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Learn to Follow

May 29, 2022

Luke 9:18-27

18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” 19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “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.”

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

Read Luke 9:18-19

  1. Describe what it would be like for Jesus to be ‘praying in private’ and yet ‘his disciples were with him?
  2. Which is more comfortable for you: praying alone and in complete isolation or praying with others? Why?
  3. Thinking of people in your life who are not followers of Jesus: who would they say that Jesus is? What different views of Jesus are out there in our culture?

Read Luke 9:20

  1. Read Matthew’s account of this moment in Matthew 16:13-20. What does Matthew include that Luke does not? How does Matthew’s account help our understanding of Luke’s account?

Read Luke 9:21-22

  1. Why do you think Jesus chose this specific moment to give his disciples this very troubling prophecy about what would happen to him?

Read Luke 9:23-26

  1. This is a very challenging passage. What in this passage presents a challenge for you? What portions are difficult for you to live up to?
  2. Verse 26 speaks of the danger of being ‘ashamed’ of Jesus and his words. What about what Jesus had just said in verses 21-22 might cause a sense of shame for his followers?
  3. What does Paul’s writing in Romans 1:16 have to say about this idea of being ashamed by Jesus or his words?

Read Luke 9:27

  1. How does this verse shape our understanding of what Jesus meant by the phrase “kingdom of God”?