Editor’s note: This is a transcript of an audio talk that has been lightly edited by Claude AI. Spelling has been corrected, paragraphs and sentences have been added for readability, and banter or informal interjections have been marked as such. The spoken, conversational character of the original has been preserved throughout.

Morning Devotion 5 — Luke 9:18–22

Isn’t it wonderful to be able to open God’s word in your own language and have the Holy Spirit minister His truth to your heart? And isn’t it so true that the Bible is unlike any other book? We were in bed last night reading another book, and oh, it was so disappointing. We meditated on how rich the word of God is compared to all other books.

All right, but here we are. We’re in Luke chapter 9, dealing with verses 18 to 22. Now, this passage is apparently not necessarily in sequence, so Luke skips ahead — way ahead — to another incident. In the other Gospels it appears in a different order. But of course we know, we’ve already acknowledged, that Luke is a master narrative weaver. He weaves accounts in and out, which is wonderful, and which is a true expression of who he was.

But it is also a sign of — it is a note as to — how the predestination of God works. It is never against the will of those who are predestined, which is everyone. It is always in terms of their will. God’s predestination is not a tyranny over us, but a divine ordination, which is the very foundation of our freedom.

”And It Came to Pass”

Anyway, and it happened — again, a pretty dramatic phrase. What is it in the King James?

[Banter: Probably the same.]

And it came to pass. And it came to pass. So what does this add? What information does this add to the story? Well, it doesn’t add really much, does it? It’s an introduction, a preface — it sets the scene.

But it’s interesting that this phrase, and it came to pass / and it happened, is just as inspired as any other word, jot, or tittle of scripture. And so it is the very literary forms that are here established as part of the canon. And so, again, we say that it is a glorious thing to write in a manner that is artful and skillful, and that is an expression of oneself. Luke was obviously a considered thinker. He wrote Acts, of course, but this Gospel was an expression of his sanctified self, as it were. It is glorious to work, as Luke did, on crafting your words. So be encouraged, you writers and you presenters out there.

Jesus Praying Alone

And it happened as He was alone praying.

Now it is interesting that Luke, as opposed to the other Gospel writers — they all emphasise slightly different things. I read the testimony of one man, Otto Scott, who, as a newspaper man, said that one of the things that really brought home to him the reality and the truth of the Christian religion was that in these founding documents — these so important documents, the Gospels — no two accounts, and there were sometimes three or four accounts of the same thing, were exactly the same. And you might say, well, that’s very strange.

But is it? Because if you have one account that is the same as another account, they have probably swapped notes and worked over their story so that it harmonises. Whereas it is perfectly natural to have a differing account — it is just human nature. Cast your mind back to September the 11th. How many differing accounts do we have of just the events of that day? And yet we have thousands of witnesses and many time-stamped bits of evidence.

What is distinctive in Luke’s case is that he records Jesus praying seven times — which is interesting, because of course numbers in scripture aren’t just numbers. Everything in the biblical worldview — not just the Bible, but in the Christian religion — is bound up with meaning. It is just inseparable. Everything has meaning. And the number seven has a particular meaning imbued by God and reflected in scripture: it is a number of fullness, along with ten, I believe — the number of days in a complete week. So we find that Jesus prayed seven times as recorded in Luke. Again, an evidence of Luke’s artistry.

But isn’t this something we should imitate in Christ? He was praying. How was He praying? He was praying alone. This was a mark of Christ. The different Gospel writers do not give the same account of Christ — they differ in his words, his actions, and the order in which things may have taken place. But He did pray, and He prayed fully — from the number seven, He prayed in a full and fulsome way.

And He prayed alone.

So imitate Christ here as elsewhere: imitate Christ in praying alone. Now obviously He was not praying all the time, and people try to be wooden — especially in their mockery of Christ and in the mockery of God’s word, they are wooden.

[Banter: “Pray always. Oh yes, Jesus says pray always. You’re not praying right now — you’re talking to me. Therefore you’re not a good Christian. The Bible is ridiculous.” Well, of course, that’s childish to the nth degree.]

But we must obey Christ here and imitate His pattern. There is, of course, a time for communal prayer and prayer meetings. But when He had something important to do — here, this is one of the occasions He prayed before choosing His disciples, before electing them to the office of disciple — this tells us that He prayed at a time of great moment.

So we should find ourselves in prayer, alone with God, at these important moments, facing important problems. If we are faced with some big decision, we should spend time alone with God. Of course, that should not be the only time we are doing so, but certainly let us imitate Christ in this aspect.

Life is full of change, and one day is never really like another day. So observe the rhythm of the day. Do you feel a need? Well, as a friend of mine once said, “The God of the universe wants to talk to you.” That was her reference to scripture reading, and it is equally apt for prayer. I need to talk to the God of the universe. So be aware of where you are in the rhythm of life. Are you facing something important? Are you weighed down? Note that, take that time, and pray — alone.

And of course, this was not just a rote thing for Jesus. It observed the rhythm of His life — something important was coming. And if the Christ of God, as Peter confesses Him to be, needed that prayer alone with His Heavenly Father, then surely we do too, and to a much greater degree. So let us again imitate Christ in His humanity.

The Rabbinic Method: Asking Questions

And it happened as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him.

Okay, very normal scene. Where were they before? Who knows?

[Banter: They were away down to the chip shop. They came back. I don’t know.]

And He asked them. So again, we imitate Christ and we consider His words — every word is inspired, every word has its importance. What is He doing here? These are His disciples, and He is using the rabbinic method — let’s call it the Jesus method — of not simply lecturing. That’s the way of the world. No, in His wisdom, the Messiah method is to ask questions in order to teach.

Again and again throughout these narratives, He is putting the responsibility onto them. He has just sent them out, they have come back, and then He says, “You feed them.” And what is the act of asking questions? It is saying, “I am treating you as an adult — indeed, as someone in need of training — and I will put upon you the responsibility of learning.”

So let’s turn that around. If there is never any questioning in your educational setting — and there are twelve disciples here, maybe more — then if you are not being asked questions, if you are not being put on the spot, you are being inculcated into irresponsibility, where the minister, the pastor, the elder, is the one who is responsible and you are not. Then attendance becomes the main thing, whereas that was never the focus with Jesus. He was peripatetic. He walked around the place. There was no building.

[Banter: Jesus never built a building. That’s not to say we should never build buildings — I’m a fan of buildings, they keep the rain out and the heat in — but in this time of growth there was no building.]

At any rate, He puts the responsibility onto them. And in Christian teaching, should it not be the same? If whoever is teaching is not putting that emphasis on you, then consider: asking questions involves risk — there’s an expectation that you’ll get something out of what the students put in. But you are leaning the responsibility onto that person. This is why our schools are so counter-educational, and our churches too — because what they teach is gross passivity. But Jesus, no — He puts the responsibility where it should be, and good teachers do this. You get what you expect.

Who Do the Crowds Say That I Am?

And He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

He is not only asking a question, but it is a skillful question. He does not begin by asking the harder question straight away. He works towards the question that he wants to ask. So, imitating Christ again, let us in our teaching become skillful question-askers.

He has obviously mapped this process out in His human mind. He wants to catalyse their thinking — it is like adding a starter batch to yogurt or kefir.

[Banter: He’s looking to add that something which will work over time and fundamentally change their outlook. What kefir is, is a living, growing organism, and yogurt that has not been denatured is the same. He’s putting these little drops of starter — this scoby, as it were — for, what drink uses scoby?]

[Interjection: Kombucha.]

[Banter: That’s it. Thank you. It is something living, whereas is it not something denatured just to listen, listen, listen? And there is a little bit of risk with adding a starter. If you leave your kefir too long, it can become a little bit alcoholic. Confession time. Oops.]

So there is risk. What if they say the wrong thing? Guess what? They will say the wrong thing. But that risk is necessary — then the teacher can intervene and make the correction. Whereas with pure lecture, you never have that moment of truth. You can avoid the embarrassment. But when the struggles of life come along, everything is revealed. When the tide goes out, we see who has remembered to dress accordingly.

[Banter: In life, the tide goes out.]

So in his divine nature, He of course knew the answer He was going to get. But as we imitate Him in His human nature, we do not know what we are going to get.

“Who do the crowds say that I am?” — and this is a tutorial setting, with a number of people all at once. We have the edited account, no doubt: the top answers.

They answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah, and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

So survey says: John the Baptist. Interesting. John the Baptist was dead, and yet they were willing to accept that he had risen again, because these people were not naive. News travelled. They would have heard that he had been killed by Herod, who figures in previous narratives.

Survey says: Elijah. This is a deeper cut. These are people who know their scriptures and know the promise of

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” — Malachi 4:5

And: one of the old prophets risen again. So it is interesting that in each of these three answers, resurrection is baked in. Because John the Baptist was dead — now he is alive. Elijah was…

[Banter: Elijah was translated. Oh, deep, deep, deep cut. But there’s some kind of — yeah, okay. I hadn’t thought of that.]

So these people believed in the resurrection. They were not modernists. They were not Sadducees.

[Banter: Remember, that was the point of controversy that Paul exploited at one stage between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Why are the Sadducees called the Sadducees? Because they’re sad, you see. And if you don’t believe in the resurrection, you are sad.]

And of course, as St. Paul expounds in 1 Corinthians about the resurrection:

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile… If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” — 1 Corinthians 15:17, 19 (paraphrased)

So these were not out-and-out rank atheists. These were people who believed and accepted the word of God. They knew something of it. And yet how many of them turned and believed? What percentage had an orthodox belief set, but could not see the truth? None of these top answers was the answer that Peter gives on behalf of the disciples.

