i. In 2 Kings 4:42-44, Elijah fed one hundred men with some barley loaves and ears of grain – with some left over. The Old Testament Read the Bible free online. What was too hard for the disciples was not too hard for Jesus. i. Unlike many modern evangelists, He was interested more in quality than in quantity. General Epistles iii. This is the question placed before all who hear of Jesus; and it is we, not He, who are judged by our answer. Amazingly, the people who live this way before Jesus are the ones who are really, genuinely happy. But Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God. Jesus was the only person to do this perfectly, but we are to follow in His steps. Yet it was the compassion of Jesus (Matthew 14:14) and His awareness of the power of God that led Him to go about feeding the multitude. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. As they were parting from Him makes it clear that Peter said what he said when Moses and Elijah began to leave. But this saying was not clear to them and its sense was kept secret from them so that they were not able to see it: and they had fear of questioning him about it. Take nothing for the journey: The disciples didn’t need sophisticated equipment to preach a simple message. b. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. In contrast, Jesus asked this man to follow Him. ii. The idea is that prayer and fasting draw us closer to the heart of God, and put us more in line with His power. d. Take up his cross daily: Jesus made it clear that He is spoke spiritually when He added the word daily. Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. Instead, Jesus drew their attention to His nature by having them look at a little child as an example. 3 And He said to them, “. Seemingly, the miracle happened in the hands of Jesus, not in hands of the disciples – they simply distributed what Jesus had miraculously provided. Pauline Epistles They didn’t have good relations with the Jews, and were prejudiced against them. Both John and Elijah were national reformers who stood against the corrupt rulers of their day, and the similarity with the courage and righteousness of Jesus may have suggested the connection. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. a. Like Jesus, they came to Bethsaida to get away from the multitudes, not to serve them. They didn’t know Jesus and His mission. Gerazim (see John 4:20), which was later destroyed by John Hyrcanus (128 b.c. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. Luke 3 . It can also be said that they represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). b. And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them, and when they had been broken, he gave them to the disciples to give to the people. ii. Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. a. Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house: The previous man offered to follow Jesus after an indefinite, perhaps long delay. Awake, they saw His glory – not even mentioning the glory of either Moses or Elijah. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Perhaps his thinking went something like this: This is how it should be! There are two kinds of courage – the courage of moment, which requires no previous thought, and a planned courage, which sees the difficulty ahead and steadfastly marches towards it. a. It seems that Moses and Elijah were interested in the outworking of God’s plan through Jesus; they spoke about what Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. And he sent them out to be preachers of the kingdom of God, and to make well those who were ill. And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no stick or bag or bread or money, and do not take two coats. He didn’t have to be the center of attention. We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. ii. Pentateuch No one could be crucified literally everyday. For whoever has a desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, but whoever gives up his life because of me, will keep it. When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone: God made it impossible to focus on them any longer. If we really believe Jesus is who He says He is, it will affect the way that we live. The Gospels And Jesus said, O generation without faith and false in heart, how long will I have to be with you and put up with you? ii. Luke 10:1-24 . (Luk 9:21-22) Jesus reveals the true nature of His mission. Daily they could have the same attitude as Jesus had. In truth, you set it free to be what it was always intended to be. They seemed to have a wonderful time together as they talked with Him. John probably referred to it in John 1:14. It means that we have to associate ourselves with someone who was despised and executed – but if we are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us. Their duty is to yield all they have to Him, and then to obey Him, no matter how mere prudence and worldly wisdom may question the method.” (Morgan). The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, You give them something to eat: To the disciples, this request must have sounded strange or even shocking. Perhaps they thought they were being like Jesus, or showing the character of God. c. A spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him: The description fits what we would call an epileptic seizure. Luke. (See study notes on Joh 1:9, 10; 3:16.) And two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him; Who were seen in glory and were talking of his death which was about to take place in Jerusalem. Wisdom Literature But they would not have him there, because he was clearly going to Jerusalem. The New Testament On the walls of the catacombs, and other places of early Christian art, loaves and fishes are common pictures. E. The unusual character of greatness in the Kingdom of God. (Luk 9:1-2) Jesus calls them and sends them forth. If they did not take much with them, they had to trust the Lord for everything. And the apostles: When they left Jesus in Luke 9:1, they were called disciples – that is, “learners.” When they came back after their preaching mission, they were called apostles – that is, “those sent with authority and a message.” They certainly remained disciples, but knew both the message and the authority in a much better way after their work. