The Apostlers' Creed
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Analyzing the importance of truly believing and professing that Jesus is the "Christ of God".
Text: Luke 9:18-20
Date: 01/22/2023, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 91
Description:
Immediately after the "living parable" of the feeding of the five-thousand, and on the way to the climactic Transfiguration, Luke inserts a critical conversation between Jesus and His disciples concerning His true identity. Luke's ordering is typically brilliant as the focus remains on the person of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah God has sent into the world to redeem sinners. But as we will see, Luke is also focusing our attention on the disciples as the "apostlers" or "sent ones" of the Kingdom and the dynamic between Jesus and those who will proclaim His message in the Gospel Age. The question is a powerful and eternal one-- but it is their answer that is all important. On this Communion Sunday, we will consider our own answer to that question, as the modern-day "apostlers" of the Kingdom; and see just how important it is that those who will be preaching and teaching and revealing Christ-- truly believe, understand, proclaim and (if necessary) die for the underlying confession of this "apostlers' creed".
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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 9:18-20.
A. Context, Luke 1:32-33, 2:11,49, 3:22, 4:34, 8:25,28, 9:9.
B. The Apostlers' Christological Confession.
1. Setting the scene, vs. 18a.
a. A place of quiet solitude.
i. Time with His Father, Matt. 16:17.
ii. Time with His disciples.
b. Continuing the dynamic.
2. Jesus' "leading" question, vs. 18b, Luke 4:42, 5:15, 6:17, 7:11, 8:4,40, 9:11; Mark 6:34.
3. The disciples' response, vs. 19.
a. Analyzing the response, Luke 9:7.
i. John the Baptist.
ii. Elijah, Mal. 4:5.
iii. Another prophet, Deut. 18:15, John 6:14.
b. Evaluating the response.
i. All positive, Luke 11:15.
ii. All prophets, Matt. 23:29-33, Acts 7:51-52.
iii. All mortal men.
4. The probing question, vs. 20a.
a. Redirecting the question to the disciples.
i. The adversative "but".
ii. The emphatic "you".
b. The real question.
5. The response, vs. 20b.
a. Focus on Peter.
b. The crystalline confession.
i. A confession that verifies.
ii. Jesus is the Messiah, Mark 8:29, Matt. 16:16, John 6:57.
iii. What it meant for the apostles, Matt. 10:32-33.
III. Application
A. Believing the creed.
B. Professing the creed.
IV. Conclusion: The Apostle's Creed.
