Luke 9
OGC**Butler’s Comments
Chapter Nine
(Luke 9:1-62)**
THE SON OF MAN ANTICIPATING HIS EXODUS
IDEAS TO INVESTIGATE:
Are the instructions to the twelve disciples about evangelism applicable to all Christians (Luke 9:1-6)?
Why did Jesus tell the twelve disciples to give the thousands of hungry people something to eat (Luke 9:13)?
If Jesus wanted to know what people thought of Him, why did He tell the disciples to tell no one who He was (Luke 9:18-22)?
Who would not taste death until they should see the kingdom of God (Luke 9:27)?
To what extent was Jesus-’ appearance altered on the high mountain (Luke 9:28-36)?
How could Jesus-’ deliverance into the hands of wicked men be concealed from His disciples if He had already predicted it to them (Luke 9:45)?
Why wouldn-’t the Samaritans let Jesus and His disciples stay over in their country (Luke 9:51-56)?
**Applebury’s Comments
CHAPTER NINE
Outline**
A.
Luke told about the extension of Jesus ministry (Luke 9:1-17).
The first mission of the twelve (Luke 9:1-6).
a)
He called them together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases.
b)
He sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
c)
He gave them instructions for the journey: Take no staff, wallet, bread, money or extra clothes; go to someone’s house and stay there until time to depart; if any reject your message, shake the dust off your feet to show your disapproval and their responsibility.
d)
They went throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
The reaction of Herod to His ministry (Luke 9:7-9).
a)
He was perplexed by the rumors that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead, or that Elijah had appeared, or that one of the old prophets had risen.
b)
He had beheaded John, but who was Jesus? He wanted to see Him.
Feeding the five thousand (Luke 9:10-17).
a)
The circumstances.
(1)
It was after the apostles had returned and told Him what they had done that He took them and went to a city called Bethsaida.
(2)
The multitudes were aware of it and followed.
(3)
He welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those in need of healing.
b)
The problem the twelve faced and what Jesus did about it.
(1)
As the day began to wear away, they came to Him and urged that the crowds be sent to the villages to find food and lodging.
(2)
He said, You give them something to eat, but they had only five loaves and two fish. Should they go and buy food for all these people, about five thousand men?
(3)
Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups of fifty. Then He took the loaves and the fish and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitudes.
c)
The result of the miracle.
(1)
They ate and were filled.
(2)
There was taken up of what remained of the broken pieces, twelve baskets.
B.
Luke told how Jesus prepared His disciples for their ministry (Luke 9:18-62).
The necessity of the cross (Luke 9:18-27).
a)
The cross in the mission of the Messiah (Luke 9:18-22).
(1)
Jesus was praying; the disciples were with Him.
(2)
He asked, Who do the multitudes say that I am?
(3)
They answered, John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the old prophets risen again.
(4)
He asked, But who do you say that I am?
(5)
Peter answered, The Christ of God.
(6)
Jesus made His point after charging them to tell this to no man by saying, The Son of Man must be rejected by the leaders and be killed, and on the third day be raised up.
b)
The cross in the life of His followers (Luke 9:23-27).
(1)
He said, If any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
(2)
He explained, For whosoever would save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, this one shall save it.
(3)
He asked, What, indeed, is a man profited by gaining the whole world and losing himself?
(4)
He explained this loss: Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him when He comes in glory that is His and the Father’s and of the holy angels.
(5)
In contrast to that coming, He said that some of those present would not taste death till they should see the kingdom of God.
Complete dependence on Christ (Luke 9:28-45).
a)
Revealed in the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36).
(1)
It occurred about eight days after the lesson about the cross when Jesus took Peter, John and James and went into the mountain to pray.
(2)
As He was praying, a change came over His face and His garments became white, flashing like lightning.
(3)
Then Moses and Elijah appeared to Him, speaking about His departure to be accomplished at Jerusalem.
(4)
Peter and the others had been asleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two who stood with Him.
(5)
Peter proposed that they put up three tents, one for each of them, not realizing that they were not needed.
(6)
A cloud overshadowed them; they were afraid as they entered the cloud; a Voice said, This is my Son, my chosen; Hear ye Him!
(7)
After the Voice spoke, Jesus was alone. The disciples told no one what they had seen.
b)
Demonstrated in the cure of the epileptic boy (Luke 9:37-45).
(1)
On the next day when they had come down from the mountain, a man from the crowd asked Jesus to help his demon-possessed son.
(2)
The disciples hadn-’t been able to cast it out.
(3)
Jesus said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? Then He said, Bring your son here.
(4)
The demon convulsed the boy, but Jesus rebuked it and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
(5)
All were astonished at the majesty of God.
(6)
While they were marveling, Jesus said to the disciples, Listen carefully, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men.
(7)
They didn-’t understand, but were afraid to ask Him what He meant.
Necessary principles to direct them (Luke 9:46-62).
a)
True greatness explained (Luke 9:46-50).
(1)
The little child in their midst (Luke 9:46-48).
(a)
The disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest.
(b)
Jesus, pointing to the child, said, The least among you is the one who is great.
(2)
The unknown miracle worker (Luke 9:49-50).
(a)
He was casting out a demon in Jesus name.
(b)
John said, We forbade him because he didn-’t follow with us.
(c)
Jesus said, Don-’t forbid him; he that is not against you is for you.
b)
Rashness forbidden (Luke 9:51-55).
(1)
Jesus, approaching the time of the ascension, set out to go to Jerusalem.
(2)
He sent messengers into the Samaritan village to prepare for Him.
(3)
They didn-’t receive Him because He was going to Jerusalem.
(4)
James and John asked, Lord, shall we call fire from heaven and consume them?
(5)
Jesus rebuked their rashness, and they went to another village.
c)
Complete dedication demanded (Luke 9:57-62).
(1)
A volunteer who failed to realize the necessity of following Him unselfishly.
(2)
One who was invited to follow who failed to realize the need to follow unconditionally.
(3)
Another volunteer who failed to realize the need to follow Him unintermittently.
Summary
The incidents recorded in this chapter may be gathered up under two general headings: (1) Those things which Jesus did to extend the influence of His ministry, and (2) what He did to prepare His disciples for their work after His ascension. The importance of this preparation is seen in the fact that He was depending on them to take His gospel into all the world. The mission of the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel was a training experience to prepare them for their worldwide mission. Rumors of Jesus-’ miracles reached the ears of Herod the tetrarch. An aroused conscience asked, Who is this? Herod answered, John the Baptist whom I beheaded. His only thought was, Kill him too. A little later, the Pharisees warned Jesus to leave the district, for, they said, Herod wants to kill you. People by the thousands were following Jesus wherever He went. In a lonely place where no food was to be found except a boy’s lunch, He fed the five thousand on the loaves and fish. Even though He had worked such a miracle, He reminded the disciples that there was a cross to be borne, a cross for Him and a cross that meant self-denial for all who would follow Him. The Twelve were completely dependent on Him. In the Transfiguration they were taught the necessity of obeying Him. In the cure of the epileptic boy they learned the meaning of faith in Him who had given them power to perform miracles. He taught them the meaning of true greatness, and stopped their wrangling over which one was to have first place among them. He rebuked their rashness that would have destroyed the Samaritan village and left the door open for the preaching of the gospel by Philip the evangelist. Jesus dramatically demonstrated what His demand for complete dedication meant. He rejected the volunteer who offered to follow Him but who had not counted the cost. He rejected another whom He had invited to follow Him when he said, Yes, but first let me bury my father. A third one volunteered, but Jesus demanded full-time service, for, He said, the one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.
