Luke 9:26

In Luke 9:26 Jesus was continuing to speak about the cross that He has given each of us to bear and He said, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his father’s, and of the holy angels.” In just a few verses previous to this one Jesus spoke to the disciples of what He was going to suffer and Jesus said in Luke 9:22 that He would be “rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes.”

The servant is not greater than his Lord. The name of Jesus will never be popular in this world, not with the worldly people. And the worldly people are in the majority. It’s obvious to everyone that if you become a follower of Christ, there will be a price to pay, and one of the costs will be the occasional rejection of others. Because we are all social creatures, we need and desire acceptance from other people. That’s why peer pressure is as strong as it is, and that’s why it hurts so much when we are rejected or cast out. Some people do not come to Christ because they value the opinions of man more than the opinions of God. That’s one of the reasons that outcasts more readily come to Christ than those who are popular with their fellow man. An outcast has less to lose and less to fear in the way of reprisals. He is already an outcast, so what can the opinions of man do to him as far as turning to Christ?

Even though there will be some rejection from the world, you won’t always be rejected. Remember that the Bible says that the common people heard Him gladly. There were also times when great multitudes came to hear Him. If you become a faithful follower of Christ, there will be some who will reject you and your testimony and you must be willing to accept that fact, but there will also be others who will respect you for your stand. The people of the world can spot a phony, but they can also spot the genuine article. Many of them will highly respect someone who has faithfully displayed the banner of Christ.

Some will respect you for your stand, but some will put pressure on you to keep quiet. If you do not walk close to God, the pressure of the world will overtake you. The society is constantly finding reasons to tell you that you should not speak the name of the Lord. The world will put pressure on you to keep quiet. That’s what happened to Peter at the trial and crucifixion of Christ. In the pressure of the moment, Peter lost his spiritual focus and remained quiet when he should have gladly testified of his relationship with Jesus. If we are not careful, the same thing will happen to us. Being quiet when we should speak because we are afraid of the opinion of the world is a great failure. Jesus said that this was being ashamed of Him.

Of course, when we think about it, we should never be ashamed of Christ. If it was not for Jesus we would be destined to a devil’s hell and to a selfish life without real purpose or meaning. Don’t forget that it is a privilege to be given the opportunity to suffer for His name. Paul said in Romains 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” We should not be ashamed of Christ or His gospel because of how powerful is the gospel of Christ. When the gospel of Christ is testified to in the world, souls get saved, lives get changed, and the name of God is glorified.

Jesus implies in Luke 9:26 that there will be rewards and honors given to those who have not been ashamed of the name of Christ. If you are ashamed of Christ, then He will be ashamed of you at His coming. The judgment of the believers will be a serious event when everything said and done in your life will be brought into the open. It will be a wonderful thing to hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” It will be a truly sad thing to not hear those words. When He said that one day He will wipe away all tears from our eyes, some of the tears will undoubtedly be tears of regret that we did not do more for Him who died for us.

In Luke 9:26 Jesus said, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words.” Notice the connection between Jesus and His words. We must never underestimate the importance of God’s Word nor the vital relationship between the written Word and the living Word. The Bible says in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” What are words? Words are the communication of ideas. God communicates with man. And God has given words whereby we may know the truth from Him. The written Word was inspired by the Spirit of God, and therefore we have the words to read for knowing the revealed truths. The same Spirit in some miraculous and mysterious way caused Mary to conceive the child Jesus. It says in Matthew 1:18 that “she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” An angel spoke to Joseph and said to him concerning Mary in Matthew 1:20, “For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Jesus was the Son of God, but when He lived on the earth, He lived as a man filled and led by the Spirit of God.

You cannot separate Jesus, the holy and eternal Son of God, from the written Word of God. The written word is also holy and eternal. We call it the Holy Bible for a reason. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall abide forever.” If someone is ashamed of Jesus, they will also be ashamed of His words. That’s one of the reasons that people come up with other philosophies of life and doctrines and teachings that are contrary to the Word. They did not want the Word anyway, so they found something else. They were ashamed of both Jesus and His Words.

