Luke 9: How Jesus Made Headlines

Our consumer culture envies the pursuit of publicity for its organization’s latest product or service. Fans camp out for the latest iPad or film release. Politicians even pay attention to the ever-changing trends in popular culture, knowing their message is impacted by what happens elsewhere.

But how did Jesus make headlines?

It’s an interesting question. In some ways, he didn’t. Jesus didn’t publish bestselling novels, direct a film, or start the First-Century equivalent of Microsoft or Facebook.

On the flip side, his activities garnered the attention of the king, the religious leaders, and eventually led to a death sentence.

One intriguing aspect in Luke 9 is revealed in the response of Herod. Luke notes:

⁷ Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸ others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. ⁹ But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.

Herod “heard” things. A new teacher with healing powers had arrived. He spoke about the kingdom of God and scared away demons. This was even bigger than a camel-skin wearing preacher on the riverside. Herod, as a result, tried to see him.

What are you doing to follow Jesus that would attract the attention of others? I’m not talking about a stadium event or suing your state over some religious liberty issue. What are you doing to attract the attention of those around you by the faith you live?

Jesus loved people, cared for the outsider, spoke against the abuses of religious leaders in his society, offered hope, healing, and eternal life. The more we do what he did, the more we’ll receive the response he did.

Hopefully that won’t include the death sentence part, but it will draw attention to Jesus, the one who died for us so we could have new life. This new life, lived out in the ordinary activities of each day, continues today to make headlines, changes the world, and changes eternity.

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Dillon Burroughs has written, co-written, or edited over 60 books, including the upcoming devotional work Thirst No More (October 2011). He served as an associate editor for The Apologetics Study Bible for Students and is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. Find out more at DillonBurroughs.org.