Questions
How did Jesus extend the effectiveness of His ministry?
How did He train His disciples for the task of carrying the gospel into all the world?
What made the difference between the power of the disciples to cast out demons and the attempts of the Jewish exorcists to do so?
What were the disciples to preach on their first mission?
Why take nothing for the journey?
What did they mean by shaking the dust off their feet?
What did Jesus say He would do before they finished the task he gave them on this first mission?
Why did Herod think that Jesus was John the Baptist?
What can cleanse an evil conscience?
How does the feeding of the five thousand show the influence of Jesus-’ ministry?
Where did it take place?
What lesson did Jesus teach the people after it was over?
Why did Jesus tell the apostles to give the crowd something to eat?
How did Jesus demonstrate the necessity of organization in carrying out His work?
Why gather up the broken pieces?
What was Jesus doing just before Peter made the good confession?
Why did He ask, Who do men say that I am?
Why would some say John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the old prophets?
What does Thou art the Christ mean?
What does Son of God mean?
On what was the church built?
Why did Jesus mention the gates of Hades? What is Hades?
Why did Jesus restrain them from telling others that He is the Christ?
Why was the cross necessary for Jesus?
What does the cross mean in the life of His followers?
How did He explain self-denial?
What of the one who is ashamed of Jesus and His words?
How was it possible for some to see the kingdom of God before they died?
Whom did Jesus take with Him into the mountain where He was transfigured?
What is the name of the mountain?
What did Peter write about his experience in that mountain?
Why had Jesus gone into the mountain?
What was the meaning of the Transfiguration to Christ? to the apostles?
Why were Moses and Elijah permitted to appear with Jesus?
What did they talk about?
Why did Peter want to build the three tabernacles?
What is the significance of the message of the Voice that came out of the cloud?
What explanation did Jesus make about the disciples-’ question concerning the coming of Elijah?
What had the disciples tried to do while Jesus was in the mountain?
Why did they fail?
What is the difference between the faith of the woman in the crowd and the faith which the apostles lacked?
Why did Jesus refer to the faithless generation?
Why didn-’t the disciples understand Jesus-’ prediction of His crucifixion?
Why did the disciples discuss the issue of greatness?
How did Jesus answer their problem?
Why did Jesus tell them not to forbid the unknown miracle worker?
Why did the Samaritans refuse lodging for Jesus and the disciples?
What did James and John propose that justifies their nickname, Sons of thunder?
How did Jesus-’ attitude affect the Samaritan situation later?
Why did Jesus reject the man who volunteered to follow Him?
What does this mean: Let the dead bury the dead?
Why did putting the hand to the plow and looking back make one unfit for the kingdom of God?
Luke 9:1-6
Applebury’s Comments
The Mission of the Twelve Scripture
Luke 9:1-6 And he called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 And he sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; either have two coats. 4 And into whatsoever house ye enter, there abide, and thence depart. 5 And as many as receive you not, when ye depart from that city, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony against them. 6 And they departed, and went throughout the villages, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.
*Comments
And he called the twelve together.*The account of choosing the twelve is given in Luke 6:12-16. They are now being sent out on their first mission. The Master not only chose them, but He also instructed them and sent them out to share in the work that not even He could do alone. This became a training experience for the greater task of carrying the gospel into all the world (Mark 16:15-16).
*power and authority over all demons.*The message they would speak would be given them by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:20). The miracles were their credentials, proving the God spoke through them. Jesus gave them power and authority to exercise it in casting out demons and curing diseases. Some, such as Jewish exorcists and some faith healers today, to whom no such power has been given have tried to exercise authority in these areas. Luke gives at least two examples of the utter failure of all such unauthorized efforts. See Acts 19:13-16 and Jesus reference to Jewish exorcists in Luke 11:19.
*to preach the kingdom of God.*They were to proclaim God’s rule in the hearts of men. People needed to let God direct their lives. This is the same message John had preached. It must be proclaimed to every generation.
*Take nothing for your journey.*On this first mission, they were to go among Jewish brethren who understood the meaning of hospitality and respect for teachers. But rejecting their message meant rejecting Christ; rejecting Him meant rejecting God’s rule in their hearts.
The wallet or traveling bag was used for various purposes, sometimes to carry extra clothing or food. Since they were to have no extras, not even two coats, they didn-’t need the bag. Deissmann, in Light From the Ancient East (page 109), mentions a bag that was carried by pagan priests as they went about begging. But this could not apply to Christ’s disciples since they were to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and be taken care of by them. They did face some dangers, however, for some would not believe their message. Jesus pointed this out so that they might be prepared for it (Matthew 10:16-23).
*And as many as receive you not.*The unwelcomed guests were to leave not only because of the lack of hospitality but also because the message of the kingdom of God was being rejected. They were to shake the dust from their feet and in this dramatic way indicate the unworthinesss of those who did not accept their message. The responsibility for rejecting God’s rule was left with those who refused to be taught by Christ’s messengers.
preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.The good news of the kingdom was accompanied by the miracles of healing which served to prove that they spoke from God. Mark says that they preached that men should repent (Mark 6:13). Matthew adds that Jesus said, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come (Matthew 10:23). They were on an urgent mission. Jesus would meet them before they had time to finish this task. This, of course, is not a reference to His second coming.
Luke 9:1-9
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 1
Training The Twelve (Luke 9:1-9)**
9 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. 3And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics, 4And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. 6And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen. 9Herod said, John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him.
Luke 9:1-6 Exciting Mission: The great year of popularity was drawing to a close. Even in Galilee the storm clouds of opposition were gathering on the horizon. A crash course in evangelism was in order for the Twelve. For two years the disciples have been soaking up the classroom lecturesnow they are to have their first field-trip all on their own. Now they are to put to practice, without the Teacher’s close supervision, the principles they have been taught. There is no way to learn to do evangelism but to do it! Methods are fine but no one method will suit every circumstance or personality.
The more detailed account of this event in Matthew 10:5-42 must be studied along with Luke’s account here. Someone has outlined the event (as detailed in all three gospels) thus: Jesus conferred upon the Twelve (a) His mission, (b) His message, (c) His miracles, (d) His miseries, (e) His mastery. His purpose for sending them out was at least threefold: (a) to multiply the effect of His mission to proclaim the kingdom of God, (b) to provide them with empirical evidence of His miraculous power when they should later become the only eyewitnesses to His death and resurrection, (c) to let them learn evangelism by doing. Matthew records that in addition to their power over unclean spirits and every disease, they were also given power to raise the dead. Their main objective was, of course, to preach the coming of the kingdom of Godmiracles were merely to validate their message as the truth.
Due to the increasing opposition and disenchantment with Jesus (soon thousands of disciples will turn away from Him, John 6:66), this mission of the Twelve was to be an intense and extensive mission. Jesus fully expected to join them later before they had gone through all the towns of Israel (Matthew 10:23). Their message was the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10:7). There is no indication that they proclaimed Jesus to be The Christ. In fact, afterward at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus forbade the disciples from making such a public declaration. Matthew records that Jesus told the disciples not to go among the Gentiles. or Samaritans. That did not mean they should not preach the kingdom to Gentiles and Samaritans should some of them be found in the cities and villages of Israel. It simply meant that the time was not yet available or opportune for an extensive ministry in Gentile and Samaritan cities outside the confines of Israel’s borders.
Because of the intensity and rapidity necessary for their work (if they are to cover all the towns of Israel) Jesus placed limitations upon their physical and financial preparations. According to Matthew, Jesus told them, You received without pay, give without pay. That does not mean that they were not to receive any financial or logistical support whatever in their ministry. In fact, Jesus concludes by instructing them to receive graciously and courteously any room and board offered to them during this evangelistic tour, (cf. Matthew 10:11-14; Mark 6:10-11; Luke 9:4-5). The N.T. is clear that those who preach the gospel should have their livelihood supplied by those who receive the preaching (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:1-14; Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:15-17, etc.). Preaching and teaching the Word of God is work and the laborer is worthy of his hire! On the other hand, the preacher or teacher is not to be a mercenarya hirelingpreaching only for financial gain. The preacher should not approach his work like the worldly-minded manhow much am I going to get out of it, He should put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the flesh (Romans 13:14). That is exactly what Jesus is trying to teach the Twelve by His limitations here. They are not to devote their energies to making elaborate and unnecessary material preparations. Luke and Matthew say, take no staff while Mark says, take nothing except a staff. Apparently the one staff (walking stick, also used to protect against highway robbers) every Palestinian traveler carried would sufficethey were not to make provisions for another one, an extra one. They were to carry no duffel-bag since they were to carry nothing extra; neither food or clothing, shoes or money. Jesus is instructing the Twelve to put to practice the Sermon on the Mountdo not be anxious, what you shall eat or what you shall wear. seek first the kingdom of God. and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:25-34).
Jesus also instructs these beginners that the evangelist must make wise use of time. The gospel message is a deposit from God to men over which they must exercise good stewardship. Notice the method Jesus gave the Twelve. First, they were to survey the city or village and find a home hospitable to their mission and to them (Matthew 10:11). They were to make that their headquarters (Matthew 10:11; Mark 6:10; Luke 9:4) and stay there until they had done their work and were ready to move on. While there, they were to be courteous and hospitable themselves, saluting the house and letting their peace come upon their hosts. Peace in Hebrew is shalom and means, I pray for and will contribute all I can to God blessing you with well-being, both physical and spiritual. What Jesus is really saying is that the Twelve should make expressions of their gratitude to their hosts, both verbal and physical. God does not wish to have ingrates and tactless men in His service. Thankfulness is probably the most beautiful characteristic of a man’s lifeingratitude is the most heinous sin (cf. Romans 1:21). Third, if they were totally rejected in a city or village, or when they found no further hospitality to their mission in a place, they were to warn those opposing them that their blood was on their head as they rejected God’s message and His messengers (Matthew 10:14-15; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5) and shake the dust of that town from their feet. Shaking the dust from one’s feet was used by Jews to symbolize disassociation from that which would incur guilt. Pharisees did this when they re-entered Judea from pagan territory.
Jesus is also giving the Twelve their first realistic experience of the tension between God’s kingdom in the hearts of men and the mind of the flesh. There must be no further sheltering of these men from the antagonism of unbelief. They must not be nurtured on any illusions that discipleship to Christ would be tolerated by the worldly-minded. They must learn first hand that they were to be engaged in a life and death struggle and the disciple is not above his Master. But this is not the only world there is, so the Twelve were encouraged not to fear the battle or the enemy of God. He promised that if they would endure to the end of their lives they would receive their reward in heaven. If they feared God and loved Him more than life itself they would find eternal life (cf. Matthew 10:17-42).
**Luke 9:7-9 Evil Machination: **While the Twelve were rapidly covering as many cities and villages of Israel as they could with the message of the coming kingdom of God, Jesus was also circulating among the cities and villages preaching the same message. The kingdom fever was reaching astounding proportions. In just a few weeks thousands of people will attempt to take Jesus and force Him to be king (John 6:15). When some of the dissolute, guilt-ridden, half-pagan politicians of Galilee (including Herod Antipas himself) heard all the accounts of miracles and kingdom fever circulating in Galilee they became superstitiously terrified that John the Baptist had come back to life. All kinds of conjectures were made. Some said it was Elijah returned from the dead or one of the old prophets. It presented Herod Antipas with a paralyzing problem. The Greek word translated perplexed is dieporei which means literally, no way out. Herod thought he had gotten rid of any threat to his throne when he beheaded John the Baptist. Josephus states Herod gave as his public excuse for executing him that John was about to cause a revolution. Matthew and Mark tell the real reason Herod executed John. Any time Herod’s position as ruler was threatened (whatever the approach such a threat took) all Herod could think to do was eliminate that threat by murder.
The Greek verb ezetei (translated, sought) is in the imperfect tense and means, he kept on seeking to see Jesus. Herod had just killed John the Baptist because of his great popularity with the people and because he had threatened Herod’s continued influence over the people by denouncing Herod’s immoral union with Herodias. And now Herod turns his suspicions on Jesus. Jesus has been carrying on a campaign in every city and village of Galilee proclaiming the kingdom of God which has stirred up political excitement. Therefore it is abundantly evident why Herod wants Jesus found and brought to see him. But Jesus, when He heard all this, withdrew to a lonely place (cf. Matthew 14:13; Mark 6:31; Luke 9:10-11; John 6:1).
Luke 9:7-9
Applebury’s Comments
The Reaction of Herod the Tetrarch Scripture
Luke 9:7-9 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done: and he was much perplexed, because that it was said by some, that John was risen from the dead; 8 and by some, that Elijah had appeared; and by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. 9 And Herod said, John I beheaded: but who is this, about whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him.
*Comments
he was perplexed.*Herod who had beheaded John the Baptist was disturbed by the reports he was hearing about the miracles of Jesus. Some tried to explain them by assuming that He was Elijah or one of the old prophets who had been raised from the dead (Malachi 4:5; Deuteronomy 18:15). Some were saying that He was John who had risen. Herod seems to have accepted this view for a time, for his disturbed conscience was searching for an answer to its guilt. He decided to kill Jesus too, assuming that that would ease his conscience (Luke 13:31). The only thing, however, that cleanses an evil conscience is the blood of Christ that was shed on Calvary (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:22; 1 Peter 3:21).
But Herod’s conscience didn-’t bother him very long, for when Pilate sent Jesus to him during the trial he was exceeding glad: for he was of a long time desirous to see him, because he had heard concerning him; and he hoped to see some miracle done by him (Luke 23:8).
Luke 9:10-17
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 2
Teaching The Throngs (Luke 9:10-17)**
10 On their return the apostles told him what they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida. 11When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. 12Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place. 13But he said to them, You give them something to eat. They said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishunless we are to go and buy food for all these people. 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each. 15And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
**Luke 9:10-12 Desperation: **This is one year before Jesus is to die the horrible death of crucifixion, accused of blasphemy and sedition. The disciples are definitely not prepared for this. Their hopes are centered in an earthly kingdom. So Jesus will spend the next six months (from Passover to Tabernacles) withdrawing from the hostility of His enemies and, at the same time, trying to isolate Himself from the fanatical multitudes. He wants to prepare the Twelve for the crucial climax of His earthly ministry. It is instructive that even Jesus recognized the need for His disciples to take a rest occasionally (see Mark 6:31; Greek anapausasthe, from which we get the English word, pause).
When we compare all four gospel accounts of this incident (Matthew 14:1-36; Mark 6:1-56; Luke 9:1-62; John 6:1-71) we understand that the main reason for Jesus-’ withdrawal with the Twelve was the desperate, clamoring fanatical multitudes. Everywhere Jesus and the Twelve went the multitudes pressed upon them, crying out, demanding miracles be done for them. The poor, hungry, oppressed multitudes of Jesus-’ day, for the most part, had lost all hope in the promises of the prophets. All they could anticipate was continued oppression under the hated Herods, plus theological bigotry and hypocrisy under the Pharisees. They did not know where to turn for truth, compassion and, their deepest need, righteousness. It was at this moment Jesus had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34). When these desperate, hopeless thousands found out where Jesus was taking His Twelve on a retreat (to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee), they ran there on foot (from the cities and villages of Galilee) ahead of Him (cf. Matthew 14:13; Mark 6:33). Jesus went across the northern tip of the sea in a boat (from Capernaum to Bethsaida, see Matthew 14:13) and the multitude, gathered in Capernaum (Jesus-’ headquarters) from the recent preaching tour of Jesus and the Twelve, ran around the northern tip of the sea (some 2-3 miles) on foot. This great miracle-worker would not be allowed to get away. These poor down-trodden multitudes had at last been given a glimmer of hope. At last someone had come not to exploit them and oppress them, but to heal and excite them with the promise of the kingdom of God. They had their hearts set on making Him king (John 6:15).
Jesus had compassion on these throngs not only for their economic and political desperation but also because of their spiritual darkness. They were completely obsessed with the idea that the kingdom of God was some humanly-structured organization which would solve all their earthly distress. John’s Gospel specifically states they followed him because they saw the signs which he did.. (John 6:2). Why, then, did Jesus welcome this clamoring multitude when He was trying to get away from this very kind of superficiality; and why did He eventually work one of His greatest miracles for the very people who were putting such emphasis upon miracles? The fundamental purpose behind the enigmatic action of Jesus here is plainly seen when one connects the miraculous feeding of these thousands with His great sermon on The Bread of Life a day later in a synagogue at Capernaum (John 6:22-71). The student must study this great sermon, recorded only by John, to understand the miracle of the loaves and fish. It is in this sermon that the compassion of Jesus for their spiritual darkness is really manifested. He pours out His heart in this discourse explaining that the real bread is His word (John 6:63) and unless men eat and drink His word they are not really alive.
Jesus also took this unwanted circumstance (the hungry thousands) to teach the Twelve an important lesson. This multitude (numbering about five thousand men plus thousands of women and children) had probably left Capernaum and other villages early that morning to walk around the shore of the Sea of Galilee to a hillside near Bethsaida Julius. It was now late in the evening, and few of them had foresight to bring enough food with them. Perhaps most of them did not have enough at home to bring any with them. Whatever the case there was nothing to feed this vast multitude out there on the hillside so the Twelve became anxious. Their’s also was a desperation of doubt. They really did not ask Jesus what could be done, they came and gave Him an order to (Gr. apoluson, imperative, Dismiss) send the crowd away into the cities nearby to find food and lodging. They also missed the point that what this multitude needed more than anything else was to realize Who Jesus Is. The Twelve thought the most urgent need of the crowd was earthly bread, and they knew they could not supply it, or did not want to. Perhaps they were also betraying a selfish indifference when they directed Jesus to send the crowd away to find food for themselves. They had retreated to this area specifically to rest.
**Luke 9:14-17 Demonstration: **John tells us that Jesus knew what He was going to do about the situation but to test the faith and compassion of the Twelve, He said to them, How are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? (John 6:5). The apostles had no answer except to send the people away to fend for themselves. So Jesus said to the apostles, You give them something to eat! In the Greek His statement reads literally, Give (dote, imperative) to them to eat, you. This is an idiomatic way of putting the emphasis on you. They complained that 200 day’s wages (denarii) would not buy enough bread for this multitude. Andrew reported that the only vestige of food they had found among this great throng was five loaves and two fish a little boy had with him. Jesus said, Bring them here to me (Matthew 14:18). Then Jesus directed the apostles to have the thousands sit down upon the green grass of the hillside (it was early Spring, around Passover time) in groups of about hundreds or fifties (cf. Mark 6:39-40). Mark uses the Greek words sumposia sumposia companies upon companies which literally refers to groups of party-goers or picnickers. Mark is describing the festive air about this great event.
Taking the five loaves and two fish Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and divided the fish, gave to the Twelve and they distributed among the thousands. All the thousands ate and were satisfied and the Twelve gathered up twelve baskets of left-over fragments. All four gospel writers record this astounding fact. Where did the miracle take place? Was it when Jesus broke and dividedor was it when the apostles went among the thousands making distribution? It really isn-’t indicated in the records, nor does it really matter. The point is it was an empirical demonstration of Jesus-’ supernatural power to create. This miracle and the one immediately following (Jesus-’ walking on the Sea) are two of the most indisputable miracles recorded of Jesus. The feeding of this vast multitude of people had so many witnesses there was no possibility of fraud. Foster points out, A magician can fool a great crowd because his hands can move faster than the eyes of the people who watch. But here was a miracle in which everyone of the thousands present had a part. They all shared the feast. No magician or hypnotist could fool that many thousands of people. When these four gospel writers published their accounts near the middle of the first century A.D. there would have been plenty of people still alive who had attended that great feast on the hillside. If the gospel writers were liars someone would have been quick to publish evidence to discredit them about such an astounding fraud.
Although this miracle did not have much impact on the multitudes in its relationship to Jesus-’ spiritual mission (many of them followed Him no more, John 6:66) it did have tremendous impact on the Twelve. They acknowledged Him as the Holy One of God and the only One to whom they might cling (John 6:68-69). It is worthy of notice that even though Jesus had the power to create as much bread and fish as He wished, He would not tolerate waste. Twelve large (Gr. kophinoi, coffins) basketfuls were gathered up of the leftovers.
Applebury’s Comments
Feeding the Five Thousand Scripture
Luke 9:10-17 And the apostles, when they were returned, declared unto him what things they had done. And he took them, and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida. 11 But the multitudes perceiving it followed him: and he welcomed them, and spake to them of the kingdom of God, and them that had need of healing he cured. 12 And the day began to wear away; and the twelve came, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and country round about, and lodge, and get provisions: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy food for all this people. 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said unto his disciples, Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake; and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they ate, and were all filled: and there was taken up that which remained over to them of broken pieces, twelve baskets.
*Comments
a city called Bethsaida.*It is generally agreed that this is Bethsaida Julias, a city located on the east side of the Jordan near the point where it empties into the Sea of Galilee.
