The Gospel of Luke (34): Peter’s Confession of Faith 07/30/2023

Pastor Jason will come and read for us today Romans 6. Now in Romans 5, we, of course, read about our justification by God's grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

And now in Romans 6, Paul is beginning to set forth how we should live in the light of that truth.

And he points to the time when we were converted, and he expresses the matter of baptism as a signal turning point from our former way of life to a new life in Christ.

And in Romans 6, Paul emphasizes the importance of our true identity.

You are now to identify yourself not with your sin, your former way of living, but your new life in Christ.

Reckon yourself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto Christ. And what Paul is doing is setting the stage in Romans 6 for his treatment of the believer's sanctification, which begins to be set forth in chapter 7 and 8.

Pastor Jason, thank you. Romans 6, what shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who die to sin still live in it?

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the

Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him.

For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey its passions.

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under the law but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means.

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin which leads to death or of obedience which leads to righteousness.

But thanks be to God that though you were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.

And having been set free from sin, having become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.

For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?

For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

Lord. Let's pray. Lord God, we do thank you for the encouragement of this passage.

It is no longer our sin that defines us, but you define us. Lord, we are your children, we belong to you.

And we are your slaves. And we pray Lord that in our lives, our lives would reflect that, our actions would reflect that, our thinking would reflect that.

We belong to you and we must pursue righteousness in the power of the

Spirit. We must pursue obedience in the power of the Spirit. We must live our lives according to the standard that you have set.

And Lord, we thank you that you have equipped us and helped us to do this very thing. And now

Lord, as we continue our worship, we pray that as Lars preaches your word, we just pray

Lord that the word would go forth and that it would hit us right where it needs to hit us, that we would understand and have more clarity about who you are, what you've done, and what we need to do in light of this truth.

So we pray that you would bless the preaching of the word and we pray Lord that we would receive it and that we would live it out.

Thank you Lord, in Jesus name, amen. Well, let's turn to Luke nine once again.

We're at a very important passage in Luke's account of Jesus Christ and his disciples.

I have to admit a little bit of frustration here because the passage that I would have liked to have treated would have taken about two hours.

Luke 9, 18 through verse 27, but obviously that's not possible.

And so I had to divide it up and today we'll address verses 18 through 22.

It really, however, sets the stage for what we'll be addressing next time. And that's what it is and how we're to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

And so this is a very important passage. Here our Lord elicits from the 12, a confession of his identity as the promised

Messiah of Israel. This is another point of emphasis in this portion of Luke's gospel.

We mentioned this last week that the point of emphasis is our Lord is training his 12, training his disciples.

There is an emphasis, a focus on this training directly with those who would perform ministry after his departure, particularly the 12 apostles.

Now here in Luke 9, our Lord's ministry in Galilee was nearly completed. It would be perhaps three years of ministry between Luke chapter three and here in Luke chapter nine.

And before long they would begin their final journey to Jerusalem where Jesus of course would suffer and die and be raised from the dead.

And really it's at Luke 9, 51 where that transition takes place.

He sets his face to go to Jerusalem. And so this is really a concluding of the first major section of Luke's gospel here in Luke chapter nine.

Of course, his death and resurrection at Jerusalem are the major purpose and accomplishment of Jesus, the promised

Messiah. And so here the Lord Jesus was instructing his disciples in advance of what awaited him and them.

And so here is Luke 9, 18 through 22. And it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him and he asked them saying, who do the crowds say that I am?

So they answered and said, John the Baptist. But some say Elijah and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.

He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, the

Christ of God. And he strictly warned and commended them to tell this to no one saying, 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.

Now, these words in these verses are preparatory for a major setting forth of the nature of discipleship to Jesus Christ and his suffering and dying in Jerusalem were not only the experience that Jesus himself would encounter, but it was a model for the nature of life for all his disciples following him.

And that's very critically important. And again, we'll emphasize that next time.

We might read the verses however, right now to help us to maintain the full context.

And so here are the verses immediately following those that we read, verse 23 to 27.

And then he, Jesus said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily.

And follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains a whole world and is himself destroyed or lost?

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, the son of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his father's and of the holy angels.

But I tell you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.

So our passage is preliminary and preparatory to these practical words of instruction that are found in verses 23 through 27.

How we're to live as Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ, ordering our lives and following him.

But again, we'll have to address these words next time. But for our study today, we'll look at verses 18 through 22, which is really the foundation of his following instruction.

And so in looking at these few verses, verses 18 through 22, we'll consider this outline.

We have first Christ described in private prayer, verse 18a, then

Christ in public opinion. Yes, his disciples, who do the crowds say

I am? Thirdly, Christ in apostolic confession, who do you say I am? And then fourthly, we have

Christ's apostolic instruction. Basically, don't tell anybody about this. And so let's work through these verses.

First Christ in private prayer, Luke 9, 18, verse eight. We read, and it happened as he was alone praying in the garden that his disciples joined him.

This account of Luke immediately follows his record of the miracle story of Jesus feeding the 5 ,000.

That's what we addressed last Lord's Day. Now, if we were to turn to the parallel accounts in the other two synoptic gospels of Matthew and Mark, and if they were to be regarded as chronological records, we would discover that other events took place.

Between the miracle of feeding the 5 ,000 and the confession voiced by Peter that Jesus was the promised

Messiah. Luke bridges that gap, but you look at Matthew and Mark, and there were a number of things that occurred.

Let's just consider these details. In Matthew and Mark's gospels, from the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5 ,000 to the confession of Peter, several events transpire that are not recorded by Luke.

After Jesus had fed the 5 ,000, we read that Jesus had immediately sent his disciples away in a boat on the

Sea of Galilee, while he had gone up to the mountain to pray by himself.

A storm arose, threatening the lives of his disciples in their boat, but then Jesus came to them, walking on the water in order to rescue them.

Luke doesn't recount that episode. We then read of Jesus the next day, healing many people, at which time he was challenged by the

Jewish religious leaders regarding his disciples' failure to observe the customary Jewish traditions.

Jesus responded to them by accusing them of setting aside the authoritative word of God in order to keep their human traditions.

Matthew and Mark next recorded Jesus healing the daughter of a Gentile woman, Syrophoenician woman.

And then our Lord spent another day healing many people that came to him. And after this, we read of Jesus duplicating the miracle of feeding the multitudes, this time, however, feeding 4 ,000 rather than 5 ,000.

And it was after this event, Jesus again engages in conflict with the Jewish leaders. Matthew and Mark then record

Jesus traveling with his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, a beautiful region in northern

Galilee. My son -in -law, Darren, and I were able to visit there.

There's a grotto there, kind of the water, the river actually comes out of the mountain.

It's been underground for many, many miles. It comes out, there's a grotto there, and then a really beautiful stream.

And I remember when we were there, there were some school groups that were there, young elementary school children, and it was quite significant that the teachers were carrying machine guns with them to protect their children.

It's quite remarkable. But that grotto was actually used throughout many centuries as a pagan worship site by the pagans and even by the

Greeks and the Romans. And it was here in Caesarea Philippi that the

Lord Jesus drew this confession from his apostles that he was indeed the

Messiah. Well, it's here then that, of course, we have the confession according to Matthew and Mark.

And so we see that at least several days had transpired between the event of Jesus feeding the 5 ,000 and the confession of Peter that Jesus was the

Christ. But the Holy Spirit led Luke not to include the details of all those events in his gospel.

And so the gospel, of course, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the writers penned what he would have them pen for his own purposes in setting forth the story of Christ.

But notice how Luke, in his narrative, ties the event of Jesus praying alone with the flow of this story.

We read last week that after the apostles had returned from their short -term mission trip, that our

Lord desired to travel to a place to be alone with them in order to pray. Recall that?

Luke 9, verses 10 and 11. And the apostles, when they had returned, told him all that they had done.

And then he took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city of Bethsaida, called

Bethsaida. And so at that time, Jesus wanted to be alone with his apostles so that he could speak with them, probably about their short -term mission, but also to pray for them and with them.

But of course, we considered last week how the crowds prevented him from doing so. The crowds prevented him from retiring to a private place.

And so we read in Luke 9, 11, but when the multitudes knew it, they followed him, and he received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who had need of healing.

But after our Lord had taught the multitude and we had read of Jesus feeding the 5 ,000 through the apostles' distribution, it's then we read the passage before us today.

And it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him. You see how

Luke tied these two episodes together, even though in the other gospels, we see a number of different events lying between them.

Earlier, the crowds had prevented Jesus from being alone, but after he had taught them and fed them and sent them away, then we read that he was alone praying.

In other words, his earlier desire to be alone with the disciples had been delayed for a time, but here we see that desire had come to be realized.

