The Cost of Following Jesus

This is one of those harsher scriptures, as Jesus tells someone not to return home to bury their father, but to follow him instead. The NLT translation emphasises that only the spiritually dead should return to bury their dead - even though this is not a true translation of the Greek. However it is thought to be a more accurate translation of what Jesus was implying - if they are dead - its too late to help them, so instead focus on telling the truth to those who are still alive and leading them Jesus.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

Matthew gets into it here, but I really like the simplicity of Lukes version The disciples have been arguing as to whom is the greatest. Of course they are ashamed to admit this when he confronts them on it. So Jesus invites a child into the circle and tells them.

"Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest."

Thus explaining to them that only by meekness can they achieve greatness

Jesus Predicts his Betrayal, Death and Resurrection

There's not much to say here as it is such a short to the point passage, but here goes:

• Jesus tells them he will be betrayed


• That he will be killed


• That after 3 days he will be raised

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

This immediately follows the transfiguration as Jesus and the three disciples return to the bottom of the mountain. A father pleads for Jesus to heal his son, whom the disciples (my assumption is the ones left behind at the bottom of the mountain) had been unable to heal. Jesus calls them stubborn & faithless, this sounds a little harsh at first sight but as you continue reading you realise that Jesus has already given them the ability to heal in his name they just don't have the faith (in Jesus) to do so.

The Transfiguration

This is one of those few passages that would be possible to challenge it's accuracy - why you may ask. Well all three accounts specify that only Peter James and John were there with Jesus, and that's few enough people that they could have made it up. However do bear in mind that often the statement of one person is enough to convict someone in court, so that of three would be considered fact by many.
In this passage Jesus and the three disciples go up a mountain to pray, Jesus then becomes a brilliant white and Moses and Elijah appear with him (I'm kinda curious as to how the disciples knew who they were - did they recognise them from pictures? or did God just tell them?). Peter does his usual trick of open mouth and insert foot as he offers to build shrines for each of them. This I am assuming would take some time, so I also assume that Peter thought they were going to stick around for a bit. I wonder what he thought they were going to do? Anyway at this point a cloud appears and God speaks from it telling them:

"This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him."

This is the second time God has done this the first was when Jesus was baptised. Then Moses and Elijah disappear and Jesus instructs the disciples to not speak of what just happened, until he rises from the dead. So they didn't except for amongst themselves, and that was mainly to discuss what "rise from the dead" meant. Finally Jesus tells them that the religious leaders are correct to say that "Elijah must come before the Messiah" - but that he has already done so and suffered at their hands, the disciples then finally realise that he is referring to John the Baptist.

Jesus Predicts His Death

This is the passage where Jesus tells the disciples that he will be killed. Peter then takes him aside and says no, Jesus then says to him

"get thee behind me Satan"

He goes on to tell the disciples

"If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life."

Thus showing them that they are not embarking on an easy journey, but that it will be a fruitful one.

Peters Declaration about Jesus

This is the passage where Jesus asks the disciples who the people think he is, and they reply

"some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets."

Jesus then asks them who they think he is. Before anyone else gets a chance Peter jumps in (Typical Peter ) and says that He is the son of God, and Messiah. Jesus commends him and then warns all of them to not tell anyone else who he was.
Why the warning you may ask - well my opinion is that he needed things to go according to His timing, and having himself proclaimed openly as the Christ would just force things to be rushed along, as the Pharisees would get the excuse that they needed to reel him in.

Yeast of the Pharisees

The disciples are a little slow here again. They once again focus on the simplistic rather than understanding what Jesus is trying to say. They Have seen Jesus feed thousands two times now - but they still think that he is warning them about material things (lack of food). He once again has to explain that he is far more worried about their spiritual health than their physical health, and so explains that by yeast he is referring to something which in a small amount can spread throughout a large mass and totally change it. Jesus knows the effect that the Pharisees false teach will have on a believers walk.

Pharisees Demand a Miraculous Sign

this has already happened once but as usual the Pharisees just don't get it. It's pretty amazing that in a time before "special effects" people just didn't believe what happened or the news that they heard. Having said that I probably would have been as incredulous so maybe I shouldn't be so hard on them. However I do get the feeling that the Pharisees didn't want to believe even though Jesus was exactly whom they were waiting for, I guess it just shows how much we try and resist change.