According to Mark 6:45; Mark 6:53, Jesus sent the disciples back across the lake after feeding the five thousand, and they landed at Genessaret, the west side of the lake. John says that it occurred on the other, that is, east side of the sea of Galilee and that after the miracle the disciples went down to the sea and got into the boat to go over the sea to Capernaum (John 6:1; John 6:17). It was at Capernaum on the next day that the multitudes came to Jesus and asked, Rabbi, when camest thou here? (John 6:24-25). These Scriptures seem to indicate that the miracle took place on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee and that after the miracle the disciples returned to Capernaum which was located on the northwest side of the sea.
*But the multitudes perceiving it followed him.*By this time the popularity of Jesus was reaching its climax; people were following Him everywhere He went. Even when He tried to get away for a little rest, they followed Him; and He welcomed them and spake to them of the kingdom of God and them that had need of healing he cured.
*Send the multitude away.*As evening drew on, these practical men realized that something had to be done for the welfare of the people. Send them away to the stores and places of lodging was all they could think to do. They knew that the two hundred shillingsall that they hadwouldn-’t buy enough to begin to feed them even if there had been a place where they could buy food.
But Jesus said, You give them something to eat. At His suggestion, they took stock and found that they had only five loaves and two fishjust a lunch that belonged to a boy in the crowd (Mark 6:38; John 6:9). What was that for so many? Were they to go and buy food for them? Apparently it didn-’t occur to them that Jesus could solve the problem, even though they had seen Him perform many wonders by this time.
*Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.*Jesus knew what He would do. In that desert place where there was virtually no food, He was the only one who could supply the need. The crowd was to sit down in groups of about fifty so that no one would be overlooked. He would provide the food; but the apostles were to do the rest, for that was within their ability. Organization was necessary to the success of the task.
Jesus took the loaves and the fish and looking up to the heavenly Father He blessed them and broke them and gave them to the disciples to give to the people. Was anyone in the crowd aware that a miracle was taking place? They were slow to grasp the lesson about the Bread of Life which He taught them when they came to Him after the miracle that had fed them physically.
*remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets.*The miracle had demonstrated that He was the Creator, for all things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made (John 1:3). Gathering the broken pieces conserved the food, but more than that it demonstrated that a genuine miracle had taken place. The people said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world (John 6:15). But they didn-’t see that He was the Bread of Life (John 6:41). Their real selfishness is revealed in their reference to the manna which their fathers had eaten for the forty years in the wilderness; Jesus had fed them just once. And it was not Moses, but the Father who had sent the manna; Christ was the true bread that the Father had sent to those who believe on Him.
Luke 9:18-27
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 3
Testing The Twelve (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 people say that I am? 19And they answered, John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen. 20And he said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, The Christ of God. 21But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22saying, 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 any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. 25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26For 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. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.
**Luke 9:18-21 Crystallization of Confession: **Although Jesus wished to withdraw from the multitudes that His disciples might rest and He might concentrate on their personal training, He conducted an extensive ministry between the feeding of the thousands and the confrontation of the Twelve at Caesarea Philippi. The following events, not recorded by Luke, transpired between Luke 9:17 and Luke 9:18 :
Walking on the Water, Matthew 14:1-36; Mark 6:1-56; John 6:1-71
Miracles at Gennesaret, Matthew 14:1-36; Mark 6:1-56
Sermon on Bread of Life at Capernaum, John 6:1-71
Controversy with Pharisees about traditions, Matthew 15:1-39; Mark 7:1-37
Healing Syro-Phoenician woman’s daughter, Matthew 15:1-39; Mark 7:1-37
Healing deaf stammerer, Feeding 4000, Decapolis, Matthew 15:1-39; Mark 7:1-37
Pharisees & Sadducees demand sign at Magadan, Matthew 16:1-28; Mark 8:1-38
Warns disciples against leaven of Pharisees on Sea of Galilee, Matthew 16:1-28; Mark 8:1-38
Healing of blind man at Bethsaida, Mark 8:1-38
It may have appeared to the Twelve as if Jesus were retreating. He had refused the crown from the five thousand; He had not yet shown the characteristics expected by the populace in their Messiah; at Magadan it appears as if the Pharisees and Sadducees have him in retreat. The religious leaders have demanded a sign from heaven (a sign of military or political power) but Jesus refused to give such a sign since sufficient evidence for His claims had already been given. Jesus walks away from this confrontation, gets into a boat and heads across the Sea of Galilee toward the northeast. What are the disciples to think? Popular opinion circulating the countryside is confused, trying to find some great prophet with which to compare Him (Jeremiah or Elijah). Jesus seems to have given up the struggle with His opponents. The Lord knew that this was a critical point in His whole earthly mission. So He proceeds to take the disciples apart from the confused, clamoring multitudes to a place of privacy for questioning and teaching. Jesus knows He must crystallize their convictions concerning His identity and His mission in anticipation of the very dark hours ahead. The only solution to the hopelessness and despair of mankind in rebellion against God is to convince, confirm and commit these twelve disciples to the knowledge of His deity and then to commission them to introduce Him as Savior and Lord to the world. The city of Caesarea Philippi was typical of the predicament of man in sin (then and now). In earlier times it was called Panium because it was a center of worship for the Greek god, Pan (god of all nature). It was destroyed but rebuilt by the Romans and named after the Roman emperor, Caesar, and eventually became a center of worship to Caesar Augustus. In 31 B.C. the Battle of Actium brought an end to 100 years of civil war in the Roman empire. Men were sick of war and thought they had brought an end to human misery. But 25 years later in the days of Jesus, men were as disillusioned as ever. Injustice, immorality and inveterate hatred between cultures and races was as deeply ingrained in men’s hearts as it had ever been. Mankind desperately needed the Anointed One of God, The Christ. Whether mankind came to know its only Savior or not depended upon whether Jesus could crystallize the firm, but immature, convictions the Twelve had about Him.
Jesus called the Twelve to confess (Gr. homologeo, say the same as) Him. He called them to commit themselves to a Person, Himself, and not a cause. It is important to contemplate the questions Jesus did not ask the disciples here. He did not ask them what they thought of the political situation, the religious status quo or the economic circumstances. He did not say to Peter, Who are you, Peter? He did not indicate, as much modern psychology does today, that man’s fundamental problem is a self-identity crisisthat man needs above all else to find out who he is. Contrary to the world’s way of thinking, Jesus knew man’s problem was his confusion about God’s identity. So Jesus demanded these men (upon whom the program of the world’s redemption would soon fall) solidify their convictions about His identity.
What we possess we profess, and what we profess we propagate. If the conviction of the disciples about Jesus-’ identity was really deeply possessed they would profess it. It is also axiomatic that the more a person professes someone or something, the more he possesses it. It is in repeated confession or profession that decision is confirmed and the will is set. Jesus, in asking the disciples who they had decided He was, was aiming for a decision. Jesus Christ always cuts through the jungle of muddled human confusion and speculation and aims at man’s logic. Our minds must be made up about His identity. Only he who is convinced will commit himself. C.S. Lewis says, Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you that chooses into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature. The N.T. has a great deal to say about confession (cf. Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 2:23; 1 John 4:15, etc.).
