{"id":11508,"date":"2023-12-11T00:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/?p=11508"},"modified":"2023-12-11T07:40:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T23:40:47","slug":"a-call-to-boldness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/2023\/12\/11\/a-call-to-boldness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Call to Boldness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 9:26-27 26<\/sup>For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of this one when he comes in the glory of him and of the Father and of the holy angels. 27<\/sup>But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The next two verses in Jesus’ call to discipleship point to the future. One’s eschatology can be a powerful motivator. What do we believe about our end or eternity can and should influence how we live in the here and now. Verse 26 begins with a reference to life now and ends with Jesus’ second coming. Shame is a powerful force driven by fear. People are afraid of what others will think of them. Shame is a cultural influence that is ingrained in people from childhood. Shame is particularly strong in some parts of the world, particularly in Eastern cultures. Even in Western cultures, people want to be accepted by others, especially young people. Shame in this case is often called “peer pressure.” People find worth in being accepted by others.<\/p>\n

The choice Jesus describes is between being accepted by people or being accepted by him. The cultures of unbelievers may and often do not accept the truth of the gospel or the lifestyle it calls for. Going “counter-culture” can bring shame to people on multiple levels. One area of the struggle for many people is with family, especially if other family members are not believers or are of another religion, such as Buddhism or Islam. The shame can even lead to threats of ostracizing, disinheritance, or being completely cut off from the family. In extreme cases, shame can lead to persecution, injury, or the loss of life.<\/p>\n

What makes Jesus’ words so shameful before the world? The good news of the kingdom is the light that exposes the darkness for what it is. People do not want their evil deeds made public or they do not want to be told that they are wrong or sinful. The gospel stands in the way of people living like they want and indulging in the ways of the flesh. Just like Jesus faced opposition for his preaching of the kingdom, so will his followers. Jesus words represent him, so by rejecting the gospel, people reject Jesus.<\/p>\n

The second half of verse 26 gives the consequences of the first half of the verse. The outcome of being ashamed of Jesus in this life is for Jesus to be ashamed at the judgment of whoever<\/em> was ashamed of him. Jesus gave different warnings in his teachings about what could happen at judgment. His coming will be a revelation of his full glory, which will also the revelation of the glory of the Father and angels.\u00a0Glory<\/em> in the Bible represents God’s awesome presence. The coming of Jesus will mark the end of this age and the beginning of the new age of God’s kingdom. Luke records Jesus giving the opposite experience in 12:8-9 when he will welcome those who acknowledge him before people. The basic choice comes to either proclaiming him in the world without being ashamed or facing the judgment of God.<\/p>\n

Verse 27 is challenging to understanding because of the reference to the coming of God’s kingdom. \u00a0In what sense would the kingdom come in the lifetime of those standing there listening to Jesus? There have been many answers to this, including the soon transfiguration, Jesus’ resurrection, the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, the spread of the gospel, and others. Rather than attempting to pinpoint one particular idea, it may be more helpful just to realize that Jesus’ plan of redemption promised in his preaching would soon be available to all people. The invitation to discipleship in this section is for all who will believe, not just the few standing around listening to it first spoken. Jesus was the King of the kingdom and had come with the message of forgiveness and eternal life. His death on the cross and resurrection, which are alluded to earlier in verse 22, showed the power of the kingdom. His followers experienced this power individually and corporately when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. Knowing and experiencing the power of the kingdom ought to give assurance and strength to bear witness boldly and not cower in shame.<\/p>\n

For older posts, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 9:26-27 26For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of this one when he comes in the glory of him and of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotions","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11508"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11528,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11508\/revisions\/11528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}