The next incident in Luke Chapter 9 is what is called the transfiguration of Jesus. Perhaps because Jesus had just mentioned His second coming, maybe He wanted to show the apostles a little bit of what the second coming will be like. Or perhaps because Jesus had just mentioned His death at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes that Jesus wanted to remind the apostles that there was life after death. We know for sure that one of the lessons of the transfiguration was to show the disciples something of the true nature of Christ. They must not make the mistake of thinking that Jesus was just another holy man or just another prophet. He was more than a prophet. He was the Son of God. He was God the Son. The greatest of men and the holiest of men are not on the same plane as Jesus. John the Baptist had it right. He said that he was not worthy to loosen the straps of Jesus’ sandals.

The Bible says in Luke 9:27-31, “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his clothing was white and glistering. And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah: Who appeared in glory, and spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.” The first thing that we notice about the transfiguration is that it started with prayer. Like so many other important things in the life of Christ, it all started with prayer. “As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered.” There was something different about Jesus, and the difference in this instance was His praying. If you want to be a better person, then pray about it. If you want to be more like God, then spend more time with God in prayer. Pray. In the book of Acts it is said of those who saw the disciples that they took note of them that they had been with Jesus.

When Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus, the Bible says in Luke 9:31 that they “spoke of his decease.” The word that is translated “decease” in this passage is a very interesting word, especially in light of the fact that Moses was present. It’s the Greek word for exodus. Moses knew something about an exodus. Here the death of Jesus is called an exodus. Maybe that helps to explain to us the significance of the book of Exodus in the Old Testament. The children of Israel left Egypt and went to the promised land. They left a place of sorrow and woe and trouble in order to end up in a much better place. Every death is really an exodus, a departure. Because of Jesus death is simply leaving this world of woe and going to the best world of all. Death is not the end. It certainly is not to be feared if you know Jesus as your Savior.

Another lesson from this passage of scripture has to do with life after death and relates to the concept of reincarnation. The idea of reincarnation has gotten a lot of publicity in our day and time. Does the Bible teach reincarnation? Notice in this passage that Moses and Elijah appeared in the presence of Jesus. Moses lived on the earth 1400 years before Christ, and Elijah lived 600 years before Christ. They did not become reincarnated after they died. They retained their same identity hundreds of years after their death.

The Bible says in Luke 9:32-36, “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved son: hear him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.”

Peter made a mistake when he saw Jesus and Moses and Elijah together. Peter thought that they should all be honored equally. That sounds fair-minded, does it not? We all believe in equality. There is a world-wide religion today that makes the same mistake that Peter made. The Moslem religion says that Jesus was a prophet, but only a prophet. If they had said that about Moses or Elijah, they would have been correct. Some people have made the same mistake concerning angels. The first chapter of the book of Colossians reminds believers of the preeminence of Christ. It says in Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” No man can stand on an equal plane with the great eternal Son of God.

God the Father gave testimony to the preeminence of Christ. Evidently it was very important to the Father that the disciples understood clearly the true nature of Jesus Christ. Of course, in the history of the human race, it has been a very rare thing for the Father to speak audibly. Therefore, there must be a very important reason for Him to do so. Even today, you must understand who Jesus really is, or everything else will be wrong, because all of the doctrines of true Christianity are based upon who is Jesus Christ. If the disciples were to get this wrong, nothing would have been right. That is what defines a cult: they are wrong about Jesus. And so the voice of the Father was heard from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved son.” Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God the Son: the divine, the eternal one, the creator and sustainer of all things. Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the great I AM.

God is a God who hides Himself from our physical senses. The Bible itself says that no one has seen God at any time, meaning God the Father. But this time the Father did not hide Himself. He had to speak in an audible voice to make it clear to the disciples and to us that no one anywhere at any time should be considered as an equal to Jesus. The day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Until that day comes, the testimony of the Bible and the testimony of God the Father has been very clear so that no one should be in doubt of who is Jesus Christ.

The voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved son: hear him.” The word that is used by God the Father to describe His Son and their relationship is “beloved.” The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father. We will marvel through eternity that the Father sent the Son that He loves so greatly into this world of woe to suffer and to die for sinners such as you and me. We will marvel just as greatly how the Savior who knew no sin would have permitted Himself to become sin for us and thus be executed on the cross of Calvary. The pain He suffered for us was much more than the physical agony of the crucifixion. He allowed Himself to be spiritually separated from the Father whom He loved so much. He became sin for us and He cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”

God is love. He loves His only begotten Son and He loves you. You can know the great love of God if you repent of your sins and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness.

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