What Jesus Did

The next day, after [Jesus and the disciples] had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to him, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn't do it." Jesus said, "You faithless and corrupt people! How long must...

 

Then a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him." When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. [The disciples] didn't tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

—Luke 9:35-36 NLT

Key Thought


The law (Torah) and the prophets were revered in Israel. They represented the heart of God's communication with his people, Israel. But, God has spoken to us definitively and comprehensively through his Son. We must listen to Jesus. Peter...

 

Peter and the others had fallen asleep [at Jesus' transfiguration]. When they woke up, they saw Jesus' glory and the two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, "Master, it's wonderful for us to be here! Let's make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them...

 

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

—Luke 9:28-31 NLT

Key Thought


The glorious appearance of Moses and Elijah...

 

[Jesus said,] "If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God."

—Luke 9:26-27 NLT

Key Thought


Many of us live in a culture that ridicules faith. Oh sure, some give passing reference to Jesus, but their hearts don't belong to him, and they might...

 

[Jesus said,] "If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?"

—Luke 9:24-25 NLT

Key Thought


On earth, we get one lifetime. That's it. No more and no less. What we do in this life determines how we will spend eternal life. So if we live our lives trying to bring fulfillment to ourselves and achievement that...

 

Then [Jesus] said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me."

—Luke 9:23 NLT

Key Thought


If we are going to be Jesus' followers, his disciples, we're going to have to be willing to walk in the way of the cross. Doing so means giving up our selfish ambition and pride. It means we live to honor Christ and to bless others in his name. And our trip to the cross must come every day...

 

[After Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah,] Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. "The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things," he said. "He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead."

—Luke 9:21-22 NLT

Key Thought


Once the apostles had the right designation for Jesus — the Messiah from God, they needed to have the...

 

Then [Jesus asked his disciples], "But who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah sent from God!"

—Luke 9:20 NLT

Key Thought


No matter what the world — whether it was Herod or the crowd or the enemies of Jesus — might think of him, Jesus' was concerned that his disciples knew the truth about him. He would leave his mission in their hands. They would be called upon to put their lives on the line. They would be called to move from being merely...

 

One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" "Well," they replied, "some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead."

—Luke 9:18-19 NLT

Key Thought


The Gospel of Luke reminds us that so many of the great moments of Jesus' life and ministry were tied to prayer. Sometime soon, get a specially colored highlighter and read...