Jesus is now alone with his disciples. Of course, our

Lord was often in prayer. Back in Luke 5, 16, we read, so he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

There's an emphasis of prayer in the Gospel of Luke. And then in Luke 6, verse 12, we read, now it came to pass in those days that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

And later in the chapter we're considering, here in Luke chapter nine, Jesus will again depart from most of his disciples in order to pray the

Mount of Transfiguration. Luke 9, 28 reads, now it came to pass about eight days after these things, he took

Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. Luke emphasizes prayer, and particularly the prayer of Jesus.

Now, Jesus prayed, of course, in order to have and enjoy communion with his father. But he also had prayed to his father for wisdom and direction in his ministry.

Even though he is, of course, eternal God, the son of God, he assumed our human nature.

And in his incarnation, he trusted God, his father, he trusted the Holy Spirit to inform his human nature as to the nature of his mission, how he should proceed.

And he was probably praying to the father to give him wisdom and direction. He spent the night in prayer before selecting 12 of his disciples that they would become his apostles back in Luke chapter six, verse 12.

We can also surmise that Jesus was principally praying what Jesus was praying about on this occasion.

In Matthew's account of Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, Jesus responded to him, blessed are you,

Simon, Barjona, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

We can probably assume that the father had answered the prayer of his son, offered the previous night.

Perhaps our Lord had prayed, Father, please reveal to my disciples my true and full identity and help me instruct them as to the implications of how they should think and live as my disciples.

The Lord Jesus always prayed in advance of what he said and what he did, as we should.

Richard Lenski wrote, the importance of what Jesus now does with his disciples appears from the fact that he prays before he proceeds.

We may be sure that he prayed for his disciples that their faith and their confession might be true.

And so the confession of Peter and the other apostles we read here, chapter nine was probably the result outworking and the answer of God the father to the prayer of his son the previous night.

Well, may the Lord move each of us to go aside privately into a deserted place to pray following his example.

May we take delight in communing with our savior and with our father in heaven. And may we also pray for wisdom in daily decisions we make with view to the daily interactions that we have with family and friends or strangers.

And when you pray, please pray for our church family, for me, for the other elders that we may be prepared and equipped to face and address what the

Lord may be bringing us to encounter and experience. No telling what's coming down. Pray that he will enable us to be wise and faithful to him and to his people.

Well, after Christ in prayer, we read Christ in public opinion. And so our

Lord first asked his disciples what the multitudes of people believe respecting his identity. And it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him and he asked them saying, who do the crowd say that I am?

So they answered and said John the Baptist, but some say Elijah. Others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.

In Matthew's account, the recorded speech of Jesus is slightly different. There, Jesus asked the question, who do people say the son of man is?

Luke didn't express it that way. The Lord commonly referred to himself as the son of man.

And although he did not do so here in Luke's rehearsing of this conversation, Luke recorded our

Lord's use of this self designation elsewhere. In fact, here in Luke chapter nine, we see it used four times.

Luke 9 22, the son of man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes be killed and be raised the third day.

Jesus again in Luke 9 26, for whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, the son of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his father's and of the holy angels.

And then verse 44, that these words sink down into your ears for the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.

And then the last instance is verse 58. Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

And so even though Matthew recorded, who do the people say the son of man is?

Luke doesn't use that expression. He uses that expression a number of times here in this chapter, nevertheless.

Now in the past, we had explained the meaning of this term, the son of man, but it would do as well to do so once again.

Because of course, it's most popular, it's most common to say that the son of man is a reference to Jesus's humanity, just as the expression son of God is a reference to Jesus's deity.

But this is not accurate. This is not what the scriptures teach. Jesus did not tell people that he was the son of man to convince people of his humanity.

Everyone knew that he was a man. That was not necessary. Rather, the term son of man was our

Lord's self -designation of himself as the Christ, the Messiah. In fact, only he himself used the expression son of man in reference to himself.

It speaks of his messianic identity. But it was a term relatively unfamiliar to the

Jewish people to whom he ministered. Granted, it's used repeatedly in the book of Ezekiel. It's used once in Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14, from which the meaning of son of man in the gospels is probably derived from.

But no other person other than Jesus himself used this expression of him. Jesus did not claim openly that he was the

Christ or the Messiah, for there was great misunderstanding about the coming of the Messiah and what he would do.

Jesus did not declare himself to be the Messiah during his earthly ministry, lest he be cast by his own followers in a role which was contrary to the true purpose of God.

