Abductive Reasoning

Why does a man say or do the things he says or does? Why do we read the things in the Bible in the sequences in which they unfold? It's as simple as this: one comes first, two comes second, three comes third.

I'm still in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, but now I am looking at how things are ordered and why events and words are placed where they are.

In verse 26, Jesus speaks of his purpose, and by extension, the purposes of his disciples, and by further extension, the purposes of any of the rest of us. As I write out that verse, and as you read it, remember that purpose is a goal reached by degrees: degrees of hard work, commitment, practice, discipline, and sacrifice.

Luke 9:26, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”

First, 'Son of man' is a term that includes any and all of humanity who have ascended. It is a term that speaks of an individual who has come into his own, spiritual, free from the shackles of flesh and worldly detours. The glory that Jesus was working toward was the same glory as that of God. It was a glory shared in common by all the holy angels of God. It is the same glory that all of us are invited to be one with.

In verse 26, Jesus told his disciples that the coming ascended humanity would reject all who rejected the glory of God and the path to its achievement, which Christ exemplified. The reason why Jesus said what he said where and when he said it may be explained by the previous verse. Jesus said this in verse 25, “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”

It is a difference between all the things of the world and the one thing that a man may be and it boils down to a simple choice between the two. Who we are and who we make of that – well, that is the only thing that we really own. You might call it our birthright. So just like Esau who preferred a bowl of lentil soup to his birthright, we may choose between all the little things the world has to offer and the one big important thing that is really ours.

Only one choice lends itself to who we are. If we make light of it or esteem it as less than worldly baubles, we show ourselves to be ashamed of the one thing we could ever keep as our own.

That one thing is explained more completely in verse 24. That one thing is actually life. Many mistake life for an existence with substance, and gifts, and tools for acquisition. All of these baubles are lost in the end. The only life that we may grow and achieve is eternal life: the glory of God which Jesus strived to attain. Verse 24 shows us the choice between the worldly life that will be lost in the end and the eternal life, and how (that is, through whose example) we may obtain it.

Choosing an eternal life over a disposable life is explained in verse 23, by which I mean, the practice of it – the actual nuts-and-bolts mechanics of making the right choice. Luke 9:23 says this, “And he said to them all, if any man will come after me,” (that is, to follow his example, to take each step toward the goal in same order as Jesus) “let him deny himself,” (the disposable life) “and take up his cross daily,” (work for it, put the choice into actual practice, do the reps) “and follow me.”

Now, just who they were to follow and the steps in order were laid out in verse 22. In that verse, Jesus said this to them, “The Son of man” (including ascended humanity) “must suffer many things,” (as in, 'all our kind intentions and years of exemplary service) “and” (then) “be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and” (then) “be slain, and” (then) “be raised the third day.” Every step in order and in its own place and time.

Why exactly was Jesus saying such things to his disciples? He had just straitly charged them and commanded them not to voice abroad one telling fact (verse 20) – that he was the “Christ of God.” There was a time and a place for that to be known, but as yet Jesus was not on that particular stepping stone. We make a big deal about Peter stepping up to confess “thou art the Christ,” but I think that all his disciples were in on that one.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter nine, the recognition of Christ by his disciples is set at odds with what the general population thought of him. Before Jesus asked his disciples who they (verse 20) thought he was, he asked them who the people (verse 18) thought he was. The disciples told him who the people thought he was in verse 19. Obviously, there was a buzz going around about the miracle man who healed all manner of disease and infirmity, who even raised the dead. It was such a deal that it prompted Jesus to ask about it.

Albeit speculation, the thoughts of the crowd were, believe it or not, a source of information. They were, I believe, the same source that Herod turned to earlier in the chapter. The fact of the buzz, as well as both Herod's and Jesus' concern for who the people thought Jesus was, at least for me, raises a flag: that both the source of speculation and Jesus, with his followers, were in the area of Tiberius, where Herod, seemingly out of the blue, is mentioned in the same context.