August 19, 2025; Luke 9:1-27

Daily Dose of Hope

August 19, 2025

 

Scripture - Luke 9:1-27

 

Prayer:  Almighty God, We are in awe of you.  You are all-powerful and all-knowing.  You are the one who was, and is, and is to come.  We give you all the glory and praise.  We rejoice that you, the one who created all things, also cares so deeply for us.  We are overwhelmed by your love and grace.  Thank you so much, Lord.  As we think about our day to come, help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you...Oh Lord, how we need you.  We pray this in your powerful name, Amen.

 

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church Bible reading plan.  As most of you know, we are currently in the middle of a deep dive in the Gospels and Acts.  Today, we begin Luke 9

 

This is a great chapter!  Just as God sent Jesus to proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom, he sent his disciples to do the same. He sends them into the villages, into the neighborhoods, into the places where the people lived. He didn’t wait for the people to come to them–he sent them out. They didn’t need a lot for their journey either. I’m assuming this was an act of trust. God would provide what they needed. If they were welcomed, they would stay and proclaim the Good News of the Gospel. If they were not welcomed, they weren’t to sit around and complain, they kicked the dust off their feet and kept going.

 

Jesus sent them. Jesus sends us. John 20:21 reads, Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” He is sending you. He is sending me. The model is not to sit in a church building and wait for people to come. The model is to go into the neighborhoods, to go into the grocery stores, to go into the schools, the workplaces, the health clubs, the bars, the golf courses. You get the idea. We are to go. And we don’t need a lot of stuff–we just need Jesus. Do you live like a sent person?

 

I’ll be honest.  This concept of living like a sent person has changed how I think of mission.  Mission is not going somewhere to provide care or support for an underprivileged group of people.  Well, it is that, but it is so much more than that.   Mission is a way of life, in which we listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and recognize that God is calling us to share who we are in Jesus wherever we go.  Not just on special trips.  Not just on Sunday mornings.  We are SENT people and that touches every single area of our lives, all day long, every day, wherever we happen to be. 

 

One other interesting thing to note about this part of today’s passage is Herod’s reaction to what Jesus’ disciples are doing.  He is feeling threatened.  He wonders if John the Baptist has come back from the dead.  He doesn’t understand Jesus or his followers.  Friends, expect people to not understand you too.  Don’t be worried about that.  Just love them.

 

We go from there to the feeding of the 5,000.  This is a familiar passage which we have seen in the other Gospels as well.  The gist of the miracle is the same.  They are in a remote place and the people have followed them.  Not just a few people, but thousands upon thousands.  The disciples want Jesus to send them away.  Most likely, they are tired and hungry.  This wasn’t their plan for the evening. 

But what happens?  Jesus tells them to feed the people.  Here we get the expected reaction, “Hmmm...no way.  We don’t have enough food.  We don’t have enough time.  We don’t have enough money.”  It’s fascinating  that Jesus is putting the responsibility on the disciples to solve the problem.  You do it.  In Mark, the disciples complain “but that would take half a year’s wages to feed all these people.”  So, Jesus talks them through it.  What do you have?  Well, we have five loaves of bread and two fish. 

Jesus takes what is available and multiplies it.  This is such a wonderful miracle of abundance.  All the people ate until they were full, something quite unusual at the time.  And there were a lot of people. Saying there were 5,000 men means there were actually more like 15,000 people including the women and children. 

The disciples were tasked with carrying home all the leftovers.  I’m guessing this was so they would continually be reminded that God is so much bigger than they ever could imagine, that Jesus will find a way no matter how impossible the situation might seem.  Jesus can take five loaves of bread and two fish and feed 15,000 people.  He can defy the laws of nature.  I mean, he created the laws of nature. 

I’m not sure how many of you are currently dealing with something that seems impossible, that seems like there is no solution – a health crisis, a broken relationship, a financial mess.  If you hear nothing else from this devotional today, I want you to hear that NOTHING, no problem, is too big for our God.  God can and will make a way.  But, we have to release it to him.  We have to allow him to take care of it the way he sees fit.  It might not be, it probably won’t be, the way we would do it.  But there is always a way. 

We move from this incredible miracle to Jesus very pointedly asking his disciples about his identify.  Who do the crowds say I am?  And then, more importantly, who do you say I am?  Just like he did in the other Gospel accounts, Peter takes on this question with boldness.  “You are the Messiah.”  Boy, will this boldness be tested in the near future! 

 

In Luke’s account, Jesus tells them not to share this revelation with others.  Maybe he fears that doing do will accelerate the timeline.  But there is a timeline.  He will die.  He will head to the cross.  And he walks the disciples through this, although they don’t really get it. 

 

While Jesus knows he is heading to the cross, his followers don’t.  And here he is telling them to pick up their cross and follow him.  They have no idea the cost of following Jesus.  I would say the same is true today.  We don’t really get it.  We don’t understand the cost of following Jesus.  Do we sacrifice?  Do we carry our crosses?  Do we experience pain and suffering for the Gospel?  Jesus said this was part of the journey.

 

What has your journey entailed?  Are you fully submitted to the way of the cross?

Take some time today and pray about this.  Y’all, it’s not easy and I don’t have the answers.  But I know someone who does.

 

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki