NOTES for Luk 9:18-27
18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? |
19 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. |
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. |
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. |
25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? |
26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. |
27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. |
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Peter's confession, which took place after the feeding of 5,000 people with 5 loaves, is a turning point in the Gospel story. The crowds of people who follow Christ and the Twelve without letup are moved by very different motives. The apostles answer the Lord that some of these people take Him for John, others for Elijah or other ancient prophets, and follow Him in order to receive the washing of repentance or a miraculous healing, or simply to touch "the divine." The Lord Himself says with sorrow: "you seek Me... because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26). His attempt to reveal the Father's design to these people leads to grumbling among the Jews, so that many of the disciples leave Him.
But the prophet Amos says that "God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). This is true also of God's design for the salvation of the world. In order for people to accept the sacrifice of the Cross, they need to understand what it is. In order for people to accept the Way of salvation given to us in Christ, it is necessary to see Him precisely as the Way and the Truth and the Life. And in a secluded place near Caesarea Philippi, of which the evangelist Luke speaks, the Lord asks His disciples a direct question: "But who do you say that I am?" It is important that the evangelist John, supplementing the account of the Synoptic Gospels, formulates this question differently: "Do you also want to go away?" These twelve people are the last ones to whom the Lord can address a direct question...
When Peter, on behalf of all the disciples, confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord for the first time reveals to the disciples the design for the salvation of the world. The Crucifixion and Resurrection are opened to the disciples, and to us through their witness, as Pascha: the passing of the living God through our human life. There is no salvation for us if some man, even a prophet, died for us. There is not even salvation for us if God simply remade the laws of the universe so that sin would not lead to death; in an altered world we would not remain ourselves. Salvation is given to us in this: the Son of God became the Son of Man and shared our lot with us, opening to us the path to Resurrection. To set foot on this path, each of us, like Peter and the apostles, must see in Jesus of Nazareth the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Readings for 26 September 2025
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