The Gospel of Luke 9:43b-45 When God Says...I Say, AMEN!

When God Says …

“… But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.” (Luke 9:43b-45 KJV).

These passages describe the event after the Lord’s spectacular healing of a boy with an unclean spirit. The crowd is "amazed at the majesty of God" (Luke 9:43a NKJV). But in the midst of this acclaim, the Lord Jesus gives His disciples a somber warning about His imminent suffering. The crowd's as well as the disciples' fixation on the miracles the Lord Jesus performed distracted them from the core message of the Lord’s gospel of the grace of God. Their astonishment at the Lord's power pulls them from the Lord’s core message. This mirrors how present day believers can as well focus so much on the blessings rather the source. It alerts us not to be over awed and mesmerized with the physical benefits of God’s acts of power, but rather look to glorify the giver. Focus on the physical aspects endangers us of missing the central truth of the Gospel: the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

This account of Luke stated that: they did not understand and they feared to ask him of what He said. Their fear and human view hindered them from grasping the deep and divine truth of the cross. They were focused on the earthly view of the Lord’s triumphant works, which made the idea of suffering to save humanity beyond logic. The disciples stand right in the middle of transition from the law given through Moses to grace in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're reasonably confused without the benefit of hindsight of the Lord’s finished work on the cross. But, at the right time, the statement that the Lord said along with the transfiguration they just witnessed will become an affirming testimony for them - the Lord's early disciples and all believers after the Lord’s resurrection.

Now, we who are saved by grace through faith, with the blessings of hindsight of what've been written of the Lord's spoken Words, are privileged with the revelation, as Scriptures reveal: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2 ESV).

And I say, AMEN!

Daily reflections by:
F. A. Frias
PFC Ministries

When God says... I say, AMEN! is a provocative reflection of the Lord's holy Word. It intends to challenge every seeker of truth to dig deep into the core of the Word of Life to point every being to Christ Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith, and to draw revelations for change, for nourishment and for strength of every soul.

Partners For Christ Ministries, INC
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