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January 7 - Luke 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Wednesday.
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  It's the 7th of January. Angie, it's good to have your
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  company. Thank you for inviting me into
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  your day, no matter what it looks like.
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  I hope you're doing well. And as we continue reading
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  through the book of Luke together, you are probably
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  noticing these chapters go for a while.
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  And most people, if you ask them which author wrote most of the
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  New Testament, they would say it's Paul for sure.
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  But actually, in terms of the number of words written, it's
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  Luke. Luke and Acts are these
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  incredible books with so much in them, the ministry of Jesus and
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  in the birth of the church, such an important part of our story.
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  And he does not skip any of the good stuff.
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  And today we have another chapter just chock a block full
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  of the most incredible things as Jesus walks and shares and heals
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  and loves and confronts and is confronted.
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  So without any further ado, let us settle in, let us follow with
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  Jesus disciples and hear and see what our Lord and Saviour does.
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  Ah, what a privilege it is to be able to do this with you,
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  friend. You ready?
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  Yeah, me too, Holy Spirit, change us with your words so
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  that we can be more like you, amazed at your love for us.
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  All right, let us read together Luke Chapter 9.
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  One day Jesus called together his 12 disciples and gave them
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  power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all
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  diseases. Then he sent them out to tell
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  everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
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  Take nothing for your journey, he instructed them.
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  Don't take a walking stick, a traveller's bag, food, money or
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  even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the
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  same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome
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  you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that
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  you have abandoned those people to their fate.
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  So they began their Circuit of the villagers, preaching the
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  good news and healing the sick. When Herod Antipas, the ruler of
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  Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled.
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  Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the
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  dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah
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  or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.
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  I beheaded John, Herod said. So who is this man about whom I
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  hear such stories? And he kept trying to see him.
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  When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had
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  done. Then he slipped quietly away
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  with them toward the town of Bethsaida.
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  But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed
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  him. He welcomed them and taught them
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  about the Kingdom of God. And he healed those who were
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  sick. Late in the afternoon the 12
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  disciples came to him and said, send the crowds away to the
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  nearby villages and farms so they can find food and lodging
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  for the night. There is nothing to eat here in
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  this remote place. But Jesus said you feed them but
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  we only have 5 loaves of bread and two fish.
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  They answered. Or are you expecting us to go
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  and buy enough food for this whole crowd for there are about
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  5000 men there? Jesus replied, Tell them to sit
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  down in groups of about 50 each. So the people all sat down.
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  Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward
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  heaven and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into
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  pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so
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  they could distribute it to the people.
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  They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward the
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  disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers.
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  One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone.
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  Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, Who do
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  people say I am? Well, they replied, some say
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  John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say You were
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  one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.
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  Then he asked them, But who do you say I am?
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  Peter replied, You are the Messiah sent from God.
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  Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was.
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  The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things.
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  He said He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests,
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  and the teachers of religious law.
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  He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from
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  the dead. Then he said to the crowd, If
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  any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your
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  own way. Take up your cross daily and
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  follow me. If you try to hang on to your
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  life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for
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  my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you
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  gain the whole world? But are yourself lost or
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  destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and
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  my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when
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  he returns in His glory and in the glory of the Father and the
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  holy angels. I tell you the truth, some
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  standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom
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  of God. About 8 days later, Jesus took
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  Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray, and as he was
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  praying, the appearance of his face was transformed and his
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  clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly two men, Moses and
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  Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus.
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  They were glorious to see and they were speaking about his
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  exodus from this world which was about to be fulfilled in
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  Jerusalem. Peter and the others had fallen
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  asleep. When they woke up, they saw
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  Jesus, Glory, and the two men standing with him.
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  As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not
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  even knowing what he was saying, blurted out.
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  Master, it's wonderful for us to be here.
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  Let's make 3 shelters as memorials, one for you, one for
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  Moses, and 1:00 for Elijah. But even as he was saying this,
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  a cloud overshadowed them and terror gripped them as the cloud
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  covered them. Then a voice from the cloud
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  said, This is my son, my chosen one, Listen to him.
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  When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone.
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  They didn't tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
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  The next day, after they'd come down the mountain, the large
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  crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to
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  him. Teacher, I beg you to look at my
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  son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing
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  him, making him scream. He throws him into convulsions
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  so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever
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  leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast
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  out the Spirit, but they couldn't do it.
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  Jesus said. You faithless and corrupt
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  people, how long must I be with you and put up with you?
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  Then he said to the man, Bring your son here.
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  As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground
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  and threw him into a violent convulsion.
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  But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy.
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  Then he gave him back to his Father.
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  Or grip the people as they saw this majestic display of God's
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  power. While everyone was marvelling at
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  everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, Listen to
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  me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be
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  betrayed into the hands of his enemies.
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  But they didn't know what he meant.
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  It's significance was hidden from them, so they couldn't
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  understand it and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
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  Then his disciples began arguing about which of them was the
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  greatest. But Jesus knew their thoughts,
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  so he brought a little child to his side.
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  Then he said to them, anyone who welcomes a little child like
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  this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also
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  welcomes my father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you
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  is the greatest, John said to Jesus, Master, we saw someone
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  using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop
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  because he isn't in our group. But Jesus said, don't stop him.
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  Anyone who is not against you is for you.
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  As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus
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  resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
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  He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for
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  his arrival. But the people of the village
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  did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem.
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  When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, Lord, should
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  we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?
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  But Jesus turned and rebuked them, so they went on to another
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  village. As they were walking along,
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  someone said to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go.
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  But Jesus replied, foxes have dens to live in, and birds have
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  nests, but the Son of man has no place even to lay his head.
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  He said to another person, Come follow me.
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  The man agreed, but he said, Lord, first let me return home
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  and bury my father. Jesus told him, let the
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  spiritually dead bury their own dead.
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  Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.
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  Another said, yes Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say
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  goodbye to my family. But Jesus told him, anyone who
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  puts a hand on the plough and then looks back is not fit for
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  the Kingdom of God. Jesus, thank you for all that
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  you are and all that you teach us.
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  Thank you for the fact that everything that you do and say
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  you do on this trajectory, walking toward Jerusalem,
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  walking toward that final moment where you give up everything out
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  of love for us. And while much of this teaching
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  sounds hard, like not being able to bury their father or not
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  being able to say goodbye to their family, Lord, you make the
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  point that it's your Kingdom that is the most important
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  thing, far above anything else. And so, Lord, I pray that you
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  change the eyes of our heart, that as we see the world around
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  us, we would not see it in the way that the world does.
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  That we would not be pushing for our own glory and our own
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  successes, but that we would see your Kingdom as the greatest
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  thing that we could ever strive toward.
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  And that in fact, it's those that the world would rate as the
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  least who are the greatest in your Kingdom.
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  So Lord, help us daily give up our desire for greatness here in
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  our lives on earth and desire greatness in your Kingdom,
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  because greatness in your Kingdom is your glorifying and
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  your greatness. And so we displace you at the
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  pinnacle of our lives, and we worship you, Jesus, and we give
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  our lives once again as a living sacrifice for you.
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  And we pray all of this in your wonderful name, Amen.