St. Luke 9: 18 – 27

July 15, 2022

18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.

20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.

21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;

22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

26 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.

27 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.

Humans, being curious creatures, often ask who Jesus is referring to in verse 27. Turns out it’s not a ‘who’. This from the St. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: “see the kingdom: Jesus promises that his kingdom will arrive within the lifetime of his contemporaries. This points to the birth of the Church in general (22:28-30) and to the destruction of Jerusalem in particular (21:31-32). The downfall of the city (A.D. 70) will mark a turning point in salvation history that signals the expiration of the Old Covenant kingdom and the definitive establishment of the New.”

Nothing, of course, takes the place of Bible study with your priest but it’s beneficial to have a good study Bible handy for when you are studying by yourself. It’s an excellent means of preventing us from ‘leaning unto our own understanding’ – we do too much of that as it is.

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