Luke 9:19-22 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. (20) He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. (21) And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; (22) Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
During this time of the year, we hear a lot about the Baby Jesus. You know, “Born in a manger”. “No room in the inn”. “Peace on earth, good will towards men.” We see the messaging everywhere... in songs, on advertisements even in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. But the messaging that we hear this time of year is only part of the whole message. In fact, the birth of Jesus is a very small part of the important message of the gospel of Christ. Jesus alludes to more of that important message in our text today.
We often hear that “Freedom isn’t Free!” and that certainly applies to Christianity as well. Jesus, as he is asking about rumors of who he is, reveals more about the destiny of his near future.
Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
He says that:
1. He must suffer many things
2. Be rejected by the religious leaders
3. Be killed
4. Be raised on the third day.
For Jesus’ birth to have ANY meaning at all, we have to look at the purpose of his life. And that purpose was to be the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of man. To do that, he had to endure the cruelty of the cross. The problem for most people is that the same man that died on the cross for our sins, made demands for our lives. In general, he told us to hear him, follow him, reject sin, forsake our worldly life and to live a life dedicated to serving him and to others.
You see, people love the story of the baby Jesus because the baby doesn’t make demands, but the man does. Jesus is more than just a baby. In fact, for the promises of that baby to have any impact on our lives, we must understand, and accept the fact that the man demands that he be the Lord and Master of our lives.
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
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