever recognized this. Most of Jesus-' disciples would not consider it a possibility (cf. Luke 24:13-27). Therefore, at this most opportune time and place, Jesus focuses all His power of persuasion on the Twelve in an attempt to convert their Jewish preconceptions about the Messiah to the revealed will of God. After Peter's emotionally charged confession of Jesus-' identity, and Jesus-' characterization of His church (Matthew 16:17-19), the Lord abruptly made the shocking prediction about His death. It wasn-'t that the disciples were naive and didn-'t know all the hostility Jesus had aroused in the religious leaders of the day. They expected some crisis sooner or later, but they believed (probably from Jewish tradition) that the Messiah would fight and conquer His enemies and they were prepared to fight to the death for Him (Matthew 26:35; Mark 14:31). But they were not willing to accept a Messiah who would become a lamb led to the slaughterthey refused to think in these terms. Matthew and Mark record that Peter rebuked Jesus for His prediction of a passive death (Matthew 16:22; Mark 8:32).

Immediately, the Lord rebuked Peter (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33). Peter had, in fact, become the adversary (Satan) of Christ! Peter stood opposed to the will of God. He was a stumbling-block (Gr. skandalon, scandal) in the path of Christ because He was minding the things of worldly-minded man rather than minding the things of God. Jesus intended that His followers conform their minds to the revealed mind of God in everything. God's revealed mind about the Messiah was that He should die a vicarious death to atone for the sins of all the world.

Most men applaud someone who dies for a cause. The world admires martyrdom (as long as I am not the martyr). Millions have sacrificed their lives for political ideologies and they are national heroes. But Jesus-' death was different than all of this. He died for man's justification before God! Man has absolutely no moral merit by which he can stand before God except trusting in the atoning death of Christ in his place. A man may sacrifice his life to preserve my physical life and I may admire him and be thankful. But to believe there is nothing good in me that would cause God to accept me without Jesus-' death means death to my human pride. That is what makes the doctrine of the cross foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling-block to the Jews, (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23). Think of it this way: If you should die right now and appear before God and He should ask, Why should I let you into My heaven? what would be your answer? The only answer acceptable to God would be, Because I covenanted with Christ to accept His death for my sins and He promised to give me His life. The self-righteous egotism of the human heart adamantly resists vicarious justification. Some few men claim they do not want to go to heaven after deaththey want nothing to do with God, truth, holiness, or everlasting goodness. Most other men who do propose to go to heaven after they die aim to do so because they have done enough good deeds to balance out their bad deeds and thus feel they deserve to go there. Let us illustrate: A prominent theologian once wrote, We hear much of the substitutionary theory of the atonement. This theory to me is immoral. If Jesus paid it all, or if He is the substitute for me, or if He is the sacrifice for all sin of the world, then why discuss forgiveness? The books are closed. Another has paid the debt, borne the penalty. I owe nothing. I am absolved. I cannot see forgiveness as predicated upon the act of someone else. It is my sin. I must atone. Thus reasons self-righteous man. This is the way the world thinks, but it is not the way God thinks! God has revealed His will concerning man's justification. Man, therefore, has only two options: (1) reject the revealed mind of God in scripture and, assuming he is more powerful than God, try to justify himself apart from Christ's vicarious atonement; or, (2) believe the revealed mind of God, Christ's death in his place, and accept it by entering into covenant relationship on Christ's revealed terms. Man must mind the things of God-man must conform to the will of God, executed in the death and resurrection of Christ, communicated in the N.T. scriptures.

Luke 9:23-27 Challenge to Commitment: The acceptance by faith of Jesus-' death in man's place is precisely what these verses are teaching. To deny himself means to literally do what Peter did later to Christ! The Greek word aparnesastho means, to disown, to contradict, to deny utterly any connection. It does not mean to abstain from certain pleasures and indulgences; it means to deny, disown self. It means to admit Self is dead. It means to acknowledge that I have no claims or rights for Self anymore because I am bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and I am not my own! I am dead in Christ! One died for all, therefore all have died, (2 Corinthians 5:14). He died our death, we live His life! Paul said it very succinctly in Galatians, I have been crucified with Christ (when Christ died); it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.. (Galatians 2:20).

The struggle to believe and accept and practice this occurs daily. Every day we must take up the cross and accept the death of Self. Dying to Self may only be done by faithnot by feeling or by good works, because the death of Self occurred at a point in ancient historyat the crucifixion of Christ. The death of Self is, of course, accepted and applied to each person at the point in time when that person enters the New Covenant by confession and immersion in water according to the covenant terms. Good works are the fruit of death to Self by faith, but they are not the cause of that deathJesus is the cause!

