4.11.21 HUDDLE
INTRO QUESTION
- Spring is officially here. What is your favorite season and why?
WEEKLY INTRO
We are approaching the end of our Restore series. However, this week, we continue exploring how to rebuild the broken soul by examining the connection between restoration and identity. Our study will be grounded in Luke 9:18-27.
BIBLE ENGAGMENT—LUKE 9:18-27
Context: This passage takes place in a region called Caesarea Philippi. Jesus walked his disciples 30 miles north (about a 10-hour walk) to this region. This area was known as an area of high idol worship and had temples dedicated to the God, Pan. Matthew 16:13-20 also records this account.
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 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.”
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
BIBLE ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONS
- What stands out to you from the text?
- What do we learn about Jesus (his personality, practices, priorities, etc.) from this text?
- Jesus walked his disciples 30 miles north to the region of Caesarea Philippi, one of the only non-Jewish areas that he took them. Outside of this text (and possibly the Transfiguration) we do not have any other stories or passages about the ministry they did there. That begs the question, why do you think Jesus walked them all the way there to ask them a question?
THREE INTERESTING THINGS
On Sunday, Pastor Bret pointed out 3 interesting things that Jesus does in this text.
- He tells the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the messiah.
- He tells Peter that he answered the question right, but then immediately begins to dismantle all the assumptions that went with that answer.
- He raises the stakes on what it means to follow Him.
- Why do you think Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the messiah? Try and come up with 3 possibilities.
- How is Jesus saying he is different from the messiah that the disciples were expecting (Vs. 21-22)?
- How does Jesus “raise the stakes” of what it means to be a disciple in this text?
KINGSHIP
In a sense, denying yourself comes down to Kingship. It is the choice to either continue to rule your own life, or elevate Jesus to Kingship, allowing him to set the course of your life.
- What is the difference between Jesus being the King in your life vs. being an adviser?
- How is there actually more freedom in self-denial (raising Jesus to Kingship) than in attempting to rule your own life?
- What other things are at risk of being elevated to kingship in your life?
CLOSING—THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION FROM THE MOST IMPORATANT MAN
Some have deemed the question Jesus asks in this section of Scripture as “The most important question asked by the most influential man in history.” Obviously, the question from this text, “Who do you say I am,” is an important one?
- What are 5 different ways that people in our culture answer that question about Jesus?
- Which of those 5 can you or have you identified with over the course of your journey to follow Jesus?
- How would you advise someone who wants to move Jesus from the position of adviser to position of King?
CLOSE IN PRAYER