The Power of the Kingdom and the Way of the Cross

What about you?... Who do you say that I am? ..... What are some of the answers people in our day give to that question Jesus asks his apostles here in verse 20?

Some say he was a prophet. Others say he was a powerful spiritual leader. More than a few say he was a great wonder worker. Many say he was a brilliant moral teacher. And to others he was a great revolutionary.

But then there's the faith of the Christian Church, which is encapsulated here in the apostle Peter's answer to the question: “You are the Christ of God.”

Now, in chapter 8, just before this section we're looking at today, Jesus told the Parable of the Sower and emphasized the importance of rightly hearing the word of God.

And then Luke followed that by recording four miracles where people saw Jesus' power: 1. The stilling of the wind and the sea, 2. the healing of a demonized man, 3. the healing of a woman with an issue of blood, and 4. the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead.

And those miracles all demonstrated the power of God's Kingdom in Jesus Christ in 4 distinct ways: 1. power over the forces of nature, 2. over demonic forces, 3. over human sickness, and 4. over death itself.

So, it's against that backdrop that our passage here in chapter 9 picks up. And here we have a whole complex of events and teachings that reveal more of Jesus' identity and the nature of his mission....