One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that men must die to live. Jesus states it, For whoever would save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What does Jesus mean? He gives us a clue in the following phrase, For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? The Greek word heauton is more emphatic (himself) than the word psuchen (soul) which is in the parallel passages (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:35). Life is identity; life is being, personality, character. Life is purpose. If there is no purpose there is really no life. God made man for a purpose. That purpose was to be conformed to the image of His Son (cf. Romans 8:29). God made us to be truthful, faithful, pure, good, loving and thankful. In this we find our true identity. When we accept the death of Self in the death of Christ and let Him live His life in us, we become children of God, joint heirs with Christ. God adopts us as His children and gives us His name. That is the only identity which will last forever. If Christ is ashamed of us (Luke 9:26) and does not confess us before the Father, we have no identity. Those who search for life apart from union with Christ will hear Christ say, Depart from me, you who work iniquity, I never knew you. To be separated from Christ is deatheternal death. Apparently in the place of eternal death (Hell) there will be consciousness but no life. If there is no life there is no purpose, no identity. The man with no godly purpose or character in this life will have none in Hell. Hell will be an eternal purposelessness, eternal falseness, eternal insecurity, anguish, disorientation and non-identity.

What has a man gained if he forfeits his birthright to be identified as a child of God and has all the power, fame and riches the world offers? He loses himself! So now we see why Jesus considered it so crucial that His disciples confess His identity. The only way men find out who they really are is to confess and commit themselves to the true identity of Jesus as ChristLord!

Having mentioned that He would come for final judgment in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26), Jesus did not want His disciples to confuse the Second Coming with other events which will manifest the power of His kingdom (such as the destruction of Jerusalem). Therefore Jesus states (Luke 9:27) that some of the disciples standing there with Him would not die before they saw the kingdom of God come (with power Mark 9:1). The popular Jewish concept was that when the Messiah came in his glory. with the holy angels it would be the end of the world. What event was Jesus talking about in Luke 9:27 (Matthew 16:28 and Mark 9:1 also)? Apocalyptic language in both the O.T. and N.T. often describes any great intervention of God in history as the coming of God in judgment or redemption. There was only one of the Twelve dead before the establishment of the Church on PentecostJudas. The language of Jesus seems to imply that more than one would taste of death prior to the event described here. We think He was speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem. Later, He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in the same apocalyptic style (cf. Luke 21:25-28; Matthew 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-26, see also Matthew 26:64). Many of the apostles died before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. John, and perhaps a few others, lived beyond that event. The destruction of Jerusalem also destroyed the Jewish State and its religious power. Christianity was rescued from apparent obliteration. No longer would it be considered an illegal Jewish sect. It went forth to establish firm beachheads in the world of paganism and cause the Roman empire to tremble at its power. In this sense those who lived beyond the destruction of Jerusalem truly saw the kingdom of God come with power.

Applebury's Comments

The Necessity of the Cross
Scripture

Luke 9:18-27 And it came to pass, as he was praying apart, the disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Who do the multitudes say that I am? 19 And they answering said, John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20 And he said unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Peter answering said, The Christ of God. 21 But he charged them, and commanded them to tell this to no man; 22 saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. 23 And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in his own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you of a truth, There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

Comments

And it came to pass.Luke was aware of many things that he did not include in his narrative. See Mark 6:45 to Mark 9:1. His purpose was to present Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man, and it did not take all that He did to establish the claim. But all that he did write concerned Jesus-' work and teaching (Acts 1:1-2). John suggests that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written if the complete record were made (John 21:25).

as he was praying.Jesus constantly communicated with the Father about all that He did. Just before Peter expressed the conviction of the apostles that He was the Christ, Jesus was praying. Matthew reminds us that this incident occurred in the region of Caesarea Philippi.

Who do men say that I am?This question was designed to lead the disciples to think clearly about Jesus and to prepare them to see that He must go to the cross, The cross was not only necessary for Him, it was also necessary in the life of each of His followers.

And they answered, John the Baptist.Herod and others were saying this (Matthew 14:1-2). Others were saying that he was Elijah, basing their claim on the prophecy of Malachi 4:5 which said, Behold, I will send you Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Others were explaining Jesus-' powers by saying that He was one of the old prophets who had risen. After the feeding of the five thousand, the people came to take Him by force and make Him king, for they said, This is of a truth, the prophet that cometh into the world (John 6:14-15). Later, Peter positively identified Him as the prophet about whom Moses had written (Acts 3:20-24).

