Daily Bible Reading 6th August 2026 // Luke 9:18-27
18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
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. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
The 'fulfilment of prophecy' argument was one pre-eminently calculated to impress the Jews, but surely it is impressive to all who think. What in effect it is saying is this: here is a book, the Old Testament, which for centuries prophesied the coming of a King who would establish a kingdom in righteousness, and prophesied that that kingdom should be established through the sufferings and death of the King for the sins of His people. For centuries, that message as a matter of fact and of history was proclaimed. And then - it happened! It came to pass. The King came. In the historical Figure of Jesus of Nazareth the age-old prophecies were seen to work themselves out and fulfil themselves. He lived and suffered and died and rose again, according to the Scriptures, as God said He would, and then the kingdom began to be established in the hearts and lives of men. All over the ancient world the promises of God were fulfilled through Him - lives were blessed and transformed, blind eyes were opened, men turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. It happened! The argument from prophecy is one that cannot lightly be set aside or ignored. What do you make of that, it says? This is the thrust, for us, of the question Jesus asked His disciples that day at Caesarea Philippi.