**Luke 9:22 Call to Conform: **It was the will of God that the Christ should suffer and die and be raised from the dead on the third day. The suffering of the Messiah was predicted in many places in the Old Testament (i.e., Isaiah 53:1-12; Psalms 22:1-31, etc.). Few of the Jews ever recognized this. Most of Jesus-’ disciples would not consider it a possibility (cf. Luke 24:13-27). Therefore, at this most opportune time and place, Jesus focuses all His power of persuasion on the Twelve in an attempt to convert their Jewish preconceptions about the Messiah to the revealed will of God. After Peter’s emotionally charged confession of Jesus-’ identity, and Jesus-’ characterization of His church (Matthew 16:17-19), the Lord abruptly made the shocking prediction about His death. It wasn-’t that the disciples were naive and didn-’t know all the hostility Jesus had aroused in the religious leaders of the day. They expected some crisis sooner or later, but they believed (probably from Jewish tradition) that the Messiah would fight and conquer His enemies and they were prepared to fight to the death for Him (Matthew 26:35; Mark 14:31). But they were not willing to accept a Messiah who would become a lamb led to the slaughterthey refused to think in these terms. Matthew and Mark record that Peter rebuked Jesus for His prediction of a passive death (Matthew 16:22; Mark 8:32).
Immediately, the Lord rebuked Peter (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33). Peter had, in fact, become the adversary (Satan) of Christ! Peter stood opposed to the will of God. He was a stumbling-block (Gr. skandalon, scandal) in the path of Christ because He was minding the things of worldly-minded man rather than minding the things of God. Jesus intended that His followers conform their minds to the revealed mind of God in everything. God’s revealed mind about the Messiah was that He should die a vicarious death to atone for the sins of all the world.
Most men applaud someone who dies for a cause. The world admires martyrdom (as long as I am not the martyr). Millions have sacrificed their lives for political ideologies and they are national heroes. But Jesus-’ death was different than all of this. He died for man’s justification before God! Man has absolutely no moral merit by which he can stand before God except trusting in the atoning death of Christ in his place. A man may sacrifice his life to preserve my physical life and I may admire him and be thankful. But to believe there is nothing good in me that would cause God to accept me without Jesus-’ death means death to my human pride. That is what makes the doctrine of the cross foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling-block to the Jews, (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23). Think of it this way: If you should die right now and appear before God and He should ask, Why should I let you into My heaven? what would be your answer? The only answer acceptable to God would be, Because I covenanted with Christ to accept His death for my sins and He promised to give me His life. The self-righteous egotism of the human heart adamantly resists vicarious justification. Some few men claim they do not want to go to heaven after deaththey want nothing to do with God, truth, holiness, or everlasting goodness. Most other men who do propose to go to heaven after they die aim to do so because they have done enough good deeds to balance out their bad deeds and thus feel they deserve to go there. Let us illustrate: A prominent theologian once wrote, We hear much of the substitutionary theory of the atonement. This theory to me is immoral. If Jesus paid it all, or if He is the substitute for me, or if He is the sacrifice for all sin of the world, then why discuss forgiveness? The books are closed. Another has paid the debt, borne the penalty. I owe nothing. I am absolved. I cannot see forgiveness as predicated upon the act of someone else. It is my sin. I must atone. Thus reasons self-righteous man. This is the way the world thinks, but it is not the way God thinks! God has revealed His will concerning man’s justification. Man, therefore, has only two options: (1) reject the revealed mind of God in scripture and, assuming he is more powerful than God, try to justify himself apart from Christ’s vicarious atonement; or, (2) believe the revealed mind of God, Christ’s death in his place, and accept it by entering into covenant relationship on Christ’s revealed terms. Man must mind the things of God-man must conform to the will of God, executed in the death and resurrection of Christ, communicated in the N.T. scriptures.
**Luke 9:23-27 Challenge to Commitment: **The acceptance by faith of Jesus-’ death in man’s place is precisely what these verses are teaching. To deny himself means to literally do what Peter did later to Christ! The Greek word aparnesastho means, to disown, to contradict, to deny utterly any connection. It does not mean to abstain from certain pleasures and indulgences; it means to deny, disown self. It means to admit Self is dead. It means to acknowledge that I have no claims or rights for Self anymore because I am bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and I am not my own! I am dead in Christ! One died for all, therefore all have died, (2 Corinthians 5:14). He died our death, we live His life! Paul said it very succinctly in Galatians, I have been crucified with Christ (when Christ died); it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.. (Galatians 2:20).
The struggle to believe and accept and practice this occurs daily. Every day we must take up the cross and accept the death of Self. Dying to Self may only be done by faithnot by feeling or by good works, because the death of Self occurred at a point in ancient historyat the crucifixion of Christ. The death of Self is, of course, accepted and applied to each person at the point in time when that person enters the New Covenant by confession and immersion in water according to the covenant terms. Good works are the fruit of death to Self by faith, but they are not the cause of that deathJesus is the cause!
One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that men must die to live. Jesus states it, For whoever would save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What does Jesus mean? He gives us a clue in the following phrase, For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? The Greek word heauton is more emphatic (himself) than the word psuchen (soul) which is in the parallel passages (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:35). Life is identity; life is being, personality, character. Life is purpose. If there is no purpose there is really no life. God made man for a purpose. That purpose was to be conformed to the image of His Son (cf. Romans 8:29). God made us to be truthful, faithful, pure, good, loving and thankful. In this we find our true identity. When we accept the death of Self in the death of Christ and let Him live His life in us, we become children of God, joint heirs with Christ. God adopts us as His children and gives us His name. That is the only identity which will last forever. If Christ is ashamed of us (Luke 9:26) and does not confess us before the Father, we have no identity. Those who search for life apart from union with Christ will hear Christ say, Depart from me, you who work iniquity, I never knew you. To be separated from Christ is deatheternal death. Apparently in the place of eternal death (Hell) there will be consciousness but no life. If there is no life there is no purpose, no identity. The man with no godly purpose or character in this life will have none in Hell. Hell will be an eternal purposelessness, eternal falseness, eternal insecurity, anguish, disorientation and non-identity.
What has a man gained if he forfeits his birthright to be identified as a child of God and has all the power, fame and riches the world offers? He loses himself! So now we see why Jesus considered it so crucial that His disciples confess His identity. The only way men find out who they really are is to confess and commit themselves to the true identity of Jesus as ChristLord!
Having mentioned that He would come for final judgment in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26), Jesus did not want His disciples to confuse the Second Coming with other events which will manifest the power of His kingdom (such as the destruction of Jerusalem). Therefore Jesus states (Luke 9:27) that some of the disciples standing there with Him would not die before they saw the kingdom of God come (with power Mark 9:1). The popular Jewish concept was that when the Messiah came in his glory. with the holy angels it would be the end of the world. What event was Jesus talking about in Luke 9:27 (Matthew 16:28 and Mark 9:1 also)? Apocalyptic language in both the O.T. and N.T. often describes any great intervention of God in history as the coming of God in judgment or redemption. There was only one of the Twelve dead before the establishment of the Church on PentecostJudas. The language of Jesus seems to imply that more than one would taste of death prior to the event described here. We think He was speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem. Later, He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in the same apocalyptic style (cf. Luke 21:25-28; Matthew 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-26, see also Matthew 26:64). Many of the apostles died before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. John, and perhaps a few others, lived beyond that event. The destruction of Jerusalem also destroyed the Jewish State and its religious power. Christianity was rescued from apparent obliteration. No longer would it be considered an illegal Jewish sect. It went forth to establish firm beachheads in the world of paganism and cause the Roman empire to tremble at its power. In this sense those who lived beyond the destruction of Jerusalem truly saw the kingdom of God come with power.