So we must recognise that not everybody believes the same thing, even among those who are ostensibly members of an orthodox group of believers. And somebody who has been discipled, you would hope, would believe more rather than less.

Here is a diversion, but an important one. It is almost proverbial: if you know somebody who has gone to a Bible college, they generally do not come back believing more, but believing less — if they believe at all. So if we are talking about methodology and institutions for Christian learning, we must ask: are we at all interested in knowing what Jesus’s method was?

“By their fruits you shall know them.” — Matthew 7:20 (paraphrased)

Judge a teacher by that: are those under his ministry believing more in the word of God, or are they being shaken? And if we detect we are being shaken in our orthodox belief — if someone has gone off the deep end about some esoteric teaching, for instance that the Second Coming has already happened and is merely spiritual — well, they are believing less, because scripture demands that we believe in a bodily Second Coming. To spiritualise that away is to be part of an antichrist religion that denies the incarnation.

So: is the institution or teacher you are following causing you to believe less, or believe more?

Who Do You Say That I Am?

And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

He turns and asks the personal question. Good methodology: ask about the question you want answered at one remove first, then turn it around to the person — move from general knowledge to the personal. And there is something more in this. It is not only an intellectual responsibility but a moral one. Who do you say? He is recognising that He does not just want information — He wants an expression of personal understanding and personal belief.

And are we willing to risk that? Are we willing to even countenance the question for ourselves, or do we assume we believe this or that?

It is interesting at that point to consider the nature of the Western creeds of the Church as opposed to the Eastern. The Eastern rite says, as I understand it, “We believe in God the Father…” which sounds admirable, except that you cannot confess the belief of somebody else. You cannot confess as a group. There is only, ultimately, personal belief. Otherwise the person melts into the group and all responsibility is lost — “I don’t believe a word of it myself, but we believe.” This is what the Western Church, Protestant and Catholic alike, emphasises through the words of the Apostles’ Creed: I believe.

But let us ask ourselves the question — not to deconstruct our faith, but to test it. If Jesus used the question, so should we. Who do you say that He is? This is the litmus test of our faith. If we believe that Jesus Christ was merely a good example, an important teacher, someone who perhaps did miraculous things — that is one thing. If we say He was a good man, even a prophet — which the Muslims emphatically do — it is simply not adequate. Even if the resurrection is vaguely baked in, as in the crowds’ answers above.

Who is Jesus to us — not just as a formal confession? In reality, are we willing to treat His words in terms consonant with the Person we confess Him to be? For if we say that He is the Messiah, the Christ of God, then we will look to Him for the answers to all our problems, material and spiritual. We will have no room for belief in any other ultimate saviour, because as the Old Testament has demonstrated again and again, even the best rulers are inadequate. And as we turn to Christ, we find the culmination of all the heroes of the faith that have come before — without the faults, and eternally so.

Peter’s Confession

Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

So we find out something about Peter there: he is something of a leader in this group. He speaks up.

Christ — Christos — is the Greek version of Messiah, meaning the anointed one. Who is anointed? A prophet is anointed, a priest is anointed, and a king is anointed. So He is the prophet, the priest, and the king. He holds a trifold office. He is the one to whom all the Bible points. He is the true Moses — He is the prophet, but also like Moses He is the king, and He is also a priest, after all He consecrates Aaron, though of course without sin and without fault. He is all the prophets summed up in Him. He is all the sacrifices ever made accomplished in Himself. He is the focal point of all history.

The Command to Silence

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one.

Isn’t that interesting? All of this was intensely true and right and absolutely beyond question — and yet He is very strict in telling them not to tell anybody. So we must consider a couple of things.

There are things that are true and right which, perhaps, have a time and a place. It is sometimes absolutely wrong to say the right thing to the wrong person at the wrong time, because it is just not the right time.

Wisdom and being a disciple of God sometimes involves biting your lip. We have the very clear injunction of scripture:

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” — Matthew 7:6

So there is that aspect certainly. But it also has to do with the nature of His ministry: they will be sent out to proclaim that very thing at one stage, but only after they receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and after they are commissioned to do so. It is a question of preparation.

Perhaps there is something that needs to be said to a culture, to the world in fact, but Jesus says, “Don’t tell this to anybody” — because it is not yet the time, or they have not yet been empowered, or commissioned. It is just not the right time. In the meantime, there is room to be growing in knowledge of God, in piety, in mortifying sin, in preparation. Everything is done in order here, at the right time.

So in your own life there may be a right time to share this truth or that truth. We cannot be selectively arbitrary with the application of truth, but let us consider that this very orthodox and true and right statement — that the people needed to hear — was absolutely forbidden for them to communicate at that moment. So again, let us ask the Lord for wisdom in our own circumstances to relate and relay the truth of God.

