Luke 22:39-42, “39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

• Notice the phrase, “remove this cup from Me.” The word “cup” is a reference to Jesus’ death. In Isaiah 51 Isaiah is speaking of Israel facing God’s judgment and drinking His judgment as a “cup of wrath.” (Isaiah 51:17)  Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah is speaking of God’s judgment as a “cup of wrath” (Jeremiah 25:15). Throughout Scripture the word “cup” is often associated with “God’s judgment” therefore, when Jesus prays the phrase, “remove this cup from Me” Jesus is speaking about the “cup of wrath” that is going to be poured out on to Jesus at the cross.

Luke 22:43-46, “43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. 45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

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Luke 22:14, “14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.”

• Through the life of Jesus we constantly see Jesus saying “My hour has not come, My time has not yet come” and in verse 14 the hour has come, and Jesus reclines at the table with the apostles to celebrate Passover.

Luke 22:15-16, “15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

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Luke 19:28, “28 After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.”

• In verse 28 we see the phrase, “After He had said these things” and this is a literary cue to say, “What things?”
• In the previous verses Jesus presents a parable about the urgency of living in His Kingdom on earth, and then in verse 28 Jesus makes His way to Jerusalem.

Now you need to know the context of Luke 19 is taking place during the Passover season. Passover goes back to Exodus when Moses leads Israel out of bondage in Egypt, when the angel of death passes over every house covered by the blood of the lamb, and in Luke 19 everyone, possibly millions of people, are headed to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

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Luke 12:13, “13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

• In verse 13 it appears there is some tension around who inherits what, and I don’t know how many of us have been in those conversations about inheritance when someone passes away in the family, but they are really uncomfortable.

Luke 12:14-15, “14 But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

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Luke 10:25-26, “25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”

• In verse 25 a lawyer stands up, and asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” First, you need to know the lawyer in verse 25 isn’t like a lawyer for personal injury like Funk and Associates. This lawyer is an expert in biblical law. Write that in your notes, “This lawyer is a religious scholar, expert in biblical law.”

Luke 10:27, “27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

•  Verse 27 is impossible!.  Who on earth can love the God of Scripture with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

Luke 10:28-29, “28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

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Luke 9:28, “28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.”

• The phrase “some eight days” is a strange description, but the intent is to connect these words to the words of Jesus in verse 18, which is what we looked at last Sunday, “Who do people say that I am?”
• In verse 20 Peter responds, “Jesus, you are the Christ.” In verse 27 Jesus says, “Some of you will not taste of death until you see the kingdom of God” and in verse 28 Jesus takes Peter, John, and James up on the mountain to see the glory of God revealed in Jesus known as the transfiguration.
• The transfiguration gets very little attention in the local church in the United States. We talk about the incarnation of Jesus (His birth), the resurrection of Jesus (His death), but the transfiguration is a moment in the life of Jesus where His glory is revealed.

Luke 9:29, “29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.”

• The word, “different” in the original language means “different.” I don’t fully understand what takes place in this moment, but in this moment Jesus goes from a caterpillar to a butterfly times a gazillion.
• Verse 29 is the opposite of Philippians 2:7 that describes the glory of Jesus taking on flesh, “Emptying Himself, being made in the likeness of men” but now the “likeness of men” is being pulled back and the glory of Jesus is bursting forth with blazing light.

Luke 9:30-31, “30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”

• Moses and Elijah would have been the two key figures of the Old Testament.
• Elijah is most known for his resistance against false teaching, so that Moses is a representative of the law, Elijah is a representative of the prophets, but in this moment all the attention is on Jesus, because Moses and Elijah are “speaking of His departure.”
• The word, “departure” in the original language is the word, “exodus.”

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Luke 9:23, “23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

• First we see the identity of Jesus established in verses 21-22, Jesus is the One with final authority in heaven and on earth to remove guilt once and for all.
• In verse 23 Jesus lifts up His eyes to all the people and says, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”
• The invitation of Jesus is not to intellectually describe how Jesus removes our guilt. The invitation of Jesus is not a pop quiz. The invitation of Jesus is to live as new people in Jesus, free from guilt, with heaven on earth.
• So many times the local church presents Jesus as your ticket to heaven, but in verse 23 Jesus is saying, “Heaven on earth begins today. Take up your cross and follow Me.”
• The phrase, “take up your cross” means “die to yourself.” These words are from Jesus to put our fleshly desires of the world to death, and follow Jesus by faith in His authority.

That is why Jesus is asking, “Who do you say that I am?” The answer to that question makes all the difference. Jesus is the Christ! Jesus the One who holds all authority in heaven and on earth, therefore, by grace through faith in Jesus we die to our flesh and obey Him.