Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What’s Drawing You to Jesus? | The Gospels | Luke 9:1–20

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

What is it that draws people to Jesus in the first place? Can fear and desperation be powerful, spiritual wake-up calls? And why are those things still not enough on their own? In today’s episode, Patrick shares how Luke 9:1–20 shows that while many are drawn to Jesus for different reasons, only those who submit to him as King find the life they’re truly seeking. 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 9:1–20

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 Patrick Miller. Last summer, I went fly fishing for the first time. My friends had hired a guide to take us to a remote lake in the interior of Iceland, and I quickly discovered that fly fishing is far more complex than I ever could have imagined. The guide came equipped with countless little handmade flies, and each was a different color or a different way to draw out different kinds of fish at different times of day.

so he had one kind of fly for an Arctic char, a different kind for a brown trout. Now, I know it will surprise no one to admit that I caught very few fish during my first expedition. Only three, very, very small Arctic char. In fact, they were so small I couldn't even keep them. So I am not a master fisherman, nor did I become one on that day. I was just a student and a poor one at that. As I was sitting out there casting or doing what I call casting, I was thinking about Jesus' words to the disciples.

that he would make them into fishers of men. Of course, that implied that he himself was the master fisher, and they would be expected to learn how he threw down his nets and lured fish and hauled them aboard. Throughout the Gospel of Luke, we see countless people drawn to Jesus for different reasons. But in Chapter 9, Luke seems to want us to ask ourselves a question as his readers. What's drawn me to Christ? I mean, I was the fish once, right? What got me hooked on Jesus?

what was the net that pulled me into his boat? Let's pick up in verse 7, where Jesus gets a rather unusual fish on the line. Now Herod, the Tetrarch, heard about what was going on, and he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But Herod said, I beheaded John. Who then is this that I hear such things about? And he tried to see see Jesus. Now, Herod is an unusual fish to catch because he's a very powerful man, a ruler over a whole region of Judea. He's even more surprising because he's the man who beheaded Jesus' second cousin, John the Baptist. And John the Baptist was the man who first affirmed that Jesus was the one

who would bring the kingdom of God on earth as in heaven. So of all the people to be interested in Jesus, Herod is a total surprise. Isn't he the enemy of Jesus? Well, yes, in many ways. In many ways, he is, and yet he still wants to see Jesus. Why? Well, it seems like two things are mixed together, fear and interest. He hears about the miracles and wants to see them for himself. But even more than that, I think he's afraid. You see, he didn't particularly want to behead John, but he allowed himself to be coaxed into it because of his stepdaughter in a really weird risque situation. But now that he's hearing rumors that maybe John the Baptist has come back from the dead or a problem, prophet from the Old Testament has returned, well, rather than discounting those rumors,

Herod is afraid of them. If someone he put to death came back to life, what would that mean for him? Was his life in danger? Was his throne in danger? Or perhaps was his soul in danger? If a dead man walked, then maybe he was at odds with the litem. If a man he killed was walking alive, then maybe he was at odds with the living God. There are two things we learn about what draws us to Jesus here. The first is that we should never assume that someone is beyond Jesus's reach. No one would think that Herod would be interested in Jesus. They'd say he's too powerful. He's too rich. He's too anti-religious to be interested. But they'd be wrong. Who in your life have you written off? Who have you assumed could never be interested in Christ? Perhaps it was

because of their antagonism towards your faith. Or perhaps it's because you think they're too rich or too influential or too put together to see their need. Don't assume because Jesus has drawn stranger people to himself in the past. The second thing we learned is that fear sometimes actually draws people to Jesus. To be honest, this is kind of a hard pill for me to swallow. I've never been a fan of preaching or teaching that quote unquote puts the fear of God into people or puts the fear of hell into people.

That's in part because I think they can be manipulative, but it's also in part because Jesus rarely treats sinful lost people that way. He puts the fear of God not into the sinners, but into the self-righteous. He puts the fear of God not into the tax collectors, but into the Pharisees. He puts the fear of God, not into the Roman centurions, but to the Jewish people who had rejected him. And yet, that said, it's true. Sometimes fear will draw people to. to Jesus. People fear what will happen to them after death. People fear what will happen to them

if there is a God and if they don't know him or they don't obey him. People fear what their future holds. This is why people sometimes come to faith at the end of life or after a cancer diagnosis or after a loved one dies. Because when they're faced with their own mortality, while every single one of us, we experience some level of fear and that fear can point us toward Jesus. Jesus though, he doesn't want us to stay in fear. But sometimes he gives us that gift of fear, to humble us, and to show us our need. What fears have driven you to Jesus? The story goes on and we meet a very different group of people who are drawn to Jesus for a very different reason. And that's because they're hungry. We'll pick up in verse 10. When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done.

Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Besseda. But the crowd learned about it and they followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing. Late in the afternoon, the 12 came to him and said, send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging because we are in a remote place here. He replied, you give them something to eat. They answered, we have only five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. About 5,000 men were there. But he said to the disciples, have them sit down in groups of about 50 each. The disciples did so, and everyone sat down, taking the five loaves and the two fishes,

and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate, and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. So the crowds here, they're hung up. They're hungry for healing first and foremost, and then they're hungry for teaching, and lastly, they're hungry for food. And again, this is something else that often draws people to Jesus. We have a hunger. We are starving for a sense of meaning and purpose and life.

We are starving for wisdom and direction. We're starving for healing and restoration. What hungers have driven you to Jesus? What internal longings have pointed you toward him? Now, here's the catch. Hunger and fear? Well, they aren't enough. Many who experience fear will come to Jesus, but few will take his peace. Many who experience hunger will come to Jesus, but few will eat his bread. Only those who bow to him as king, who look to him as Savior, will really and truly receive him.

And this is exactly the point that Luke makes in the next few verses. Verse 18, once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples, were with him, he asked them, Who did the crowd say that I am? And they replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life. But who do you say I am?

He asked, who do you say that I am? Peter answered, God's Messiah. Come to Jesus to relieve your fears. Come to Jesus to feed your hungers. But know that it's a God's Messiah. But know that it's only those who come to him and call him Messiah, that call him king, that call him Savior. They are the only ones who will have their deepest needs met.

He's no mere teacher or prophet or reincarnation of John the Baptist. He is something more. And it's only when we see him as something more that we'll get caught up into his net and taken by him forever.