Luke 9

As Jesus began to shift His focus from public Ministry to teaching & preparing His disciples, He gave them power and authority and sent them out to preach the gospel and heal the sick, just as they had seen Him do.   Jesus also began to allude to His death and resurrection:  "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."   (This is a actually timely passage, with Easter coming up).   Jesus also mentioned the cross that just as He would suffer and die, He said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."   This means total commitment to following Christ daily in life, even to the point of death.

As Jesus sent the Apostles out, He gave them instructions which would help them rely on God to provide through the help of others, but also to be ready for those who would reject their message.  When they returned, they got another lesson in trusting God to provide, when Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand (which is recorded in all four Gospels).   God was able to use what they had (five loaves and two fish), though it appeared little, to feed all the people with twelve basketfuls of leftovers!   Thus, He is able to take what "little" we feel we have to offer, and use it above and beyond what we can imagine.

After ministry, we are once again reminded how important it is to REST.  Jesus took the Twelve to withdraw by themselves to a remote place after they returned from ministry; and later after feeding the five thousand, Jesus is recorded as "praying in private."

In this passage, we also see Herod wondering Who Jesus is, and we hear what the people were saying about Who they thought He might be, but Peter answered with "God's Messiah", the question that we should all answer "Who do YOU say that Jesus is?"   

Once again, v28 tells us that Jesus went up onto a mountain to PRAY.  It is clear in Luke's Gospel that Jesus spent much time in intimate communication with the Father - definitely an example for us to follow.   This time, as He is praying, He is transfigured displaying His glorious splendor.   He is joined by Moses and Elijah who represent the Law and Prophets - a reminder to us that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  

Then, similar to the beginning of Christ's public MINISTRY at His Baptism, here towards the end of His public MINISTRY during the Transfiguration, the voice of God the Father affirms that Jesus is the Son, the Messiah.  And the command God gives is to "listen to Him".

Yet, with Peter's suggestion of building tents or tabernacles, the disciples being unable to cast out a demon due to their lack of faith, and  the argument among the disciples as to who would be the greatest - all showed that they did not understand that "the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men" to suffer and die to fulfill God's Plan of Salvation.   He was not going to reign as earthly King or sit on an earthly throne, as it appears the followers had envisioned.   He was going to usher in the eternal Kingdom, in which the least among them will be the greatest; a reminder of their call to proclaim the Kingdom to those who are humble in spirit.

In vs 51, "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem".  With determination, He faces the CROSS, knowing all the sufferings and difficulties that will come with that.  He also shifts His focus from public MINISTRY (and miracles) to TEACHING His disciples (and parables).  

With the examples described by Luke, Jesus taught them that they were to be merciful, that there are great costs in following Him, including the need to place the Kingdom of God as a priority, without delays or distractions.