This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to our look together at Luke chapter 9. In many ways, Luke
chapter 9 is the fulcrum chapter of the book of Luke. The intensity of his
ministry rises in the first half of the chapter.

You're seeing that he's ending something and the journey toward Jerusalem begins
in the last half of the chapter. Instead of settling for things as they are,
Jesus lives out the Father's purpose and plan for his life and he begins to head
toward Jerusalem, head towards the cross, head towards the resurrection. As we
look at this fulcrum moment in Jesus' life, maybe you're facing one of those
fulcrum moments in life where you feel an intensity in what you're now doing and
maybe even now finishing in a sense that God has some new direction for you to
take.

Maybe even as we look at this, you'll see, you'll sense in the encouragement of
the life of Christ, an encouragement for your life, for the new direction that
God has for you. The chapter begins with intensity. You just feel it ratcheting
up, ratcheting up.

First Jesus intensifies the training of his followers. Chapter 9 verse 1, when
Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive
out all demons and to cure diseases and he sent them out to preach the kingdom
of God and to heal the sick. So they go out, apart from Jesus, on this ministry
journey because he wants them to begin to learn to serve without him.

He knows what's going to happen. He intensifies the training of his followers
and as that is happening, the power structures begin to take more notice of
Jesus. In verse 7, "Now Herod the Tetrarch heard what was going on.

" Now Herod is all confused about Jesus and John the Baptist we read in this
chapter, but to me the key is that Jesus is getting more and more notice. More
and more people know what's happening. Even though he's been serving up in
Galilee, which is in the north of Israel, most of the ministry time now, he's
gone down to Judea a time or two.

Even though he's been further away from the capital, they're beginning to notice
what's happening. The intensity continues to be ratcheted up as Jesus does an
incredible miracle. He does a miracle that 5,000 people, 5,000 men, see.

Now where there's 5,000 men, there's usually at least 5,000 women and maybe the
same number of children. So there's 15-20,000 people here who see this miracle.
In verse 12 to verse 17, "Late in the afternoon the twelve came to him and said,
'Send the crowd away so that they can go to the surrounding villages and
countryside and find food and lodging because we're in a remote place here.

' Jesus replied, 'You give them something to eat. ' They replied, 'We have only
five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.
' About 5,000 men were there.

But he said to his disciples, 'Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each. '
And the disciples did so and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the
two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and he broke them.

And he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and
they were satisfied. And the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over.

Wow! This is an awesome miracle, but it's also an awesome teaching. The people
are fed.

People are finding out more and more about the miracle of who Jesus is, but look
at how they're fed. Jesus puts the food into the hands of the disciples who put
the food into the hands of the people. Jesus is preparing them for ministry all
through this.

And then he has them pick up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces, one for each of
the disciples. They all get to see the blessing of God. They all get to see the
abundance of God.

They all get to be a part of this miracle. The intensity is rising. And then the
disciples proclaim who Jesus really is.

Now it's really getting intense. In verse 16, 'Once when Jesus was praying in
private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, 'Who do the crowds say
that I am? ' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still
others one of the prophets of long ago who has come back to life.

But what about you? ' he asked. 'Who do you say that I am?

' Peter answered, 'The Christ of God. ' Here is this moment, one of the greatest
moments in the lives of the disciples, where Jesus looks them in the eye and
says, 'Who do you think I am? ' And they realize he is the Messiah.

Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. Same word. And it means
the promised one, the one whom God is going to send to rescue his people to be
our Savior.

You are the Savior. They recognize who Jesus is. The crowds say this, but they
know who he is.

And they say it openly. This is an important moment. Now everyone recognizes
it's on the table.

You can never go back from this moment. And so now Jesus begins to point towards
the future. He tells them where all of this is going.

Right after Peter says that, in verse 21, Jesus says, first he strictly warns
them not to tell anyone. And then he says, 'The Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the
law. And he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

' And then he said to them all, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. ' When the disciples, we've done
this as a survey, so you've been able to see it as we've gone through this more
quickly. Just last week, when the disciples first began to follow Jesus, he just
said, 'Come and I'll make you a fisher of men.

' Now he's saying to them, 'You've got to deny yourself. You've got to take up
your cross. You have to follow me.