Applebury’s Comments
The Necessity of the Cross Scripture
Luke 9:18-27 And it came to pass, as he was praying apart, the disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Who do the multitudes say that I am? 19 And they answering said, John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20 And he said unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Peter answering said, The Christ of God. 21 But he charged them, and commanded them to tell this to no man; 22 saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. 23 And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in his own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you of a truth, There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
*Comments
And it came to pass.*Luke was aware of many things that he did not include in his narrative. See Mark 6:45 to Mark 9:1. His purpose was to present Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man, and it did not take all that He did to establish the claim. But all that he did write concerned Jesus-’ work and teaching (Acts 1:1-2). John suggests that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written if the complete record were made (John 21:25).
*as he was praying.*Jesus constantly communicated with the Father about all that He did. Just before Peter expressed the conviction of the apostles that He was the Christ, Jesus was praying. Matthew reminds us that this incident occurred in the region of Caesarea Philippi.
*Who do men say that I am?*This question was designed to lead the disciples to think clearly about Jesus and to prepare them to see that He must go to the cross, The cross was not only necessary for Him, it was also necessary in the life of each of His followers.
*And they answered, John the Baptist.*Herod and others were saying this (Matthew 14:1-2). Others were saying that he was Elijah, basing their claim on the prophecy of Mal 4:5 which said, Behold, I will send you Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Others were explaining Jesus-’ powers by saying that He was one of the old prophets who had risen. After the feeding of the five thousand, the people came to take Him by force and make Him king, for they said, This is of a truth, the prophet that cometh into the world (John 6:14-15). Later, Peter positively identified Him as the prophet about whom Moses had written (Acts 3:20-24).
*But who say ye that I am?*Peter said, The Christ of God. Christ means anointed and refers to His office of prophet, priest and king. According to Peter’s confession as given in Matthew 16:16, he added the words, the Son of the living God, This explains His person, for He is Son of God as well as Son of Man. He was often called Son of David referring to Him as Messiah, that is, Christ.
According to Matthew, Jesus said to Peter, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). The rock upon which the church was to be built is the truth expressed in Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Perhaps the best proof of this is Peter’s own statement in which he quotes Isaiah’s prophecy and shows that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the spiritual temple, the church. See 1 Peter 2:3-8, See also Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 3:11.
The gates of Hades refer to the power of death. In this context, Jesus was speaking about His own death which was to take place in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21; Luke 9:21-22). Peter explained this when he quoted the sixteenth Psalm, on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:24-31). The antecedent of it (Matthew 16:18) is not church but rock. The truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God is the rock that could not be destroyed by the powers of Hades. He was to be put to death, but He was to be raised from the dead to prove that He was Prophet, Priest, and King. If He had not been raised, He could not have been any one of these. The victory of the church over death depends on Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22-26), but this is not in the context of Matthew sixteen.
*tell this to no man.*A similar order is given after the transfiguration with the added word, until the Son of man be risen from the dead (Matthew 17:9). The apostles were to wait until they had positive evidence that could be shared with others before telling of their conviction that Jesus is the Christ. The resurrection established it beyond doubt. See Acts 4:2; Acts 4:10-11; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 10:9-10. *take up his cross daily.*The cross was necessary for Jesus in His office of Prophet, Priest, and King. The cross was necessary in the daily life of His followers as they went out to preach the Word of the Cross.
The meaning of the cross for the follower of Christ depends on the meaning of the cross to Him. His cross is a symbol of death to sin. Then the cross to His disciples must be more than some burden to be patiently borne. Paul says, our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away (Romans 6:6). Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof (Galatians 5:24). See also Colossians 2:20 to Colossians 3:17; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 6:14.
The cross, death to sin, must be taken up daily by those who follow Him. Peter said that Christ left us an example that we should follow in his steps who did no sin (1 Peter 2:21-22). Should we stumble, as Peter did, there is the gracious provision of the loving Father for the cleansing of the erring Christian (1 John 2:1-2). But habitual sinning cannot be practiced by the Christian (Romans 6:1-4). The standard of Christ is high, but not impossible. His commandments are not grievious (1 John 5:3).
Self-denial is not merely denying oneself of some material thing. It means to disown self, to act in a completely selfless manner. Paul is a good example: All that he had once counted dear, he set aside for the privilege of gaining Christ (Philippians 3:7-11). Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. The man who sought goodly pearls had to sell all in order to gain the one pearl of great price. Nothing short of complete dedication to Christ will satisfy the demand of self-denial.
*save his life shall lose it.*This is Jesus-’ own explanation of what He had just said about self-denial, Lose it for Christ, if you would save your life! There is no diluting this to mean partly save, or partly lose; it means complete dedication.
*For what is a man profited?*Jesus explained what He meant by losing or saving life. What profit is it if you gain the whole world but lose your life? Reason tells us He is right! The Bible gives us true perspective so that our sense of values may not be limited by what we see at the moment. See Psalms 37:1-40; Psalms 73:16-17.
ashamed of me and of my words.The one who is ashamed of the Christ of the cross or of the Word of the cross will not be recognized by Christ when He comes to judge the world. See also Matthew 7:22-23. Mere profession of obedience is not enough; Jesus demands sincerity in relation to Him. James warns, Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves (James 1:22). when he cometh in his own glory.that is, at the last judgment. See Matthew 25:31-46; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15.
till they see the kingdom of God.This is in contrast to what He had just said about the final judgment. All will be present on that day. But some of those who heard Him speak were to be present on another occasion, that is, when they would see the kingdom of God. The kingdom, the earthly phase of it, came on the Day of Pentecost when Jesus was proclaimed both Lord and Christ, reigning at the right hand of the throne of God (Acts 2:33-36).
Some have assumed that Jesus and the apostles expected His second coming within the lifetime of some of those who heard Him speak. But the language of this context shows the contrast He made between His coming at the Judgment and His coming in the kingdom on the Day of Pentecost. Paul wrote II Thessalonians to correct the mistaken view that the coming of Christ was to be expected in his day (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). His kingdom did come on Pentecost; He will come at the end of the age. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
Luke 9:28-36
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 4
Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36)**
28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. 30And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijahnot knowing what he said. 34As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him! 36And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
**Luke 9:28-32 Exodus: **A week after the critical confrontation with the Twelve concerning His identity and Peter’s carnal-minded rejection of His destiny of death, Jesus took the Twelve up on a high mountain to pray. This must have been Mount Hermon, a huge mountain, reaching 9232 feet above sea level at its peak. Caesarea Philippi was at the foot of this mountain. The mountain so dominated the entire land of Palestine it could be seen on a clear day from as far south as the Dead Sea. The Arabs named it, Jebel esh Sheikh, the great mountain. It is doubtful that Jesus took the Twelve to the peak. They probably ascended to a secluded spot somewhere up the side of the mountain where they could find privacy. Both Matthew and Mark indicate the Lord took them apart for the purpose of privacy (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2). While He was praying, the appearance of His face became different (Gr. heteron), and His clothing became gleaming white. Matthew and Mark say He was transfigured (Gr. metemorphothe; the word from which we get the English word metamorphosis). In Philippians 2:6-7 Paul writes that Christ having had the morphe (form) of theou (God) willingly assumed the morphen (form) of doulou (a slave). Here on Mount Hermon the man metamorphosed (changed form) back into God the Son of glory. W. E. Vine says, Luke avoids the term metemorphote, which might have suggested to Gentile readers the metamorphoses of heathen gods, and uses the term, became different. This was no phenomenon which could be explained by nature. It was not something externally happening to Jesus; it was emanating from within His very nature. Hobbs says, It was His deity from within flashing forth in resplendent glory. The deity, which had been like a wick turned down low, suddenly was turned up to its brilliant brightness. Here was physical, scientific evidence that Jesus was the Incarnate God. The disciples had been in the presence of God and hardly realized it. Peter later testified of this event (2 Peter 1:16-21) to prove that what he preached about the deity of Jesus Christ was no myth. Peter was an eyewitness to Christ’s majesty.