But who say ye that I am?Peter said, The Christ of God. Christ means anointed and refers to His office of prophet, priest and king. According to Peter's confession as given in Matthew 16:16, he added the words, the Son of the living God, This explains His person, for He is Son of God as well as Son of Man. He was often called Son of David referring to Him as Messiah, that is, Christ.

According to Matthew, Jesus said to Peter, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). The rock upon which the church was to be built is the truth expressed in Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Perhaps the best proof of this is Peter's own statement in which he quotes Isaiah's prophecy and shows that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the spiritual temple, the church. See 1 Peter 2:3-8, See also Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 3:11.

The gates of Hades refer to the power of death. In this context, Jesus was speaking about His own death which was to take place in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21; Luke 9:21-22). Peter explained this when he quoted the sixteenth Psalm, on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:24-31). The antecedent of it (Matthew 16:18) is not church but rock. The truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God is the rock that could not be destroyed by the powers of Hades. He was to be put to death, but He was to be raised from the dead to prove that He was Prophet, Priest, and King. If He had not been raised, He could not have been any one of these. The victory of the church over death depends on Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22-26), but this is not in the context of Matthew sixteen.

tell this to no man.A similar order is given after the transfiguration with the added word, until the Son of man be risen from the dead (Matthew 17:9). The apostles were to wait until they had positive evidence that could be shared with others before telling of their conviction that Jesus is the Christ. The resurrection established it beyond doubt. See Acts 4:2; Acts 4:10-11; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 10:9-10. take up his cross daily.The cross was necessary for Jesus in His office of Prophet, Priest, and King. The cross was necessary in the daily life of His followers as they went out to preach the Word of the Cross.

The meaning of the cross for the follower of Christ depends on the meaning of the cross to Him. His cross is a symbol of death to sin. Then the cross to His disciples must be more than some burden to be patiently borne. Paul says, our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away (Romans 6:6). Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof (Galatians 5:24). See also Colossians 2:20 to Colossians 3:17; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 6:14.

The cross, death to sin, must be taken up daily by those who follow Him. Peter said that Christ left us an example that we should follow in his steps who did no sin (1 Peter 2:21-22). Should we stumble, as Peter did, there is the gracious provision of the loving Father for the cleansing of the erring Christian (1 John 2:1-2). But habitual sinning cannot be practiced by the Christian (Romans 6:1-4). The standard of Christ is high, but not impossible. His commandments are not grievious (1 John 5:3).

Self-denial is not merely denying oneself of some material thing. It means to disown self, to act in a completely selfless manner. Paul is a good example: All that he had once counted dear, he set aside for the privilege of gaining Christ (Philippians 3:7-11). Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. The man who sought goodly pearls had to sell all in order to gain the one pearl of great price. Nothing short of complete dedication to Christ will satisfy the demand of self-denial.

save his life shall lose it.This is Jesus-' own explanation of what He had just said about self-denial, Lose it for Christ, if you would save your life! There is no diluting this to mean partly save, or partly lose; it means complete dedication.

For what is a man profited?Jesus explained what He meant by losing or saving life. What profit is it if you gain the whole world but lose your life? Reason tells us He is right! The Bible gives us true perspective so that our sense of values may not be limited by what we see at the moment. See Psalms 37:1-40; Psalms 73:16-17.

ashamed of me and of my words.The one who is ashamed of the Christ of the cross or of the Word of the cross will not be recognized by Christ when He comes to judge the world. See also Matthew 7:22-23. Mere profession of obedience is not enough; Jesus demands sincerity in relation to Him. James warns, Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves (James 1:22). when he cometh in his own glory.that is, at the last judgment. See Matthew 25:31-46; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15.

till they see the kingdom of God.This is in contrast to what He had just said about the final judgment. All will be present on that day. But some of those who heard Him speak were to be present on another occasion, that is, when they would see the kingdom of God. The kingdom, the earthly phase of it, came on the Day of Pentecost when Jesus was proclaimed both Lord and Christ, reigning at the right hand of the throne of God (Acts 2:33-36).

Some have assumed that Jesus and the apostles expected His second coming within the lifetime of some of those who heard Him speak. But the language of this context shows the contrast He made between His coming at the Judgment and His coming in the kingdom on the Day of Pentecost. Paul wrote II Thessalonians to correct the mistaken view that the coming of Christ was to be expected in his day (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). His kingdom did come on Pentecost; He will come at the end of the age. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.