In six separate episodes, Luke sets out from 9:1 to 9:50, to give the reader an insight into the nature of the kingdom of God. The imagery of the episodes takes us back to the Exodus story. As Moses is sent to call the people of Israel out of Egypt, so Jesus sends out his apostles to call out a people for God, 9:1-9. As God fed Israel in the wilderness, so Christ feeds the five thousand, 9:10-17. As the wilderness is the way of suffering, so Christ must go this way, and we must stand with him in his journey, 9:18-27.

v18-19. Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke does not locate this episode at Caesarea Philippi. Obviously, he wants to link it to the feeding of the 5,000, for theological reasons. Jesus' enquiry seeks to draw out the disciples' understanding of his person. The crowds have their opinions, but what do the disciples believe?

v20-22. Peter, speaking on behalf of the disciples, states that Jesus is the messiah; the Son of Man is the Christ. The only problem is that their understanding of Jesus' messiahship is very limited. They see him as the Davidic king, the son of David, who has come to set up his kingdom in power, overcoming the Romans and purifying Israel. They have yet to understand that Jesus must represent the people of Israel, and travel the way of judgement, suffering and death (He is the suffering servant of Israel, Isaiah 53). The way of the cross is similar to the way of the wilderness. In the wilderness the people of Israel put God to the test and died in the desert. The suffering servant must also go this way, suffering on behalf of God's rebellious people. Only by this means can his people enter the promised land. It is this truth that the disciples must keep to themselves.

v23-26. Jesus calls on his disciples to follow him into the wilderness. The disciples are to, as it were, leave Egypt, its security and plenty, and join with Jesus on the dusty road to the promised land. Jesus calls on us to take up the cross, in the sense of give allegiance to him and his journey of shame. We are to do this "daily", that is, identify with Christ's journey throughout the whole of our life.

The imagery of cross-bearing powerfully illustrates allegiance to Christ. It certainly encourages sacrificial discipleship, self-denial, but above all it is a call to identification with Christ, a call to allegiance. Only Christ's self-denial has any eternal value, ours is flawed, compromised, "filthy rags." Are we willing to accept the shame of following a crucified messiah? Eternal life is found in our identification with (believing in) Christ, the rejected and suffering one.

v27. Jesus has warned his disciples that those who fail to give their allegiance to him will inevitably be shamed in the day of judgement. He now states that there are "some who are standing" with him at this very moment who "will not taste of death before they see the kingdom of God." In what sense will "some" of his disciples see the kingdom? It may be in the sense of an inaugurated kingdom which still awaits its final realization in glory, a kingdom ushered in by the cross, resurrection, ascension and pentecost. The reference may be to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, of God's "coming" in judgment upon a rebellious people (Note Matt.16:28, "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" = coming in judgment). It is obviously not his second coming, although there are those today who are of the view that Jesus thought his return would be in the first century. Our problem may lie with the meaning of "see". Jesus may be saying that those who are not ashamed of him, who willingly give their allegiance to him, who rely on the rejected and crucified suffering servant for their salvation, have entered (they "see", are in) the kingdom and even now witness something of its glory (manifestations: signs and wonders, etc.). On the other hand, those who are ashamed of Christ must wait till their death before they see anything of the kingdom, and in seeing are consumed.

In my twenties my father gave me a block of land cut from his farm. The land was designed for a person with one leg shorter than the other. Precipitous is how I would describe it.

Over the years I cleared the block and dreamt of putting a little cottage on it. Of course, it's one thing dreaming about it, it's another doing something about it. Still, I did inevitably commit myself to the project. I bought a kit home, saved up some holidays, took some leave without pay, and headed up to my block with a trailer load of bits and pieces to build the house. The youth fellowship in my church actually helped me drag the kit up the side of the hill to the building site. Without their help I would have been lost. So, for ten weeks I built my home. Day after day, as I dragged myself out of the tent I was camping in, I constantly asked myself, "what ever possessed me to start this project?" I did actually get it to lock-up. It took ten years to complete, and then, of course, I sold it, as you do!

The disciples knew Jesus was the Messiah, but it was not enough to know who he was, they had to commit themselves to him, give their allegiance to him. He was about to undertake a wilderness journey that would destroy him, but would inevitably lead to glory and the promised land. They had to decide whether they would accept the shame of identifying with a crucified messiah.

Over 50% of people in Western societies say Jesus Christ is real, but it is not enough to know that he exists. To reign in glory we must give our allegiance to Jesus, accept the shame of committing ourselves to the rejected and crucified "man of sorrows".

Consider the issue of commitment and what this entails.