Rather, Jesus went about referring to himself as the son of man, thereby avoiding misconceptions.

By referring to himself as the son of man, he was able to disclose himself and the true nature of his work as the

Messiah to his disciples over the course of his ministry. But here in Luke 9, it was now time for Jesus to draw from his disciples their understanding of the nature of his person and ministry.

And therefore, first he asked his disciples, who do the people say the son of man is?

And Matthew recorded his question, whereas here in Luke 9, 18, who do the crowd say that I am?

The disciples answered Jesus in verse 19. So they answered and said, John the Baptist, but some say

Elijah and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again. It would seem that many of the

Jews had believed in some form of reincarnation, which is strange and bizarre when you think about it.

They believed that the spirits of notable people who had lived in the past could reappear or live again in history embodied in other people.

How the person of John the Baptist who had only been dead a matter of months, who lived at the same time as Jesus could be seen as reincarnated in Jesus is really defies logic and understanding, doesn't it?

But it is though the Jews believe the soul of a dead person could possess or animate another human being, much like the personality of a demon could possess the body of a human being.

This belief is nowhere taught as true in the Holy Scriptures, but it was a common belief among many

Jews. Some thought that Jesus was Elijah. Of course, many thought that Elijah would appear before or at the coming of the

Messiah. The last prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures declared forthrightly in the last words of the

Old Testament that Elijah would come. Malachi 4, verse five and six read, behold,

I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

And he will turn the heart to the father, to the children, heart to the children, to the fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

And there are those Christians today, many, in fact, it's probably a majority of evangelicals who would style themselves as literalists in their interpretation of Scripture who teach that the prophet

Elijah will indeed appear before the second coming of Christ. But the

Scriptures show that Jesus Christ himself taught that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy of Malachi.

We read of this in Matthew's Gospel. As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, what did you go out in the wilderness to see, a reed shaken by the wind?

What did you go out to see, a man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses.

What did you go out to see, a prophet? Yes, I say to you, more than a prophet. How was

John Baptist more than a prophet? Because he was prophesied to come. For this is he of whom it is written, behold,

I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. And then

Jesus solidified the matter. Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women, there is not risen one greater than John the

Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the

Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent taken by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, if you're willing to receive it.

He is Elijah who is to come. And there's a lot of people still not willing to receive it. But this is what

Jesus taught. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. John the

Baptist had come in the spirit and garb of Elijah, proclaiming boldly the judgment of God, the need to repent of sin for the kingdom of God was at hand.

The disciples also said to Jesus, you know, who do the crowds say I am? Others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.

Interestingly, Matthew's account of this conversation has the disciples giving the name of one of the dead prophets that some people had thought was animating

Jesus of Nazareth. Matthew 16, 16 reads, so they said, some say John the Baptist, some

Elijah and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Luke didn't include that.

Well, now let's consider Christ in the apostolic confession. After the disciples answered our

Lord's question of what the people had said, what the people thought regarding his identity, he then asked them what they believed to be true.

He said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, the Christ of God.

Our Lord posed this question to all of his disciples present with him, not just Peter. And Peter answered on behalf of the 12, by the way.

It's clear he asked all his disciples this question from the plural pronoun used in the

Greek text. But who do you, and it's a plural, not singular you, as you as an individual, you collectively, who do you say that I am?

And one wrote of this, this is the main question with its emphasis on who mace, that's the Greek word, plural pronoun for you, over against hoi akloi, that's a definite article with the

Greek word for the crowds. Jesus is asking for an open confession from his disciples.

With legate, this was a Richard Lenski, and his commentary on Luke is quite good, but he gives a great deal of emphasis on the

Greek words, terms, and verbs, and so he uses the Greek words in his commentary.

With legate, in other words, the Greek word for you say, he asked for a confession of the lips, but of course, only as a true expression of their heart's conviction.

Any other confession is falsehood. Jesus could see the heart, we cannot, must accept the confession of the lips.

Our only aid is the conduct, the acts of the individual, the practice of a congregation or of a church body.

This too is a confession, and should harmonize fully with the confession of the lips. When it clashes with that, the confession of deeds is the real confession by which we must judge.

Deeds and practice always speak louder and more weighty than words. Amen, Lenski.

I thought that was a good word that I would relate to us. There are many opinions of people today regarding the identity of Jesus.

Some say he was a good man only, such as the Unitarians across the parking lot. Some say he was a prophet only, as Muslims.

Some say that he was a son of God, a creature of God, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.

What is important, however, is not who others say that Jesus is. With regard to your soul, it matters not what

I say or what your parents say, but what do you say? Jesus asked his 12, who do you say

I am? And we might pose to you as an individual, who do you say Jesus is?

It's all important how you answer that. Can you say with confidence and conviction, Jesus is the

Christ, the son of the living God? Your eternal destiny hinges on whether or not you answer the question in faith and conviction.

I believe that Jesus, the Christ, is the son of the living God. It's a confession of every true

Christian. Christ, of course, is the Greek word for, the

Hebrew word, Messiah. Greek word in the

New Testament, Christos. It literally means the anointed one, the Messiah, as a specific title of the coming savior, did not emerge until rather late in Israel's history.

It was regarded as a position, a role, rather than a title or an individual person.

Even in the New Testament, it's often a title, Jesus the

Christ, and then over time, took a few decades, but it came to be, of course, an appellation, a name of Jesus, Jesus Christ.

Through most of Israel's history, there was little clear anticipation of a coming savior.

Now, it's true. You and I see the need of a savior throughout the Old Testament, and all of scripture points to the need and the promise of the need of the coming

Christ, the savior. Clearly from Genesis 3 .15, the Protoevangelium, the first gospel, throughout the

Old Testament, that sets forth the promise of the coming savior, but the people living during Old Testament times did not seem to have this hope as central to their thinking.

Early in their history, before the period of the kings, when they saw their need for specific instances of divine intervention against their enemies, they'd cry out to God, and he would send them a deliverer in the form of a judge, a savior.

Later, Israel demanded and was given kings, and every descendant of David was viewed as a deliverer, an anointed of the

Lord. The rule of David and his son Solomon were the glory years of the kingdom, and after Solomon, there were years of decline, defeat, oppression by enemies, but with the birth of each succeeding heir of the throne, the son of David, the people's hopes were raised that God, through him, would bring

Israel to her former glory, but this, of course, never occurred. The prophets, as well as other writers of the

Old Testament declared why this was so, because of their own sin, because the people of Israel had violated their covenant, because they had repeatedly broken

God's laws, it was not merely a problem of their enemies being against them, but that God himself was against them.

That was the problem. It wasn't Babylon or Assyria, it was God. Although God had dealt with them mercifully and graciously, warning them repeatedly as to the consequences of their sin, we read that throughout

Amos, they persisted in their rebellious actions, they broke their covenant, and so the curse of God had come upon them, they were utterly destroyed and taken into captivity to Babylon, Assyrian Babylon.

And so what gradually began to emerge in the thinking of the people was that they were not merely in need of a savior to deliver them from their enemies, their physical enemies, but they were in need of a deliverer, a savior, who would save them from themselves, from sin and its domination.

They needed the Messiah who would save them from God's great wrath that was upon them. Until God sent the

Christ, there would not be, could not be peace, joy, and righteousness before God. God himself would have to save them from their sins.

And so God would have to send a savior who could alone affect their deliverance, deliverance on their behalf, hence the rise of the messianic hope.

And so it grew and it crystallized, particularly after the exile, the return of the

Jewish remnant to the land. God would send his servant, God would anoint him or call and commission him for the task of saving his people.

And when Peter confessed on behalf of the apostles, you are the Christ of God, they were confessing their confidence that Jesus was the anointed one sent from God to save them from their sins.

Matthew records Peter also confessing that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God. Luke doesn't record the words that way.

In Matthew's account, Peter was confessing his understanding that Jesus is the eternally begotten son of God who had become incarnate.

Jesus Christ is God's eternal son had taken upon himself our human nature. Peter confesses

Jesus to be the promised king who is also God himself. Even the son of God, Peter confesses the deity of our

Lord Jesus Christ, he's eternal God. Some might argue

Peter confesses that Jesus is the son of God, but not God himself. That's what a

Jehovah's Witness will tell you. But when we acknowledge Jesus to be the son of God, we must say that he is the same eternal divine essence as the father.

God the father is eternal God, God the son is eternal God of one essence.

They are one essence as well as the Holy Spirit, one

God. The unbelieving Pharisees knew that this was what Jesus himself was claiming to be.

