Divine Intervention (Luke 9)

02/27/22 • 18 min

Today’s reading, Luke 9:28-36, is for Transfiguration Sunday, February 27, 2022. The title of this podcast is “Divine Intervention.” God chose and sent Jesus to usher in the kingdom of God through his own death and resurrection. Which means that Jesus knew all about politics, wars, and violence. To navigate a way forward, Jesus relies on prayer, solitude, scriptures, old mentors, and new friends. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and encourage each one of us through whatever uncertainties and fears we may be facing. Please open your Bible to Luke 9:28-36. I want to begin, though, with a prayer for peace:

Dear God, as we open your word today, fill us with your Spirit, so that we can receive your instruction and do as you command. Forgive our warring ways, O God, and lead us in the ways that lead to peace in our hearts and in our world. Amen.

Luke 9:[22-27]28-36

[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.”]

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
Links:
And with our prayers, we work for justice and peace everywhere. The Lutheran Church has agencies around the world, including Ukraine. I’ve included links to a couple of good humanitarian organizations here: Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran World Federation. Listen to Jesus. Grieve the suffering in our world. And don’t forget to pray.

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Luke 9:[22-27]28-36

27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”]

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Previous Episode

Jesus is for Losers (Luke 6)

Jesus is for losers. And that is good news. The Good News, in fact. Today’s sermon is mostly a sermon that Jesus himself preached about 2000 years ago. The entire sermon is about 750 words, recorded in Luke 6:20-49. We are going to read the first section of it, along with a few verses Luke uses to set the stage. “Jesus is for Losers” is the title of this podcast, Volume 3, Episode 5. I hope today’s message is provocative. I hope it makes you a little bit uncomfortable at first, so that in the end, you can head into this next week with a newfound freedom, joy, and energy.

Luke 6:20-26

20 Looking at his disciples, [Jesus] said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

The Knollwood School of Theology

by Daniel Erlander, which he shares in his book entitled Tales of the Pointless People.

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Snot Bubbles (Luke 7)

Luke 7:36-50

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’
And a brief reading from the book of Romans 3:19-24

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

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Will Preach For Food Podcast - Divine Intervention (Luke 9)

Transcript

Divine Intervention (Luke 9)

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. Faith is a welcoming community: growing closer to and more like Jesus; making Christ known; joyfully serving each other, our neighbors, and all God’s creation. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithsh