“Our Great God”
Luke 9:37-45
March 15, 2026
In recent years, it seems that there has been a fair bit of talk about GOATs. Not goats, as in “domesticated, social, and intelligent mammals in the Bovidae family, related to sheep, known for providing milk, meat, and fiber.” GOATs as in the Greatest of All-Time. As in Willie Mays or Babe Ruth or Shohei Ohtani. Or Tom Brady or Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach. Or Michael Jordan or Kareem Abdul Jabar or Larry Bird. Or Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods. Or Muhammed Ali. Or “2001: a Space Odyssey” or “Citizen Kane” or “Vertigo.”
It makes you wonder — just what makes greatness? Something new? Something uniquely powerful? Something newly influential? Something enduring? What is great? Who is great?
The debates about what constitutes greatness and who is great are not new. When the crowds considered Christ, they misunderstood greatness. They thought the healing miracles and the feeding miracle were great. And they were amazed by the powerful preaching. And they missed the true greatness behind His words and works — that He was the Son of Man, the expected Messiah.
Even the disciples misunderstood the greatness of Christ. After He stilled the Sea they asked, “Who then is this…?” (8:25). They knew He was powerful; they didn’t yet see His greatness. And in this account, His greatness is again on display, and we will see next week that they entirely misunderstood Him.
When reading the narratives of the Bible, we can often discern how the author is using the story by paying attention to the statements of the people and the author’s interpretations. And that is true in this account: how the crowd responds to the healing of the demoniac boy is the point of the story (though even they miss the true significance of their own statement): “And they were all amazed at the greatness of God” (v. 43a). God is great. And God revealed in the God-Man Jesus, is great:
Follow Christ (believe in Him) because He (alone) is great.
Luke is continuing the theme of verse 23 — take up your cross and follow Christ. Believe in Him. Submit to Him. Love Him. Obey Him. Why? Because, these verses tell us, He is great. In these verses wonder at two pictures that reveal the one theme of God’s greatness.
- Christ is Great: He’s Greater Than Satan and Suffering (vv. 37-43a)
- He is compassionate towards suffering (vv. 37-41)
- He is powerful over Satan (vv. 42-43a)
- Christ is Great: He’s Greater Than Sin (vv. 43b-45)
- He is humble to suffer (vv. 43b-44)
- He is sufficient to save (vv. 44-45)
Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 9:37-45.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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