It was a logical conclusion of Jesus's claims. Although they did not believe it, they certainly understood what

Jesus was saying about himself. John 5, 15 and following, the man, this was the blind man whom

Jesus had healed, went away and told the Jews it was Jesus that healed him. And this was why the

Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. Yes, but Jesus answered them, my father is working until now and I am working.

And this is what really got him in trouble with the leaders. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the

Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.

If Jesus is the son of God, he's equal with God the father. They are one essence.

When Peter confessed to Jesus, you are the Christ, the son of the living God, as recorded in Matthew's gospel, he was confessing the understanding and assurance of the apostles that Jesus was eternal

God who had become a man and was God dwelling among them.

They knew and believed in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, now we have

Christ's apostolic instruction, which might seem kind of strange to us.

After Peter voiced his confession on behalf of all the apostles, the Lord Jesus gave them clear and direct instruction.

He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one. Say, the son of man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

Now, notice Luke here gives a direct quotation of Jesus.

It's between quotation marks. That's significant. After the disciples confessed the true identity of Jesus as the promised

Messiah, Jesus then instructed them regarding his primary work or mission as Messiah.

He must suffer many things. He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes.

He must be killed, but he must be raised the third day. Now, here we are in Luke nine.

His three years of Galilean ministry are almost complete, but this is the first occasion that the

Lord informed his closest disciples of his certain destiny to suffer and die. Three years.

Three years. As one wrote, this dark and terrible prediction came upon the disciples evidently as something new.

It was their master's reply to their confession of faith in him. It said, in other words, you are right in your conception of me and my work.

I am the promised King Messiah, but this part of my reign will be made up of affliction and mourning and woe.

The great council of the people will reject me and I shall enter into my grand messianic kingdom through the gate of suffering and death.

But you, my own, be of good cheer. Three days after that death, I shall rise again. Now, if we read

Luke's account carefully, the location in which

Jesus would suffer these abuses is not named. Luke doesn't mention Jerusalem. Matthew recorded

Jesus' words, but did so identifying Jerusalem as the place where he would suffer, die, and be raised from the dead.

Again, here's Matthew's account. But notice there are no quotation marks here. Matthew's not actually quoting

Jesus' words. He's telling his readers what Jesus had said. Luke quoted

Jesus. Matthew related what Jesus had said. You see the difference?

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

And so to be precise, these are Matthew's words regarding what Jesus had said. Matthew did not place these words in quotation marks.

Luke, however, actually quotes the direct speech of our Lord. But besides, although Luke does not specifically mention

Jerusalem as the place where Jesus would suffer and die, Jerusalem is certainly implied by Luke.

Luke declared that Jesus would suffer and die at the hands of those who could only be collectively in Jerusalem.

Jesus said the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by whom? The elders, chief priests, and scribes.

Where are they? Jerusalem. Well, now that the disciples knew fully the identity of Jesus as the promised

Christ, he could speak to them of the true nature of his mission. And this was the reason for his having come, to die upon the cross in order to atone for sin.

Again, this is new for these men. You and I have been better informed than any of them from Luke one through Luke chapter nine.

We see a gradual disclosure of our Lord to these apostles.

You, of course, you and I, of course, have known these things all along. J .C.

Ryle wrote, for one thing, our Lord's prediction shows us that his death upon the cross was the voluntary act of his own free will.

He was not delivered up to Pilate and crucified because he could not help it, had no power to crush his enemies.

His death was the result of the eternal counsels of the blessed Trinity. He had undertaken to suffer for men's sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

He had engaged to bear our sins as our substitute and surety. He bore them willingly in his own person on the tree.

He saw Calvary and the cross before him all the days of his ministry. He went to them willingly, knowingly, and with full consent that he might pay our debts in his own blood.

His death was not the death of a mere weak son of man who could not escape, but the death of one who is very

God, a very God, and had undertaken to be punished in our stead. But again, we can ask the question, or attempt to answer the question, why did

Jesus strictly warn and command them to tell this to no one? Simply because no one would have understood it or believed it at this time.

Nobody anticipated the Messiah to be doing this kind of act.

Now, we can read it all over in the Old Testament. Every sacrifice offered, of course, pointed to the suffering and death of Christ.

Isaiah 53 certainly does. But had this been said openly in Galilee by the apostles, nobody would have understood it.

Nobody would have believed it. They were not prepared yet. Even the apostles didn't fully understand it until after the resurrection.

As one wrote, it's obvious that the command does not imply any repudiation of the confession.

