By James Riley Strange, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Religion, Samford University
Life in Christ
Luke 9:18–26
Today’s passage comes at a turning point in Luke. Read all of Chapter 9 to get the context. Very soon Jesus will head to Jerusalem to fulfill the exact events He talks about in the passage we’ll read.
Jesus is God’s Son, the Messiah. (18–20)
The phrase “the disciples” probably refers to a group larger than “the twelve” (compare 9:1, 9:12 and Acts 1:21–26). Some people probably thought Jesus was John the Baptist (raised from the dead, see 9:7–9) because the two preached similar messages (see 3:7–17).
The people who think Jesus was Elijah have in mind Malachi 4:5–6, and those who say that “one of the ancient prophets has risen” might be thinking of Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 (see Acts 3:22).
Peter, however, has figured out that Jesus indeed resembles all of these people, but He is something more: “the anointed one of God.” Your translation might say “the Christ of God” or “God’s Messiah.”
In Matthew, Mark and Luke those who make this confession signify that they recognize not only who Jesus is, but also that through Him, God is accomplishing His plan of redemption.
Jesus took up His cross for us. (21–22)
It is not just that Jesus took up His cross for us but that He took His long trip to Jerusalem (almost one-third of the Gospel of Luke) knowing full well what awaited Him at the end.
“Son of Man” is one of Jesus’ typical ways of referring to Himself. In Aramaic, Jesus’ native tongue, the phrase simply means “human being,” but Jesus is calling attention to His divine authority and kingship, for in Daniel 7:14 the “one like a Son of Man” receives “dominion and glory and kingship” from the Ancient of Days (i.e. God).
Jesus is saying, “I, the one to whom God has given the authority to rule as Messiah, will suffer and die so that God may form ‘the new covenant in My blood’” (Luke 22:20).
Following Jesus means taking up our cross daily. (23–26)
In Acts the apostles are in danger of being killed if they continue to proclaim Jesus boldly, as might all of the new leaders including Paul. Most famously Stephen is lynched for his bold proclamation.
Jesus makes that possibility clear in this passage in Luke. To “take up one’s cross daily and follow Me” means to be prepared to face death because of one’s faithfulness to Jesus. After all, the cross was an ancient torture and execution device. Such a possibility seems distant to us in Alabama, but we know some of our brothers and sisters face this reality.
Following Christ means following Him to the cross and dying to self. Paul takes up and reworks these ideas in Romans 6:1–11.
Whereas Jesus talked about the possibility of being killed for one’s faith, Paul, who faced that possibility himself, talks about a different kind of death.
If what we have after coming to Christ is called “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) or being “alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11), then abandoning our previous existence when we thought we were living well must be called “death” — death to our own passions, our own motivations, our own will.
If we study Paul and Jesus’ words together, we see that the sort of death Paul teaches is what enables us to take up our crosses the way Jesus demands.
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