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it: We must follow Jesus this way because it is the only way that we will ever find life. The man wanted to follow Jesus, but not just yet. 1. Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”. Jesus must come first. Since the nature of Jesus is like one of these little children, how we treat those who are humble like children (whoever receives this child in My name receives Me) shows what we think of the nature of Jesus. i. Moses and Elijah were great men, and each have and important place in God’s unfolding plan of the ages. Their angry reaction shows why Jesus sometimes called them Boanerges, meaning Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). Bible Language English. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God: Jesus had just revealed His glory in two spectacular ways – the transfiguration and the casting out of a difficult demon. Jesus had this kind of courage; He saw the cross on the horizon, but still steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. iii. It wasn’t Abraham or David or Joshua or Joseph or Daniel; it was Moses and Elijah. A decree from Rome reaches the whole Mediterranean worldAnd it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.. a. The Whole Bible -------------------- Chapter 9. “For Jesus to take that way to Jerusalem was unusual; and to attempt to find hospitality in a Samaritan village was still more unusual.” (Barclay), 4. KJV . -------------------- Yet Jesus did no kind of miracle for Herod, and when he asked Jesus many questions, Jesus answered him nothing. And after the voice was gone they saw that Jesus was by himself. In the real-life crosses of the Roman world, no one took them up (suggesting a voluntary action). Historical Books Join our conversation about the Bible and how it relates to our daily lives. With this statement, Jesus challenged both their faith and their compassion. Pentateuch “Alluding to a play on words, Luke mentions that Jesus ‘sent’ (apostello) the ‘apostles’ to preach the kingdom of God and to heal.” (Pate). a. Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did? d. For he who is least among you all will be great: Jesus then challenged His followers to be the least. More than anyone else, Jesus lived this; He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). d. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick: Jesus sent the disciples to do more than present a message, but to also to do good with supernatural empowering; to bless the whole person, and to heal the sick. Spurgeon considered some of the lies that Satan uses to throw men down just as they are coming to Jesus: c. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child: Not intimidated by this last display of demonic power, Jesus delivered the demon-possessed boy instantly. 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. Teacher, I implore You, look on my son: The father felt (rightly so), that all Jesus had to do was look on his son and the compassion of the Savior would lead Him to help the afflicted boy. b. i. Jesus Himself had the opportunity to gain the whole world by worshipping Satan (Luke 4:5-8), but found life and victory in obedience instead. Peter didn’t want the scene of glory to stop. c. Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God: Jesus pressed the man to follow Him now, and clearly stated the principle that family obligations – or any other obligation – must not be put ahead of following Jesus. Nietzsche and others glorified the will to power and looked down on Jesus and His followers as weak and worthy of disregard. What we have in ourselves to give others is insignificant, but when we put it in Jesus’ hands, He can do great things with our gifts and talents to touch the lives of others. 5. The popular rumors and speculations about Jesus left Herod perplexed – especially because of his guilty conscience over the murder of John the Baptist. i. He changed in His appearance in what has become known as the transfiguration. Prophets Yet compared to Jesus the Messiah, to God the Son, they were insignificant – so all the focus and attention should be focused upon Jesus. ii. Bible Study on Luke I have arbitrarily divided the 24 chapters of Luke into 50 sections for discussion. (2 Kings 17:24). Pauline Epistles He wanted to remain in his father’s house and care for him until the father died. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. Luke, Lesson #5 The Boy Jesus at the Temple Luke 2.41 - 52 . You can’t gain resurrection life without dying first. i. It’s interesting and perhaps amusing that James and John were so confident that they could do this, especially after their recent failure with the demon-possessed boy. He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one: Jesus was pleased that His disciples were coming to know who He was in truth, but He still didn’t want His identity popularly known before the proper time. d. The two men who stood with Him: In the mental conception many have of this event, they imagine Jesus floating in the air with Moses and Elijah. Historical Books Instead, the text clearly says that they stood together. It would have been easy for them to lose confidence in Jesus after such a seemingly defeatist statement. d. So they all ate and were filled: Jesus miraculously multiplied the loaves and fishes, until far more than 5,000 were fed. i. Peter may not have known what he said, but he knew what he saw – the cloud of glory was real, and he was wide-awake when he and the apostles saw it. d. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God: After this extreme call to follow Jesus unto death, He added a promise of significant glory (till they see the kingdom of God). And they, answering, said, John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has come back. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. At the rate of one per week, it takes just about one year to go through.