' The intensity of the commitment is becoming greater and greater and deeper and
deeper. They're realizing who Jesus really is. And once they've realized who
Jesus really is, you can't go back from that.

That means if you know who Jesus really is, that means you've got to follow him
or reject him. If you follow him, that means you deny yourself. You don't live
out your own life anymore.

Why? He's the Lord of the universe. You're made to live for him.

You take up your cross daily. That's not dying on a cross like Jesus did. You
can only do that once.

Taking up your cross is the sense of, 'I am fully committed to whatever purpose
and plan God has for my life. ' For Jesus, that was the cross. For you, I don't
know what that is today.

And Jesus says, 'Follow me. ' That's the life that you live. Now this new life,
this new commitment that Jesus is challenging in the lives of his disciples, the
Father confirms this new life, this life that Jesus challenges in the
transfiguration.

In verse 28, one of the most amazing moments that ever happened on this earth,
about eight days after Jesus said this. So the transfiguration is tied to what
Jesus has said. Don't miss that.

Jesus says this, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to give my life. You've got to
follow me. You've got to deny yourself.

' And then eight days later, here's the confirmation from God. He took Peter and
James and John with him and he went up on a mountain to pray. As he was praying,
the appearance of his face changed.

It was transfigured. And his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
And two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with
Jesus.

They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at
Jerusalem. They spoke about the day of his death. They spoke about the day of
his resurrection.

What an amazing moment. You have these people who were already in heaven, Moses
and Elijah, coming back to speak to Jesus on earth. They're not ghosts.

They're people from heaven coming to speak to Jesus. They're not haunting the
earth. They're communicating with Jesus in glorious splendor.

And Jesus is in glorious splendor. How do the disciples respond to all of this?
This wow moment in life?

As you look at the life of the disciples, sometimes they respond really well, as
they just did. When Peter said, "You are the Christ," sometimes they respond not
so well. Coming down from the mountain, there's a healing that happens, and then
immediately in verse 45, "But they did not understand what this meant.

It was hidden from them, all that they were hearing about Jesus dying. So they
did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it. An argument started
among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.

Wow. Right before one of the most important moments of his life, Jesus is seeing
the disciples argue. Jesus is saying, "I've got to give my life for you," and
somehow they confuse it, and they think, "Oh, we're going to Jerusalem, and
Jesus is going to be the Christ, the Messiah.

He's going to be the King. I wonder which of us will sit closest to him on the
throne. Which of us is the greatest?

" They totally missed it. They didn't hear what he said about dying on the third
day. They didn't hear what he said about being resurrected.

They didn't hear what he said about being rejected. Oftentimes we don't hear.
Now, if they didn't hear, let's just be honest.

Sometimes I don't hear. Sometimes you don't hear. Sometimes a good prayer to
pray is, "Lord, what am I not hearing?

What am I ignoring? What do I not want to hear? Help me to hear it.

" We have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us to hear it. Jesus teaches them
because he wants them to not miss the truth of his greatness and what he wants
to do in their lives. So in verse 47, Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a
little child and had him stand beside him.

And he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name, welcomes
me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least
among you all, he is the greatest.

" Jesus teaches about true greatness, and then he exemplifies it. Then we reach
verse 51. Verse 51 is the turning point in the book of Luke.

Everything turns on this moment. As the time approached for him to be taken up
to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He turns toward Jerusalem.

He begins to walk. He begins to walk towards Gethsemane. He begins to walk
towards Calvary.

He begins to walk towards the empty tomb. Jesus did not accidentally fall into
the hands of the Romans and the religious leaders in Jerusalem. He purposefully
walked into the plan of God.

And as he walks all along the way, we're going to see him teaching us how to
live out the plan of God in our lives. Let's pray right now for wisdom, to learn
from Jesus as he teaches us on this journey, on this walk towards the cross,
towards the resurrection. Lord, we ask that you teach us, you help us to
understand the life that you want to give us.

As these first disciples often didn't understand, we admit it, we're human
beings, we miss it sometimes too. So help us to see where we're missing it. And
help us to see how to live out the life that you've given.

And help us to recognize all along the way your love for us. Your patience with
us, your care for us, your compassion, but also your challenge. Also the depth
of commitment that you require of us.

Why? Because you know that's the life that you've made us to live, connected to
you. So help us to learn from you these next few weeks, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.