That's not why you keep it secret. It's to be kept quiet, not because it's false, but because it's true and because its content, which is now to be delineated, is beyond the understanding of the people.

Another wrote of the reason for this secrecy about the Messiahship, though the disciples believed in the

Messiahship, they are directed not to make it known. Now, we must remember how different the

Jewish ideas of the Messiahship were from the reality presented by Christ. Even such a noble -minded man as John the

Baptist had doubted the propriety of the course Jesus took. How much more liable to mistake would the common people be if it had been blazed abroad that he was the

Messiah? It was needful, therefore, to wait till the picture was nearer completion before people were asked to look upon it.

In fact, it was only his intimates who could at such a stage realize his magnificence at all, to give the people time to form a proper opinion, to prevent them from rising into premature opposition, to allow them no valid excuse if they rejected him at last, was the purpose of his secrecy and patience.

He saw clearly that he must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain, but he would not provoke the crisis by publishing his messianic claims.

His modesty and secrecy in this matter are in striking contrast to the manners and methods of the world.

Don't tell anybody about this. In fact, the disciples themselves did not understand or accept what

Jesus told them regarding his suffering and death. Now again, interestingly,

Luke chose not to include the interchange that Peter had with Jesus. You and I are familiar with it, of course.

It's recorded again in Matthew's gospel, but not here in Luke. After Jesus revealed to his disciples he would suffer rejection and death, but then be raised,

Matthew recorded, of course, Peter's objection. Peter rejected this notion.

Matthew wrote, from that time, Jesus began to show his disciples. From that time onward, he began to teach these things.

To show his disciples he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, from the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, far be it from you,

Lord, this shall never happen to you, but he turned and said to Peter, get behind me,

Satan, you are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Luke doesn't include that. We then read of Peter's response to our

Lord's instruction. Peter took him, and Peter took him aside, began to rebuke him, saying, far be it from you,

Lord, this shall never happen to you. Here we see the natural response of someone reacting to the principles by which

God works. In his people, and works to redeem his people from the world. It reveals how natural man has a different perspective than that of God, and the scriptures, of course, reveal this everywhere.

We're all familiar with Isaiah 55, eight, and nine. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the

Lord, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts than your thoughts.

God does things in a way that we don't anticipate. Yesterday at men's group, we were talking about this, that throughout the scriptures, there's a sense of irony in God's providence.

Throughout, and there's been in the last couple of years, a few scholars that have written about the irony of the

Bible. I'd like to get a copy of one of these and read through it. We just don't understand the ways of God.

In Romans 11, Paul expresses this. Oh, the depth and riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are the judgments, how inscrutable his ways.

For who has known the mind of the Lord? Rhetorical question, meaning no one. Who has been his counselor?

No one. Who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? No one. But even though our minds are too limited to discern the ways of the

Lord, what we humanly believe is often not merely mistaken, but it's actually contrary and opposed to God's ways.

Our thoughts are not only errant, but they're also perverse. Not only did

Peter not get it right, respecting what lie ahead of Jesus, but what he proposed was in direct opposition to the will of God.

It was satanic. Peter was not simply mistaken.

What he insisted upon was what the devil would have Jesus do. We read of our

Lord's response. He turned, said to Peter, "'Get behind me, Satan, you're a hindrance to me.

"'For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, "'but on the things of man.'" Well, how the mighty have fallen.

Here is Peter the rock. Okay, the Greek word for Peter, petros, who had moments before been greatly commended by our

Lord as blessed to the Father for having been given clear understanding as to the identity of Jesus' person, but he's so wrong in what he thought ought to happen.

Peter the rock had become Peter the stumbling stone, but our

Lord rebuked the devil in Peter, who was the author of Peter's assertion, "'It will never happen that you will die in Jerusalem.'"

Peter was not only failing to further the kingdom by his word, Jesus said, "'You're a hindrance to me.'"

Peter was thinking as a man thinks, not as God thinks. The two are different as night and day, but Peter had not a clue that he was so errant in his thinking.

Matthew Henry wrote, "'So far must they be from thinking "'how to prevent his sufferings, "'that they must rather prepare for their own.'"

That's the whole point, as we'll emphasize next time. And so we see it's the will of God to have

Jesus go to Jerusalem and die. The devil knowing this, at least at this point, would have him not die.

There's a reversal, of course, by the time he gets to Jerusalem, it's the devil that is wanting him to die. The devil himself was a confused entity, wasn't he?

