The 'Christ must Suffer...'

Luke 9:18–27

Here Jesus is praying in private with his disciples. Then Jesus engages them with this question, “who do the crowds say I am?” Luke has already told us how Herod Antipas was perplexed when he heard some saying that Jesus was John raised from the dead, or that Elijah had returned and others that an old prophet had returned from the dead. The disciples confirm that that the crowds were saying what Herod had heard. So the consensus was that Jesus was an extraordinary miracle-working prophet, that had some mysterious and miraculous origin. But Jesus wanted to know just exactly who his own disciples thought he was. Peter steps up and confesses that Jesus is the ‘Christ of God’; the Jewish Messianic king. In first century expectations the Messiah or Christ would be a ‘anointed king’ who would throw off Roman rule, renew the temple worship and restore God’s just rule to Israel (9:18-20).  

In response to Peter’s confession Jesus forbid that they should tell anyone about this. He e explained that the ‘Son of Man’ must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. He went on saying “he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”(9:21)

Jesus tells them he must suffer, be rejected and killed, then be raised. Matthew’s gospel highlights their failure to understand the ‘necessity of his death’ and how they missed that he would ‘rise again in three days’. Here Jesus tells them that all who follow him ‘must deny themselves and take up their cross daily’. They would have been shocked by Jesus telling them that he ‘must suffer and die’ and shocking as well would be that they 'must deny themselves’ and be prepared to be executed on a day to day basis (9:22-23).

He went on saying, ‘whoever wants to save their life will lose their life’. On the other hand, 'whoever loses his life for Jesus would save their life’. Jesus disciples were to forsake any commitment to self-preservation, and be prepared daily to embrace the implement of their own public execution. The cross was Rome’s weapon that instilled fear and intimidated people into a passive submission to Rome. So self-denial is at the heart of following ‘King Jesus’ and his ‘way of salvation in Christ’.  In fact, it would be of no value to gain the whole world and lose one’s soul or their very self (9:24-25).

In addition, Jesus exhorts them to be ‘unashamed of him his words’. When the 'Son of Man’ would come in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels he would be unashamed of thase who were unashamed of Jesus. The would include being unashamed of Jesus' sufferings and his death on a Roman cross that would precede his ‘resurrection' on the third day.  Jesus concludes by assuring them that ‘some standing there’ would see the kingdom of God before they tasted death! Not all of them, but some of his disciples there before him not die before seeing the ‘kingdom of God’ (9:26-27).

Jesus was concerned about their understanding of his identity and role in God’s kingdom purpose. Jesus had a sense of his unique identity when at 12 years old he was at the temple with the Jewish elders. His ‘Messianic identity’ was later confirmed by the voice from heaven at his baptism. But, he didn’t go around saying, ‘I’m the Messiah’. His role as Messiah was so different from common expectations that even John the Baptist was confused about Jesus. Jesus needed time to impart the true messianic role and the meaning of his life to his chosen disciples would would carry his message. 

Now, to Herod and to the crowds Jesus was a prophet, whose miracles far exceeded any other prophet. To them Jesus was a prophet somewhere on the continuum from Elijah to John the Baptist and had likely come back from death. Some said he was Elijah, who according to Malachi 4:5 would return before ‘the great and terrible day of the Lord’. Either way, Jesus would usher in some great act of God to radically alter Israelite society and overthrown the rule of Herod and the Romans.  Furthermore, Jesus was proclaiming God’s kingdom would come in dramatic way in his own near future.

Jesus was very different than his disciples’ expectations, but they did recognize him as the Messiah. Not only had Jesus manifested his authority and power over everything seen and unseen, but he had even enabled his disciples to experience that power working through them. This was a revolutionary taste of the sovereign rule of God that Jesus was bringing about. Jesus tells the twelve of his pending death, and that they must be prepared to face their own humiliating demise as well. This wouldn't have confused the twelve and wouldn't seem to them to be 'good news'. When God’s kingdom breaks into the present they were not to seek to save their own lives, but be prepared to lose their lives. 

Jesus had asked who they thought he was and as soon as they acknowledge him to be the Messiah he tells them of the necessity of his death. Jesus then challenged them to consider that following him would be an all or nothing proposition. These were such surprising truths that Jesus made them known to his disciples in the context of prayer!