The Son of Man Must Suffer

“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.”

Going back to the resurrection of the dead, which was implicit in the crowd’s description of who He was — that truth was to be reserved until there was a sign to accompany it, to authenticate it. He wants the true word to be accompanied by the mark of history upon it. And history is integral — it has to be. This is real history we are dealing with.

The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected. Rejected by whom?

By the elders. The comparison with Moses is there: Moses, as he begins his ministry, is accepted first of all by the elders of Israel unanimously, without question, after being given the sign of the staff into the serpent. But Christ is rejected by the elders of Israel at His trial. Who are the elders? The civil elders. And so we consider ourselves in relation to the Son of Man. If we are rejected by the civil authorities, very well — this is what happened to our Master.

By the chief priests. These are the top brass of the established religious institutions. Interestingly, there was a plurality of chief priests at that time, because of a Roman rule to help dilute the power of the office. So if we are opposed by not only the civil rulers but by the rulers of the church — as one man once said, this should not surprise us. If we imitate Christ, we are going to face trouble from the civil realm and trouble from the ecclesiastical realm that is not faithful to Him.

By the scribes. These are the intellectuals — the people around the courts of power. On the civil side, the university men, the professors. On the ecclesiastical side, those with intellectual influence over the churches. And what do we find? This is a necessary alliance. There will always be these civil elders, this plurality of men who lead the country. There will always be these chief priest figures — some sacerdotal element is just necessary. In a so-called secular age, they won’t be called priests. They’ll deny being priests. But the priests of our age are many, and they include the established organs of the state schools and so on. And then the scribes — the intellectual classes. We find Daniel confronting the scribes. We find scribes of a sort confronting Moses in his liberation attempts.

All right, so if we are opposed by these groups while being faithful to God, then we say: I am imitating my Lord.

And be killed. What is the worst that can happen? You can be killed. That is something we are being confronted with as a necessary aspect of life in Christ. These groups, together, have one plan: they misuse the power of the state, the sword given to the state, and they kill anything that threatens them. We saw this with Herod, who had already killed John the Baptist. And there was a popular expectation that he might even be resurrected — interesting, and that was indeed the number-one popular belief about Jesus, that He was John the Baptist come back to life.

All right, this is their game plan. And of course they do not start with killing. They start with opposition — some kind of persecution, the use of lawfare. We discussed another day the lawfare of King Ahab, who was a civil ruler, together with his wife and corrupt judges and corrupt witnesses, who ended up killing the righteous man Naboth.

So, is that the end of the story? For many people it is, because all they see is the persecution. But the sentence does not end with “and be killed” — it ends with “and be raised the third day.”

We cannot imitate Christ in that, but what we can expect is this: if we give our lives over to the Lord and His cause, and are faithful unto death — after all, that is what is ultimately required of us as we enter and continue in the Christian faith — in that faithfulness, we have victory. It was for Christ’s faithfulness in His mission that He was killed, but we follow a resurrected Lord. We have a resurrection faith.

Abram gave over his son Isaac to death, and in figure received him back — by faith. He knew that the Lord would give him back, given the promises he had received.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac… He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” — Hebrews 11:17, 19

And so too, we must believe that any persecution that might happen — even death itself — is very far from being the end.

We should be absolutely unsurprised when we see chief priests, civil rulers, and the intellectual classes working together to oppose the genuine work of Christ. But if all we have is that view, we have only bitter cynicism — “Oh, typical, not this again.” If, however, we do have the resurrection hope — which is a hope of victory — then that bitterness will be turned into hope. In the meantime, we may be required to suffer many things. But there we have it: Christ was getting to the nub of things.

It is interesting also that in His providence He prepares His disciples for what would happen — giving them the word before the events came. This is why we should meditate on the word of God and on what God highlights to us, before the time of testing comes, in order to encourage ourselves.

[Banter: And I may just stop briefly for questions here. And yeah.]

Scriptures Referenced

ReferenceContext
Luke 9:18–22The passage under study throughout
Malachi 4:5The promise of Elijah as forerunner, cited in connection with popular belief that Jesus was Elijah
1 Corinthians 15:17, 19Paul on the resurrection; if Christ is not raised, faith is futile and we are to be pitied
Matthew 7:20”By their fruits you shall know them” — applied to evaluating teachers and institutions
Matthew 7:6”Do not cast your pearls before swine” — on the wisdom of timing when speaking truth
Hebrews 11:17, 19Abraham offering Isaac and receiving him back in figure; applied to resurrection faith
ActsReferenced as Luke’s other major work
Apostles’ Creed”I believe” (Latin credo) — contrasted with Eastern “we believe” on personal confession of faith