Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Journal

Please use one of the prompts below to get your journaling started.

  • Recall a significant reaction, conversation or event.

  • Explore your fears and what’s behind them.

  • Write about a relational conflict you are experiencing.

  • List out all that you are grateful for.

Bible Text: Luke 9:7-9 (ESV)

  • What is the significance of Herod being perplexed about Jesus after his disciples went “preaching the gospel and healing everywhere”? (v. 6)

  • There were widespread and varied theories about who Jesus was, and Herod’s question “who is this about whom I hear such things” is as relevant today as it was then.  What are some answers people give today to this question?

  • Consider the question of Jesus’ identity that has come up in the Gospel of Luke thus far: 

    • Luke 4:22 (ESV): And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

    • Luke 4:41 (ESV): And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

    • Luke 5:21 (ESV): And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

    • Luke 7:16 (ESV): Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

    • Luke 7:20 (ESV): And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”

    • Luke 7:48–49 (ESV): And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

    • Luke 8:25 (ESV): He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

  • Reflect on the fact that the gospels make Jesus’ identity—who Jesus is—the central issue.  How does this chapter answer the question? 

    • Luke 9:20 (ESV): Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

    • Luke 9:22 (ESV): saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”  

    • Luke 9:35 (ESV): And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Spend some time dwelling on the identity of Jesus.