Read or listen The Gospel of Luke, chapter 9 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

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On the Mount of Transfiguration, the sending out – Luke 9:1 - 10:24

Jesus' activity in Galilee is coming to an end. Soon the journey to Jerusalem and the cross of Golgotha ​​is ahead. But as long as Jesus is in Galilee, the gospel is being preached. There is a real rush. The disciples are rushing from village to village and city to city so that as many as possible can hear about Jesus.

The sending of the twelve apostles - Luke 9:1-6

Although this "preaching tour" of the apostles was unique, and as such we should not seek to imitate it, there is much for us to learn from the story.

Right from the beginning, Luke emphasizes that Jesus called the apostles and also authorized them. The same is true of priests today: no one can be ordained a priest unless he has the office for which he is ordained. This is called a vocation, or calling; no one can become a priest, but pastors are called. God's call and authorization is the starting point for all the work of the kingdom of God. The power in this work comes from God, not from man. It is futile to imagine that the cause of the kingdom of heaven will progress by human means.

The word apostle comes from the Greek word "apostelloo", "to send", therefore "messenger" or "sent". The apostles have two missions on this preaching tour: first, to proclaim the kingdom of God and second, to heal the sick. Healing the sick was not just social work or doing good, but was connected to the proclamation of the gospel: the healing of the sick was a sign that the kingdom of God had indeed come near.

The sending out also involved a test. One was not allowed to prepare for the journey, but had to trust in God’s provision (Matt. 6:33). Later, Jesus gave different instructions about equipment for the proclaimers of the gospel (Luke 22:36). Here, the lack of equipment resembles the equipment of the Essenian preachers, which the Jewish historian Josephus has described. The only significant difference is that the Essenes carried a staff as a defensive weapon, while Jesus’ disciples had to leave their safety in God’s care.

If the apostles' message was not accepted, even the dust that had come to their clothes had to be shaken off. This was a sign, a reminder and a warning that at the last judgment the inhabitants of that city would have nothing in common with the followers of Jesus. The pious Jews did the same when they came from pagan territory to Jewish territory. Now the roles were reversed.

Herod Antipas' reflections on Jesus - Luke 9:7-9

Luke mentions the beheading of John the Baptist only very briefly. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled Galilee and Perea. He had imprisoned and executed John the Baptist. Herod wanted to see Jesus, about whom strange stories were told. Above all, Herod wanted to see some miracle. He was a Hellenistic freethinker, and therefore of course did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Herod and Jesus did meet on the last day of Jesus’ life (Luke 23:7-12), but then Herod encountered a silent Messiah.

Feeding the five thousand men - Luke 9:10-17

After the disciples returned, Jesus moved east of the Jordan, into the Gentile territory ruled by Philip. But the people followed him and the intended break was not possible. Jesus did not reject the people, but preached the gospel to them and healed the sick. This continued until the evening, so feeding the crowd became a problem.

Jesus told his disciples to divide the people into groups to eat. Here it is easy to see the similarity to the events of Israel's desert journey (Numbers 1-2). The enormity of the miracle is illustrated by the fact that there were 12 baskets of leftovers from the five loaves, or about 150 liters. The people also understood that something truly miraculous had happened (John 6:14-15), they experienced the miracle of manna repeated in a new way.

The importance of this story in the early church is illustrated by the fact that only the story of the Passion and the miracle of the feeding are told in all four Gospels. Clear references to the Eucharist can be seen in the story (compare especially John 6:22-59).

Who is Jesus? – Luke 9:18-27

At this point, Luke leaves out a large section of Mark's Gospel (Mark 6:45-8:26). Usually, Luke and Matthew follow Mark's structure quite closely, but now Luke omits the "circular journey" described by Mark, which started in Bethsaida and went through Galilee, the region of Tyre, and the Decapolis back to Bethsaida. Some scholars have even speculated that the Gospel of Mark that Luke knew was only a draft, a shorter version that lacked the section in question. It may be that the reason for the omission is quite simple: already in its current form, Luke's Gospel is the longest of the Gospels, so he had to leave out some of the material that Luke knew of so that it would not become too long.

Another explanation for this omission is that this is how Luke got three answers to the question in verse 9: "Who is Jesus?"
1. verse 19 is the people's (wrong) answer
2. verse 20 is Peter's answer
3. verse 35 is God's answer.

Peter once again acted as the spokesman for the disciples: the people (John 6:14-15) had been right in considering Jesus as the promised Messiah. That confession became both a unifying and a dividing factor. It united Christians: they are those who consider Jesus to be the promised Messiah, the Son of God. But it also divided: the Jews soon expelled from their synagogues all who considered Jesus to be the Messiah, the condition for remaining in synagogue membership was to curse Christ (from 90 AD onwards).

Values ​​upside down

Peter was right and yet wrong at the same time (compare Matt 16:16-23). ​​Jesus was the Messiah, but not the Messiah Peter thought and expected. The Jews expected a glorious Messiah, a victorious military leader who would lead the people in a victorious liberation battle. But Jesus was the suffering Messiah (Isaiah 53), not a political leader. That is why the disciples had to keep quiet about this, because the Jews would have misunderstood Jesus' messiahship. At the same time, Jesus' entire mission would have been made more difficult.

The disciples still had the opportunity to leave Jesus' company. Soon (Luke 9:51) the journey towards Jerusalem and the cross would begin. All of this would greatly test the disciples' faith. Therefore, they had to know that following Jesus would not be free, but would have to be paid for.

The disciples also had to understand whom they were following. However, they did not understand this, and thought until the end that the cross and suffering were not part of Jesus' path (compare Luke 24:21).

Taking up the cross was a cruel, real image for the disciples: for them it was above all an image of the death sentence, at that time there were many crucifixions. For us the image is broader, for us it tells us above all about self-denial; we must accept the part that Jesus wants to give us.

The cross was and is also a watershed in another sense. It is relatively easy for a person who has been secularized until then, even an atheist, to accept the stories about Jesus: he was a great teacher who suffered a wrongly imposed death sentence. But when we bring up the deepest truths of the Christian faith: the atoning death and the resurrection, human reason finds them impossible to accept. That requires faith, the work of God in us.

In the new life that Jesus gives to his followers, values ​​are different from those in this earthly life. What is important and great to us in the world is worthless and small in the kingdom of heaven; the last will be first and vice versa.

The Problem with Verse 27

The interpretation of verse 27 has produced many different theories and explanations. When Matthew and Mark write the same passage in slightly different words; Mark 9:1 "...see the kingdom of God come with power" and Matt 16:28 "...see the Son of Man coming as king in his kingdom", it is difficult to say for sure who Jesus' words refer to and when that prophecy would be fulfilled.

The main theories are:
1. Jesus was talking about his transfiguration, which is described next.
2. Jesus was talking about his resurrection.
3. Jesus was talking about his ascension.
4. Jesus was talking about Pentecost.
5. Jesus was talking about his second coming.

The kingdom of God came in Jesus (Luke 17:20-21), so the main emphasis in this context will probably be on the word "in power" in Mark's Gospel. Once again, we see that many Bible prophecies are multi-level: the closest fulfillment was very close: on the Mount of Transfiguration the disciples received a "glimpse" of Jesus' kingship. On a deeper level, that kingship was revealed in the resurrection, but it will be finally revealed to all people only at Jesus' second coming.

On the Mount of Transfiguration – Luke 9:28-36

Christian tradition has two versions of the location of the Mount of Transfiguration: one considers Mount Tabor in Galilee to be the Mount of Transfiguration, the other the more northerly Mount Hermon. Apparently the mountain was Hermon, which was quite close to the places where the events described above and below took place. Secondly, it has been noted that the peak of Mount Tabor was already inhabited at that time.

While the disciples were sleeping, Jesus was transfigured (passive form, i.e., an expression of God's action) and Elijah and Moses appeared to him. Elijah represents the prophets and Moses the law. The law and the prophets testified about Jesus (compare Luke 24:27). Furthermore, the Old Testament had a prophecy of both returning at the end of time (Deuteronomy 18:15 and Mal 4:5). Elijah and Moses spoke of what would soon happen to Jesus in Jerusalem. The cross was not an accident, but was part of God's plan (note also the "must" in verse 22).

When Elijah and Moses were leaving, Peter wanted to build tents for them and stay on the mountain. This is familiar to us: from spiritual peak moments, one does not always want to return to ordinary life and its difficulties. However, God wants his people to spread the message about him to those who do not yet have a connection with God.

Finally, the mountain was covered by a cloud, a sign of God's appearance and presence (Exodus 40:34-38), from which the voice (of God) was heard confirming that Jesus was the promised (suffering) Messiah (compare Isaiah 42:1, part of the song of the Lord's suffering servant).

After returning from the mountain, the disciples Peter, James, and John (Matt. 17:1) remained silent about the events, but after the cross and resurrection they spoke about them (2 Pet. 1:16-18).

