Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Luke 9 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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What if real strength looks like traveling light, trusting deeply, and choosing mercy when you could choose fire? We walk through Luke 9 and trace a striking pattern: Jesus sends the Twelve with authority yet no provisions, multiplies a meager lunch to feed thousands, shines in glory on the mountain, then steps straight toward suffering. Power, provision, and purpose come together in ways that disrupt our instincts and reset our expectations.

We start with the sending of the Twelve and the surprising rule to pack nothing. That command isn’t cruelty; it’s training. Authority without dependence turns into ego, but dependence without authority collapses into fear. Then we move to the feeding of the five thousand, where scarcity becomes abundance and the leftovers preach a sermon of their own: when we place our little in Jesus’ hands, the outcome far exceeds our capacity. Peter’s confession confirms who Jesus is, and the Transfiguration reveals why He came—fulfilling the Law and the Prophets as the Father’s chosen Son, the one we must listen to even when His path runs through the valley.

Back on the ground, a desperate father pleads for his son, the crowd struggles with unbelief, and Jesus heals. Moments later, the disciples argue about who is greatest, and James and John want to incinerate a Samaritan village. We tackle why vengeance masquerades as zeal and how Jesus redirects us to humility, childlike trust, and steady obedience. The hard words about following—letting go of excuses, bearing a cross daily—aren’t about earning God’s love; they are how loved people live with purpose. Underneath it all beats a steady promise: losing your life for Jesus is the path to finding it, and resurrection hope makes courage possible.

If this conversation stirred your faith or challenged your defaults, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a quick review. Tell us: where is Jesus asking you to trust Him this week? Your story might spark someone else’s next step.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter a day.

Jordan Smith:

Keeps the devil at bay.

Pastor Plek:

Pastor Pleg along with Jordan Smith, and we are going to be talking about Luke chapter 9. We're going to find some observations, come up with some clear interpretations, and then finally land the plane with some application that you can take with you on your day to day. So let's take a look at this, outlining it. We have Luke 9, 1 through 9. Jesus sends out the 12. He empowers the 12 with the authority to drive out demons, heal, and then proclaim the kingdom of God. He then has this incredible moment where he feeds the 5,000. The apostles, then they return to Beth Seda, the large crowd follows, and he teaches heals and then does want to send them home, and they end up feeding 5,000 plus women and children. And have 12 baskets left over. Then you have verses 18 through 27 where Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ. After uh Jesus goes, but who do you say that I am? Then we have the transfiguration on the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, and he sees um uh Moses, or they see Moses and Elijah with Jesus, and they hear the voice from God. This is my son who I have chosen, uh listen to him. Then you have verses 37 through 45 of the healing of a demon-possessed boy. Uh Jesus, after coming down from the mountain, he rebukes everybody there for their unbelief, and then he again foretells his betrayal and suffering. Then we have an argument that breaks out uh shortly after that about who is the greatest in verses 46 through 50. And then finally we have a Samaritan rejection and the cost of discipleship in verses 51 through 62, uh, which is where James and John, the sons of thunder, want to call down fire from heaven to destroy Samaritan villages. And Jesus is like, that's stupid. All right. So that's the outline. Uh, Jordan, what what for you is just like a untrained eye? What do you see here in the text? What do you mean, untrained eye? First of all, yeah. Have you been to seminary yet? Hey, that's messed up. The official training. Untrained, no, untraining. Here we go.

Jordan Smith:

Untrained, yes. Uh, so yeah, I mean, this is a really long chapter, so there's a lot of observations. Uh, hit me with some of those. The first one is just in my mind, when Jesus gives the disciples power and authority, I'm like curious, what does that look like in the moment, right?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, I think that meant that Jesus could walk around healing people. Uh, Jesus could or sorry, the disciples could heal people, drive out demons, raise the dead. I mean, they could do all the stuff that Jesus could do.

Jordan Smith:

Well, I mean, like specifically in that moment, like he's like, you'll have power, and it's just, does anything happen?

Pastor Plek:

I don't think anything happened. I think it the thing happened when they went and um proclaimed be healed, and then it happened. I think there was a huge amount of faith because they didn't feel like magic powers in them.

Jordan Smith:

Uh, another one I had is when the apostles, it says the apostles were telling Jesus everything they did. Yeah. I'm curious, it's like Jesus, like, that's cool. I already kind of know that and everything. But in my mind, it uh it popped out kind of the same as prayer, right? Like God already knows all that stuff. He already needs to hear it. That's can you experience that with like your kids?

Pastor Plek:

Absolutely. Yeah, I already know everything that happened because I've already heard it from Adrian, but I like to hear them tell it to me. So uh yeah, that's that is very that's a great uh observation. Um one of the things I observed is here Jesus has predicted his death multiple times at this point, yet the disciples still don't get it. And I wonder why, because clearly it says that they were it was concealed, or God was preventing them from seeing it for whatever reason. And um it's interesting. I wonder if it's almost as if they remember them and go, Oh, yeah, he did say that.

Jordan Smith:

Well, yeah, it's for like hindsight purposes, I guess, right? Right, right, yeah. So anyway, I I thought that was sort of an odd thing. I was curious too. It's like, what are they thinking when he's like, Yeah, I'm gonna get beat up and suffered and all that.

Pastor Plek:

And they're just like, All right, like what does what does that even mean? You know, I don't know. Yeah, uh, how about this? Um, Jesus sends out the 12 with no provisions, relying on the hospitality of the people. Um, and that's sort of a wild deal. Like, hey, I want you to go into this town, instead of coming as uh with provisions already, you're gonna go there and say, like, hey, can I stay at your house? Yeah, I'm gonna go share this crazy message with you that Jesus, the Messiah, is here. However, you you could look at it as like finally the Messiah is here, and they've heard about the miracles, and they're like, sign me up. Where do I, you know, where do I sign? It's kind of like you know, solar salesman, and instead of solar selling the sun, they're selling the sun.

Jordan Smith:

That's very, very good. You come up with that one on the spot. I did. I was on the spot.

Pastor Plek:

Impressed. Uh okay, and then how about the transfiguration? Is that weird you out at all?

Jordan Smith:

When you were reading it, I was kind of thinking, like, what is the point behind showing this to the disciples? And why specifically was it Elijah and Moses?

Pastor Plek:

Like, yeah, so Elijah is kind of the most famous prophet. Remember, whenever they were asking, you know, who like some people are saying that you're Elijah raised from the dead. Uh, so Elijah was the most famous prophet, he called down fire from heaven, he he did a lot of cool miracles. Uh, and then so he is representative of all the prophets. So think Old Testament, the prop all the prophets from Isaiah to Malachi, and then you've got the law, which is represented by Moses, and so Moses and Elijah are hanging out with him, and then all of a sudden, um, you know the disciples see them, and then Moses and Elijah disappear, only Jesus is left because he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

Jordan Smith:

Yeah, I never would have drawn those conclusions, but that's why I'm untrained, you know. So but uh I'm also curious, but like, why how does that benefit the disciples?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, so I mean, some at some point you gotta have the supernatural revelation where you see, like, oh, he is, and and he he saw Jesus in a glorified state even before he went to the cross. And so you really get to say, oh wow, you are the son of God. This is wild. Um, which would be, you know, pretty meaningful.

Jordan Smith:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

Uh in fact, I think Peter writes about it like we saw him on the Mount of Transfiguration. He writes about that in his letters in the New Testament. Um, what else did you observe here?

Jordan Smith:

A little bit earlier, there's a whole uh if anyone would follow me, let them pick up their cross and deny themselves. So I think that's a very key verse for us as Christians today.

Pastor Plek:

This is where, you know, okay, so Jesus says two things, and I think they're they're meant for two different audiences. To the person who is lost, stuck in sin, lonely, sad, tired, he goes, Come, this is Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all you who are weary and heaven laden, I will give you rest. Uh, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light. And then once you receive that, you've you've gotten that, he almost immediately goes and says, If anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross, deny himself, and follow me. And so there's it's a dual calling. One is for comfort, and then the other is for calling, and or for like, you know, the missional aspect of following Jesus. I'm called to rest in him, but I'm also called to deny myself on his behalf. So I think that's the the dual nature of the Christian life of Jesus ultimately where you go from rest, and then you work from that rest. Okay, let's get into some truths. Or I the truths about the nature of man. Um, we often misunderstand or conceal God's revelations as the disciples argue over who's the greatest when Jesus is talking about sacrifice. Like I'm gonna die, and everyone's like somehow they go from that to who's the best? Yeah.

Jordan Smith:

Yeah, that's us as humans, right? We like to self-glorify.

Pastor Plek:

Right. And how about we have a tendency to seek vengeance and exclusion as James and John propose fire on the Samaritans for their rejection? Like Jesus kind of when he says, sends out the the 12 to do all the um the miracles and stuff, they it gives them here's the here's what you do when someone rejects you, just shake the dust off your feet and keep moving. But now they're like, hey, they rejected us, let's kill them all. That blows me away. That's like how do we move from shaking the dust off our feet to just nuke them? It's in nature, right? Well, and isn't that how a lot of us talk? I mean, how many times have you heard someone, or maybe you've said it, we should just turn that country into a parking lot. That is the natural sort of like mindset of mankind.

Jordan Smith:

Well, I think it's like if they're not kind of what it says in here, but if they're not for you, they're against you. But there's always this sense of like there's two sides and you have to pick one, right? And people dislike the other side and want to nuke them.

Pastor Plek:

Right. And I think um another just truth about the nature of man, I think people they are commitmophobes when it comes to me, it comes there's fear of commitment, right? They to follow Jesus, they had about a bunch of excuses. Uh, and maybe somewhere legit. I gotta go bury my dad.

Jordan Smith:

Yeah, I was curious what you thought about that. It seems kind of messed up. He's just like, don't do that. Jesus, like, don't do that.

Pastor Plek:

But I mean, like, it at some point you gotta know it's Jesus. So they're probably not saying I need to go attend the funeral service. It's like, I got a lot of things to do, Jesus. I'll get to you, son of God, later. That makes more sense. You know, it's like because everybody has legit excuses, right? Every I mean, everybody excuses are like armpits. Everyone has them, they all stink, right? And I think that's where Jesus is pointing out like, even your like what would seem to be a normal excuse. I gotta go do this. The son of God. Clearly, you don't know who's asking you to follow him. You thought this is just like an employment opportunity. You thought this was like just going to college somewhere with a great tutor. No, this is the son of God saying, Come follow me. Get on board with that, then everything else will take care of itself. Okay. Um, how about some truths about the character of God? Well, the first one I saw here is that God provides abundantly beyond need, multiplying resources for the masses and then leaving a surplus. Now, in a world where people do starve to death, could we criticize Jesus for his overabundance that he gave to this group of people? And like, you know, there's probably people starving, and he just overfed all these people with leftovers for crying out loud.

Jordan Smith:

That's a great question. Jesus was an answer.

Pastor Plek:

Like, and this is where I, you know, Jesus, I think he lavishes and loves and takes care of the whole world, and he wants to bless people that he has relationships with, and he blesses this. Now that I don't know if that means everyone there was saved, but he had compassion for them and he was excited.