Christ died in Jerusalem at the hands of wicked men who had accomplished their wicked designs upon Jesus, but in doing so, they did what

God had ordained to happen. And so Peter learned his lesson well on this occasion, for after the cross and resurrection, he would say to the people of Jerusalem, "'Men of Israel, hear these words, "'Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God "'with mighty works, wonders, and signs "'that

God did through him in your midst. "'As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up "'according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

"'You crucify, killed by the hands of lawless men.'" God raised him up, losing the pegs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

And so Jesus had declared regarding himself, "'The Son of Man must suffer.'" Those today who teach and preach a so -called health and wealth doctrine, that God does not want his people to suffer difficulty or deprivation, are not only failing to instruct the people rightly, but Jesus would say to each of them, "'You are a hindrance to me, "'for you're not setting your mind on the things of God, "'but rather the things of man.'"

It's not just errant, okay? It is opposed to the way of God with his people.

As Jesus must suffer, so his disciples must also suffer. Why do you count it a strange thing?

That you suffer, when that's what we're called to do. Later, when Peter and the other apostles were threatened not to preach the name of Jesus and were persecuted for doing so, it is said of them, they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing.

They were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. The other day at this funeral, there were maybe 50 or 60 that stayed for the service.

I don't know that there was a Christian among them, certainly not by their response to me. And so as I'm standing up there preaching

Christ and the way of salvation, I know probably to a person there, they were thinking, who is this idiot standing up, you know, and standing in the cemetery, telling them that this grave is not the end of our existence.

Jesus Christ himself declared it. And I know what they're thinking. What, who is this guy, you know, that still believes these kinds of myths?

You know, but it was a great privilege to be able to stand up before people and tell them of Christ, regardless of the shame that is incurred.

After Paul was converted, the Lord was sending Ananias to Paul to restore his sight. Ananias objected, for Paul had caused so much suffering for Christians.

But the Lord said to Ananias, respecting Paul, I'll show you how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.

And Paul himself declared in several places that the suffering he experienced was what all

Christians would experience. We read of his words. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.

And if children, then heirs, heirs of God join heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him.

This is the nature of the Christian life. Now we don't live like in a place, you know, like Haiti, where Christians are, you know, suffering such deprivation just to survive day after day from the lawlessness and put food in your stomach.

No, we don't suffer like that. But, you know, there are other ways that we suffer, health issues and whatnot, difficulties in family, work and whatnot.

You know, we're called upon to suffer and remain in faith through them.

Paul wrote to the church of Philippi, I refer to you, it's been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.

We live in here in America, of course, have been spared from so much. That's taking place even now.

You read about what's happening in Northeast India, an entire state up there, I forget what it's called,

Myanmar or something like that. Not Myanmar like former

Burma, but it's a state in Northeastern India where the Hindu populace and the government, it's a

Christianized region. And I think there are like 100 churches burnt down and people are being persecuted and killed, starved, food is not being shipped into them.

It's, we suffer for his sake. And Paul said that this is what we're called to do, suffering for his sake.

And the risen Lord himself told us that suffering is before us. He said, the church at Smyrna, Revelation two, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.

Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison and you may be tested, you will have tribulation 10 days, be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

We should not think it a strange thing when we encounter suffering. You shouldn't think that you're somehow less of a

Christian because you're suffering certain things. No, God has appointed us to it.

And we're gonna see, of course, next time, the Lord takes his own passion, his arrest, trial, suffering and death as the pattern for the disciples living the

Christian life. We're to deny ourselves daily, take up his cross and follow him.

That regardless of the difficulty and trial that we're going through, we continue to believe on him.

We don't forsake our faith in him because things don't seem to be going the way we would like them to go or think that they ought to go.

But we believe regardless how it comes down. We purpose in God's grace to continue in faith unto the end for God promises salvation to overcomers, those who continue and persevere in faith.

No salvation is promised to the temporary believer, but to those who overcome, amen.

Let's pray. Father, help us, we pray, as the Lord Jesus was preparing his apostles, his disciples, our

God for the life before them. We ask that you would help prepare us, our God, for the life before us.

We don't know what's coming down, our God, what your purpose is for us, but we pray that you would help strengthen us and give us clarity of understanding the nature of your ways and will, our

God, so that we might persevere, Lord, with confidence, with faith and hope in what lies on the other side, even glory, for we pray these things, our