Casting out a demon from a boy – Luke 9:37-43

After spending the night on the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples had to return to everyday life, to a world that was deficient and unhappy in many ways. The illness of the boy described here has often been considered epilepsy, but some kind of mental illness has also been suggested. The father spoke of an evil spirit, a demon.

Medical science has revealed to us much that people of that time did not know about diseases, but in the end, all diseases are ultimately a battle in which the Enemy of Souls tries to destroy God's good creations.

The second revelation of suffering - Luke 9:43-45

Jesus wanted to remind his disciples that the admiration and praise of the people should not distract them from carrying the cross that was before them. Even though there was praise now, soon there would be cries of "crucify him." Success and recognition are still obscuring the cross of Christ from our eyes today!

The pride of the disciples - Luke 9:46-50

Wrong ideas and expectations about Jesus also led the disciples astray in their assessment of their own role. It is downright shocking that when Jesus spoke of his coming death, the disciples talked about who was the greatest among them. Jesus' word had not been understood, and therefore it was not allowed to do its work in the disciples.

Overestimating one's own part also led to underestimating others. A foreign exorcist was not accepted, even if he used the name of Jesus. For example, the disciples of the Pharisees are known to have practiced exorcisms (compare Acts 19:13-16). But Jesus was more open-minded than the disciples. Not being "in the faith" should not lead to rejection of a person. Christians have always been tempted to try to claim Jesus for themselves or for their own group.

Notice the difference: “He who is not with me is against me” (Luke 11:23), but “He who is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:50) The watershed is Jesus alone, not groups or trends defined by men.

However, it is also worth considering what is saving faith, what is just the external utterance of the name of Christ (compare the sons of Sceva in Acts 19:13-18). Imitating Jesus does not save anyone (Luke 6:46-49).

 

From Galilee to Jerusalem Luke 9:51 - 19:44

Now begins Luke's long description of Jesus' last journey towards Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-19:44). Luke tells us about events in both Samaria and east of the Jordan, but the entire time he is on the road toward Jerusalem (9:53, 13:22, 33; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11,28).

Jesus is rejected in a Samaritan village – Luke 9:51-56

There were two roads leading from Galilee to Jerusalem: the more direct one through Samaria and the more commonly used one east of the Jordan.

The Samaritan mixed people came into being when Assyria defeated Israel and took part of the people into exile and replaced them with other peoples (722-720 BC, 2 Kings 17). The exile of Judah began later (586 BC) and after returning (in the 530s) the people began to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem that had been destroyed in the war.

The Samaritans wanted to participate in the construction, but they were not accepted, so they began to make the construction of the temple difficult and succeeded in delaying the construction work, so that the temple was not completed until 515 BC. (Ezra 4). When the Jews later destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim (compare Joh 4:20), it was clear that the two peoples did not get along. Today, there are about 800 Samaritans.

The reason given for rejecting Jesus and his companions is precisely that they were on their way to Jerusalem (verse 53). James and John would have wanted to act like the prophet Elijah, who called down fire from heaven to destroy the two armies of the king of Israel (2 Kings 1:10-12) - and also according to their name: "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). But Jesus did not allow this. The group went to another Samaritan village. Jesus himself suffered from prejudice during his life.

The story reminds us that Jesus and his company regularly needed a place to stay when they were outside of Capernaum. Friends also served their Master by providing him and his disciples with a place to stay for the night.

The Kingdom of God or the World? – Luke 9:57-62

The first of the stories is about the cost of discipleship. Jesus was not of this world, so his followers cannot live on this world either.

The second story emphasizes how important is the moment when Jesus calls us.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and death, and after this the man would have no more opportunity to meet Jesus and hear his call. The man's response can be interpreted as a polite excuse: "I will come after my father is dead!" Jews buried their dead on the day of death or the day after, so a man would likely have been at his father's wake or funeral if he had died very recently.

The third story is based on the accounts of Elijah calling Elisha to be his successor (1 Kings 19:19-20) and Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). Elijah allowed Elisha to say goodbye to his loved ones, but Jesus did not.

The man's request meant that he wanted to ask his parents for permission to follow Jesus. It is clear that his parents would not have allowed him to do so. So the question was about an excuse: "I would have followed Jesus, but my parents forbade me." The question was ultimately about who had greater authority and significance: Jesus or the parents. In the Middle East, the authority of parents was and is great. Jesus also refers to a phenomenon familiar from everyday life: if a plowman starts looking back, the furrow becomes crooked. The fields of Palestine were plowed three times. If the plowman was not careful, he could make the next plowing difficult or ruin the previous plowing.