This sermon from Luke explores the disciples’ failure to understand Jesus’ prediction of His suffering and death, revealing their misplaced expectations of glory without the cross. While the crowds marvel at Jesus’ miracles, He urges His disciples to internalize the hard truth of His coming betrayal, showing that suffering is central to His mission. Pastor Wolf emphasizes that Christ’s atonement is fundamentally about substitution—Jesus dying in our place—not just a demonstration of love or victory over evil. He warns against the modern tendency to dilute or ignore difficult doctrines and stresses the need for humility, prayerful dependence on God for understanding, and a willingness to receive the whole Christ. The sermon concludes with Jesus correcting the disciples’ prideful debate about greatness by pointing to the humility and low status of a child as the true mark of kingdom greatness.
