Jesus Knew...

Luke 9:43-45

While today’s reading is only a few verses I found two significant things about Jesus in these words.

First, Jesus knew who he was. In verse 44 Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. My study bible notes say that this term was used 81 times in the Gospels (I know, that seems like a lot!) and never by anyone other than Jesus. Like so many things that Jesus said, this ties back to the Old Testament and was probably a familiar term to Jewish audiences. Daniel 7:13-14 states the following: 13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed”.

Second, Jesus knew what his purpose was. Verse 44 is the second mention of his coming death in the book of Luke. The first is found in Luke 9:22 and provides a more detailed description of Jesus’ purpose: 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.” Similar passages can be found in other Gospel writings.

It is incredible to think about the fact that Jesus knew exactly who he was, that he was one with “authority, glory, and sovereign power” and yet he was willing to “be delivered into the hands of men and suffer many things”.

In Luke 9:23, the verse immediately following his prophecy of his own death and resurrection, Jesus says “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”. That does not seem like much to ask when you consider who Jesus was (and is) and what he did for us.

Dear Jesus, thank you for who you are and what you did for us on the cross. Thank you for your obedience and love for the Father and help us to “take up our cross” today and by the power of the Holy Spirit show that same obedience and love. Amen.