Jordan Smith:

He was like the people who were pursuing him.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, they were pursuing, they didn't want to go home, they wanted to stay wherever he was, and he's like, These people get it, and he blessed them with provision. That's cool. All right, how about this? Uh, God glorifies his son while also affirming his chosen path of suffering for redemption. So, I mean, think about this. Here he is, he's like, Oh, like Jesus is all shiny, voice from heaven. This is my son, my chosen one. You know, listen to him. And then the next thing you know, Jesus is talking about being being murdered, and like that's all part of the plan. It is a wild thing to be that prized and at the same time that denied. And that ultimately is the only way that we can be saved is by what Jesus has done, where Jesus does sacrifice his one and only son, that whoever does believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jordan Smith:

I think another cool one was uh we talked about it briefly, but the hindsight, like I've had a lot in my life where certain situations or circumstances like seem crappy and I don't understand in the moment. But like when a couple years down the line or whatever, you know, it's like, oh, I kind of understand why that's good God was doing that. I mean, I assume everyone kind of has those stories. Oh, for sure. So um, yeah, hindsight's 2020. So nature of God there, just uh he's good at hindsight.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, he is, and and maybe that's probably maybe the nature of man, we can't see what God is doing until after the fact. One unless God reveals it. Um, okay, how about this last one? God values humility and welcomes the marginalized, and he he loves to use children to redefine what true greatness is and to redefine what real faith is. You've got to believe like one of these little kids. And I think that's what's hard for us because we've been so jaded by life that to believe in stuff, you're kind of like, it like what's the catch? There's always a catch somewhere.

Jordan Smith:

And a lot of people, you know, have science and religion on opposite sides, right? Kind of just another reason to yeah, so all right.

Pastor Plek:

Let's get into some how how uh how do we apply this to our lives? All right. So we have a if there's a sin to confess from the scripture, what would what would it be? A promise to claim, uh, an example to follow, perhaps a command to obey, or a knowledge to believe. Which one of these uh sticks out to you for an applicational point that maybe some of our listeners could take with M today?

Jordan Smith:

Oh, so two pop into my mind. Um both when Jesus says not to take anything with you, but also the feeding of the 5,000, they're both God is going to provide for you, like even if you can't see it or you know can't feel it in the moment. So just trusting that, it's like faith. I mean, you have to have faith, right?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, I think the one there would be like uh trust the Lord to provide.

Jordan Smith:

Uh-huh.

Pastor Plek:

Because there is a time actually later on, it's like, hey, I know before I told you don't take anything. Now I'm telling you take everything and actually take a sword with you. Yeah. And everyone's like, oh, I got two swords. Oh, yeah, that's enough. Right. So that it's kind of wild. He does flip the script on that, but I do think what is timeless is that Jesus will provide for us if we trust him. Right.

Jordan Smith:

Um, all right, how about the other one for me is just again the the pick up your cross uh verse, which command to obey. Yeah. Command to obey kind of could also be a sin to confess, like in the sense of I mean, you have to confess, and I see that as like taking up your cross, kind of denying yourself that like nice confession's a part of that.

Pastor Plek:

Okay, all right, yeah. But I really like a command to obey, just hey, Christian, take up your cross daily, deny yourself and follow Jesus.

Jordan Smith:

I would challenge, you know, the listeners. What what is your cross to bear? What do you like? How do you see that for yourself and are you doing it?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, how about or how about this? Maybe a listener identify one looking back distraction and then commit to forward-focused surrender with the Lord this next week or even today. Um, all right, how about this? Um the promise to claim is the claim of a resurrection life after suffering as Jesus assures glory post-death. God promises that denying yourself leads to finding life eternally. Ultimately, when we give over ourselves over to death eventually, and we're not trying to do anything but glorify God, he will raise us from the dead. That is our hope, and that's our heart.

Jordan Smith:

Speaking of death, one last question I had was it said, Jesus said you some people won't taste death until they see the kingdom of God. What does that mean?

Pastor Plek:

So they saw Jesus as king, uh transfigured, and so bam, there he is. He's transfigured right before their eyes in that very chapter. So it goes from some of you won't taste death until you see that him in his glory. Bam, he's in his glory with the God the Father glorifying him. Gotcha. Hey, thanks so much for watching. We'll see you tomorrow on a chapter a day.

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