Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - A Glory Worth the Cost | The Gospels | Luke 9:21–45

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

Why does Jesus reveal his glory right after calling his disciples to take up their cross? What were they meant to understand about who he is? And how does that revelation help us obey when following him feels costly? In today’s episode, Jeff shares how Luke 9:21–45 reveals the glory of Christ so we can trust him enough to surrender everything. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Luke 9:21–45

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. One of the most memorable and impactful moments in a story involves some kind of revelation. It could be the unmasking of a character who's been physically present, yet not fully known. Or it could be the more figurative revelation of a character's true character, where you realize the alleged antagonist is actually the hero, or a seemingly supporting cast member is really in the lead role. When we see who the main character really is,

when the hero is revealed to us with ultimate clarity, we don't just see that one person differently. We see the whole story differently. A powerful character revelation reframes the whole plot and deepens our response to it. And the best of stories, and in real life, character revelations do even more than just change the way people see. They change people themselves. They're revelations that renovate us, altering our character and the people we want to become.

In the ninth chapter of Luke's gospel account, there's this magnificent character revelation that completely blows up any small expectations we would have of Jesus. For us as the readers and for the people who are really there with Jesus in Luke 9, these moments in history reveal Jesus with renewed clarity. And like the best character revelations, this moment reframes the entire story of the Bible, and it clarifies our response to it. It's a revelation that renovates us as we see, know, and live with Jesus here and now. As we approach God's word, let's slow down and ask for his grace, his love, to move through our time.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath, and thank you for your word. We bring before you every part of our life experience in this moment, our joys and our sorrows, the anxiety we carry and the excitement we carry, our calendars and our contingencies. Meet us in this space right now. Jesus, help us abide in you as we engage with your truth. Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through this time in Luke's gospel account. As we read your living word, may it read us and restore us to new life with you. In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, now our passage today comes right after a huge moment in Luke 920, where the apostle Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed king who will restore God's people and God's world. He's not just a teacher, he's not just a prophet, or a spiritual guru. Jesus is the promised king over the entire cosmos. Now that is a huge moment of revelation itself, and it puts the question, who is Jesus right in front of our faces. It causes us to anticipate even more revelation of his character and reflections on how we should respond to him. As we go into verses 21 through 22, Jesus tells the disciples to keep this revelation of his kingship to themselves for now. Doesn't want them to share it, not yet. He also tells them for the

very first time that he, as the son of man, must suffer, be rejected, killed, and be raised after three days. It's a curious statement for someone to make after just being called the Christ, the Messiah. He's the king who's going to be killed and rise again. Makes us wonder, what kind of king is this? Jesus's surprising prediction of his own death is followed by an equally surprising call for his followers to experience their own kind of death. Let's see what he says in verse 23. And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now, this is the response that we're meant to have to King Jesus, to take up our cross daily and follow him. In the first century, his words about taking up our crosses to follow him would have been vivid.

They would have been shocking. The cross was an execution device used to display the might of Rome and instill fear in its enemies. When someone was sentenced to death through the shame of crucifixion, they would carry their cross beam to the pole where they'd be raised up and humiliated. The moment when someone put that cross beam on their shoulders, the moment that they took up their cross, there was no turning back. They became a dead man walking. To take up your cross is to completely surrender your life. Jesus is saying, if you want to create your life on your own terms, you're going to lose it. If you want to earn the full compensation of the world's story, you'll lose everything.

That story isn't big enough or real enough for real life. But he's saying, if you surrender to me as your king, if you'll live within my story, you'll have a life that's real because it's a life with me. Take up your cross and follow me. This kind of surrender isn't just like Jesus take the wheel. This is, Jesus, I'm in the wrong car, on the wrong road, and I need to go with you wherever you're going. I'm surrendering all of myself to you and your story as my king.

Taking up your cross, it's less about the severity or the strength of your faith and more about the sincerity and the scope of your surrender to Jesus. Jesus as your king. It's submitting every realm of life to Jesus's power, to Jesus's purposes, not just one time, but every single day. That's why in Luke's gospel account, Jesus specifically says that we need to take up our crosses daily. He's talking about a daily surrender to the king who will die, rise again, and reign forever. Now, this kind of surrender to Jesus is so significant. that it ought to challenge every single one of us every single day, whether you're new to Christianity or considering who Jesus is for the first time, or if you've been following him for

decades. This calling is so significant that it puts the question of who Jesus is at the very front and center again. Jesus knows that if we're going to take up our crosses and follow him every single day, we'll need to really know who he is. So he gives his closest followers, and you and me, a seismic character revelation in verses 28 through 36. Let's read it now. Now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered,

and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, or in other word as his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud saying,

this is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him. And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone, and they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. This account of Jesus' transfiguration is awesome. Now we might read these words of scripture and think that they belong in some kind of sci-fi series on our favorite streaming service. When Jesus is transfigured before his closest followers, they are a Mount Tabor.

The whole thing seems fantastical and mysterious. People today don't often know what to do with the transfiguration of Jesus here. Though it might seem like Jesus is showing Peter and James and John some kind of miraculous illusion, he's actually displaying something much more significant. He is showing them who he really is. It's not an illusion.

It's a revelation. He's revealing the fullness of his glory as the king who will be crucified and raised so that we too and they two can be changed for his glory so that they too can take up their crosses and live in resurrection life with him. The biblical scholar Patrick Shriner describes the significance of this moment on the mountain,

this way in his book, The Transfiguration of Christ. The Shining Mountain is not only an event to study. It transfigures us as we behold the glorious sun and wait for his return. It's no accident that the Apostle Paul uses transfiguring language to describe our own growth in the Christian life. He says this in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18, and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. The transfiguration of Jesus holds the

key to our transformation in Jesus. If this is who Jesus really is, if he is the reigning, light emanating, life-creating king. Then I have to follow him. I have to worship him. I need to trust him and be changed by him. This is the revelation that will renovate us. Now, as we reflect on this passage, consider the renovation that needs to happen in your own life. As you see Jesus, trust him, and follow him. How is God calling you to take up your cross daily and respond to Jesus with a surrender that is growing in sincerity and scope. There's so many areas that we need to surrender to the lordship of King Jesus, but in this moment, in this particular stretch of your life, what's that one thing that God is putting on your

heart, that God's putting into your mind? Whatever that is for you, whatever that area of surrender is, remember this key truth. The renovation of your life is only possible because of the love and power of Jesus in your life. He has revealed himself, the crucified, risen, and reigning king. Will you let him renovate you? Father, we praise you for fulfilling all of your promises in Jesus, promises to renew your people and your world. You never give up on us.

Jesus, we are in awe of you as your revealed glory, renovates every corner of our lives. Help us take up our crosses daily to follow you. Holy Spirit, relentlessly work this renovation in us as individuals and as a community. We need you more than we know. We pray all of this because of your grace, for your glory, and in your story. In Jesus' name, amen.