My whole life I have been taught that Jesus singled Peter, James and John out because those were the three closest to Him. I believe scripture actually paints a little different picture. In fact these three needed special attention from Jesus because their faith was weaker than the other disciples. John says that he is the one that Jesus loved. John finally got it, and by the time he wrote the book of John he wanted others to realize how much Jesus loved him. Just like Jesus loves me and you. John is merely expressing how much he had realized that Jesus truly does love him. John realizes how undeserving he is of that love. Just like me and you. There are several places in the New Testament where these three are singled out as a group and several places where one of the three is singled out. Today we will look at only a couple of those places but set the stage for looking at several others in the next couple of weeks.
Luke 9: 18-37
18And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, "Who do the people say that I am?"
"And it happened." What happened? Well that is exactly what Luke is about to tell us, what happened and "it" is the story he is about to tell us. After all of the crowd had left the area where more than five thousand had just been fed, Jesus is alone praying with the twelve and asks them, who do the people say I am.
19They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again."
Several tell Him things they have heard or what the people are saying. Then He turns the table and asks them a more difficult question.
20And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."
Notice it was Peter who was quick to speak. Often those that are unsure are the first ones to speak up to hide the fact that they are unsure and we will see that was the case with Peter. Peter's answer is word for word exactly correct but he speaks quickly, I think to cover up his unbelief. So why does Jesus respond in the next verse the way He does? Especially after He had just sent the twelve out to preach that Jesus was the Christ and to heal and cast out demons in His name.
21But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,
Some have said that Jesus was entering the last phase of His ministry on earth and He did not want the people to try to make Him king before His time was come. This very well could be true because at this point Jesus had been teaching the disciples for about two and half years and His time of crucifixion was quickly approaching. But for me, I have a hard time accepting that the God of the universe could not stop man from doing something that would foul up His plans. Especially something that had been planned since sin first entered the world. Once before man had tried to expedite Jesus' death and He merely past through their midst. Luke 4:28-30. So why the warning to the disciples here? Maybe it was because some of the disciples were not spiritually ready. Not ready to handle what would happen as the world around them started accusing them as being one of His followers. This would line up better with what Jesus had to say after this remark.
22saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day."
Obviously He is talking about His death and resurrection here.
23And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
If you want to be a spokesperson for Me you can not do it for yourself, it has to be for Me. On a daily basis be prepared to be ridiculed, jilted and persecuted. Following Me will not be easy. In fact, for some it will cost them their life. For others they will prefer to save their own life and will sacrifice His eternal life to do so. Those willing to lose their life for Me will in fact save their life for all of eternity.
24"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
25"For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
26"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Can you think of anyone who in just a few short weeks from this event who will deny even knowing Christ? Jesus was only talking to his disciples here and he is obviously talking about salvation. He also knew what was going to happen after His arrest and I think He was speaking directly to Peter, James and John. We will see why more in the near future but the next verse and the very next incident will make this even more clear.
27"But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."
Jesus is still only talking to His disciples and obviously there is something different about "some" of them than the others. But what is different? This verse is difficult at best but especially if you look at it all by itself. You must put it in context with the story in front of it and the story after it, then it makes more sense. First of all we have to try to figure out what Jesus is talking about. Jesus said that some will not "taste death" until they see the kingdom of God. What does He mean "taste death"? Frankly it means they will not die on this earth. So some of the disciples will die before they see the kingdom of God. We know that all of the disciples died a death on this earth and all before Jesus' return to establish His kingdom on this earth. So the question has to be, what is the Kingdom of God. Well, there are a lot of different opinions on this one. Some say that this is referring to the Transfiguration that is about to occur, that Peter, James and John will see Jesus in all of His glory after His appearance changes and this has to be the kingdom of God. I think they are partially right. Some say that the kingdom of God is the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I believe all of the disciples were still alive at this time so I struggle with this explanation also. I think the best explanation is the one that Jesus gave in Luke 17:20-21. Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, " The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." So if the kingdom of God is Jesus, how could some of the disciples see Him and some of them not see Him. I think Jesus is referring to the disciples who have not yet seen Him for who He really is.
Right after this incident, we read in couple of the gospels, that Jesus sent the disciples, in a boat back across the sea, while he stayed behind. A strong storm came up and the disciples fought against the storm for several hours. Jesus then came to them walking on the water. In the Matthew we learn something about Peter.
Matthew 14:25-31
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
The fourth watch was about 3-6 am.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Jesus calms their fears and reassures them that it is He. All except for Peter that is.
28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
I think the key to this verse is the little word "if". It screams a lot about Peter's faith right here. Everyone else is fine with the image and the voice that belongs to Jesus, but Peter needs more.
29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
I think he did it without even thinking. But when he did start thinking, he started sinking.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
This is a rebuke from Jesus. "You of little faith" refers to Peter doubting it was Jesus and even more, doubting that Jesus really is who He claims to be. "Why did you doubt" is dealing more with Peter sinking in the water. You were doing it, why did you start doubting. Peter, your faith is so small, why do you insist on doubting me?
As we look at the next story we will see that Peter, James and John are singled out for a reason.
Right after this incident, we read in couple of the gospels, that Jesus sent the disciples, in a boat back across the sea, while he stayed behind. A strong storm came up and the disciples fought against the storm for several hours. Jesus then came to them walking on the water. In the Matthew we learn something about Peter.
Matthew 14:25-31
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
The fourth watch was about 3-6 am.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Jesus calms their fears and reassures them that it is He. All except for Peter that is.
28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
I think the key to this verse is the little word "if". It screams a lot about Peter's faith right here. Everyone else is fine with the image and the voice that belongs to Jesus, but Peter needs more.
29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
I think he did it without even thinking. But when he did start thinking, he started sinking.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
This is a rebuke from Jesus. "You of little faith" refers to Peter doubting it was Jesus and even more, doubting that Jesus really is who He claims to be. "Why did you doubt" is dealing more with Peter sinking in the water. You were doing it, why did you start doubting. Peter, your faith is so small, why do you insist on doubting me?
As we look at the next story we will see that Peter, James and John are singled out for a reason.
28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
Why were these three singled out for this remarkable event? We will see in just a minute.
29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.
Similar to what happened to Moses when he spent time with God. I wonder if this was the same mountain. Time with God changes us inwardly and outwardly.
30And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,
31who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Suddenly two men appeared who just happened to be Moses and Elijah and they are gleaming from being in the presence of God as well. They are carrying on a conversation with Him and encouraging Him, I think, about what was about to take place, His death and ressurrection. Peter, James and John are jumping up and down in amazement at what they are seeing...well...not exactly.
32Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.
The same three who will later fall asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane are asleep now. But they wake up and it is not a dream because we are told they are fully awake, and they see the three; Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, standing there in all of their glory having a conversation.
33And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not realizing what he was saying.
Moses and Elijah are leaving and Peter comes up with a bright idea. It was a great thing that you brought us here so we can build three places of worship for each one of you. Doing the same thing that many people do today, minimize Jesus and make Him equal with other men of old. Just a man. I get the feeling that as soon as Peter says this, in fact as the words are coming out of his mouth, he realizes that he has just made a mistake. He put his mouth in gear before his brain. Which is exactly what we do most of the time also. While he is talking a strange thing starts to occur.
34While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
The cloud forms over them and then drops down and engulfs them. They become afraid.
The cloud forms over them and then drops down and engulfs them. They become afraid.
35Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!"
How much more clear can you be. God speaks from heaven and tells Peter, James and John this is My Son would you listen to Him already. He is MY Son, not some man, not someone equal to Moses and Elijah, not just a prophet of old, He is the Chosen One, the Christ of God. When will you "get it"?
How much more clear can you be. God speaks from heaven and tells Peter, James and John this is My Son would you listen to Him already. He is MY Son, not some man, not someone equal to Moses and Elijah, not just a prophet of old, He is the Chosen One, the Christ of God. When will you "get it"?
36And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
"Jesus was found alone" means that Elijah and Moses are now gone and God the Father had left. I believe there was a deafening silence also. It is more clear in the Matthew and Mark accounts. One of the most fascinating things that these three disciples have ever seen has just occurred and yet they remain silent about it. Why? Actually it says that they "kept silent, and reported to no one in those days". They did talk about it later. Jesus, in both the Matthew and the Mark account, told them not to tell anyone about this occurrence until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead. Interestingly Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell about this occurrence but John is strangely quiet. Matthew, Mark and Luke were not there but John was. Why would John not mention this story? Is it possible that he later realized how he had missed the importance of this event when it had occurred and then later would rather not talk about it? Maybe he was a little embarrassed just as we are when we are talking to someone who has a lot of scripture memorized and asks us if they are right about a particular Bible event. We sheepishly agree whether we know or not so as not to look to stupid. After all we wouldn't want someone to think that we did not have the entire Bible memorized. We will see that Jesus is not through with these three, not by a long shot. They still have a lot to learn. In fact they don't "get it" until after Jesus is raised from the dead. Then and only then will they be ready to tell others about who Jesus is and not just say the words but mean it in their hearts. He is the Christ of God.
"Jesus was found alone" means that Elijah and Moses are now gone and God the Father had left. I believe there was a deafening silence also. It is more clear in the Matthew and Mark accounts. One of the most fascinating things that these three disciples have ever seen has just occurred and yet they remain silent about it. Why? Actually it says that they "kept silent, and reported to no one in those days". They did talk about it later. Jesus, in both the Matthew and the Mark account, told them not to tell anyone about this occurrence until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead. Interestingly Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell about this occurrence but John is strangely quiet. Matthew, Mark and Luke were not there but John was. Why would John not mention this story? Is it possible that he later realized how he had missed the importance of this event when it had occurred and then later would rather not talk about it? Maybe he was a little embarrassed just as we are when we are talking to someone who has a lot of scripture memorized and asks us if they are right about a particular Bible event. We sheepishly agree whether we know or not so as not to look to stupid. After all we wouldn't want someone to think that we did not have the entire Bible memorized. We will see that Jesus is not through with these three, not by a long shot. They still have a lot to learn. In fact they don't "get it" until after Jesus is raised from the dead. Then and only then will they be ready to tell others about who Jesus is and not just say the words but mean it in their hearts. He is the Christ of God.
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