Suddenly, another spectacular phenomenon took place. Appearing with the metamorphosed Jesus were Moses and Elijah. The sleep-dazed disciples came wide awake! Moses and Elijah had been dead for some thousand years. But those who have departed this world still live in the constant presence of Almighty God and He has the power to make them appear at any time and place suitable to His purpose (cf. 1 Samuel 28:1 ff.). Moses and Elijah, symbolizing all the Law and the Prophets, talked with Jesus about His departure (Gr. exodon; English, exodus). They were discussing Jesus-’ impending crucifixion and resurrection. Why did God choose this particular point in time for this great meeting between Heaven and earth? Because Jesus had reached the watershed of His earthly ministry. From this point onward popularity will be replaced by rejection and opposition. His ministry, viewed from human perspectives, will appear to be a tragic failure. It is at this point God will affirm unequivocally that is not so.
a.
It would encourage Jesus, Himself. It was predicted (Isaiah 49:4 ff.) that the Messiah would be discouraged but would be able to overcome it. Jesus was Man, very man, tempted in all points as we are tempted. It was only by the glory that was set before Him that He was able to endure the cross (cf. Hebrews 2:10 ff; Hebrews 5:7-9; Hebrews 12:1-2; Luke 22:42). Even His own disciples had become stumbling blocks to Him in their rejection of His mission. Fowler (Matthew, Vol. III, College Press, pg. 588) points out that the Father’s affirmation of His pleasure in His Son would warm Jesus-’ heart and encourage Him in His lonely mission among unsympathetic men. Fowler compares it to the encouragement felt by an expert pilot flying through a storm-tossed night with no visible landmarks, when suddenly a voice comes over the radio, saying, -We-’ve picked you up on radar, friend, and you-’re right on course!-'
b.
It would arrest the creeping carnality of the disciples. There must be a direct and drastic correction to their obstinately cherished worldly view of the Messiah and His kingdom. The appearance of Moses and Elijah discussing with Jesus His exodus would confirm that the Messiah’s death was in complete harmony with all the Old Testament revelation (cf. Luke 24:44-46). Jesus-’ exodus was symbolized by the Exodus from Egypt and the Exodus from Captivity. All the redemptive symbols of the O.T., the sacrificial lamb, the Passover, the victories over their enemies, find their fulfillment in Jesus-’ exodus!
c.
It was also to demonstrate that the death of the Messiah was no accident. It was in the plan of God all along. It would show that God was forever in controlmen cannot wrest control of the universe and the goal of history from God’s hands. God can intervene in history at any moment with supernatural power. He knows the beginning from the end and predicts it for man’s salvation. It proved to Peter, and all who trust him as an eyewitness, that no prophecy about Jesus ever originated from man. The Transfiguration made the prophetic word more surely from God. All men will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19 ff.).
**Luke 9:33-36 Exclamation: **Peter, impetuous Peter, so quick to speak and so often missing the mark, suggested they make three booths (Gr. skenas, tabernacle, tentsame word used in Hebrews 9:2, etc.), one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. The two great representatives of Israel’s destiny of the glorious past, Moses and Elijah, were departing. It had been predicted that at the outset of the messianic age a prophet like unto Moses would be raised up (Deuteronomy 18:18 ff.) and Elijah would come (Malachi 4:5). Both Luke and Mark comment that Peter did not know what he was talking about. Apparently he had seriously misinterpreted the significance of this sublime moment when Heaven came so close to earth.
a.
When Peter said, It is good for us to be here.. he may have been suggesting that Jesus should take-’ this Transfiguration as a sign from Heaven cancelling out His prediction of imminent death. Perhaps Peter supposes, Heaven is on Your side, Master, You are not going to die; surely our religious leaders will not go against Moses and Elijah if they know about this, so let us build three shelters and keep them here with us until this is made known down in Jerusalem.
b.
Peter said, … let us make three booths. He was completely enthralled by the supernatural event he had just witnessed. Still thinking of the kingdom of God in terms of the popular materialistic concept, Peter envisioned this as the fulfillment of Zec 14:16-19. Rabbinical and apocryphal interpretation of Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) literalized the return of Elijah, conquest of the nations by the Jews, reinstitution of the Jewish theocracy, and the remnant of the Gentiles coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Peter was ready to be one of the first to celebrate Tabernacles in the new age of Israel.
c.
When Peter said, … one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. it was evident he still did not understand that Jesus was different than other great human leaders. He did not fully comprehend that Jesus was God in the flesh or that Jesus had authority to abrogate and fulfill all Moses and Elijah had revealed. Hebrew Christians had a very difficult time accepting the superiority of Jesus over the Old Testament and that is why the book of Hebrews was necessary.
No wonder, then, that Luke editorializes, Peter did not know what he was saying. Peter was wrong on all three suggestions. The Heavenly Father quickly corrected that by engulfing them in a supernatural cloud and speaking audibly, in their language, This is my Son, my Chosen (Gr. eklelegmenos, perfect tense verb, meaning, one having been elected or chosen out from among others in the past and continuing to be chosen); listen to him! The phrase, listen to him! is in the Greek imperative mood and means it was a command! The disciples were to hear and accept the fact that the Messiah was destined to die at Jerusalem; that what the Messiah had been saying about His kingdom being a spiritual kingdom was correct; that the Messiah had come to fulfill and take out of the way the Law of Moses and the Prophets. The Law and the Prophets would not be destroyed (cf. Matthew 5:17 f.) but wherever they stood in the way of man’s complete reconciliation to God, Jesus would bring about their completion.
When God finished speaking, Matthew notes the disciples fell on their faces with awe and fear, but Jesus came and touched them, saying, Rise, and have no fear. Then, when they looked up Moses and Elijah were gone, so was the enveloping cloud and Jesus was there alone. Matthew and Mark note that as they were descending from the mountain side Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of man was raised from the dead. And, amazingly, they did not! Would men have believed them if they had? It is doubtful. Today men who do not accept the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as an historical fact discredit the transfiguration of Jesus as either a myth or some subjective, emotional religious experience of the disciples themselves. But Peter was an eyewitness. And he emphatically declares it was no myth (2 Peter 1:16-21). The credibility and authenticity of Peter’s testimony is unimpeachable. This event really happened just as the three Synoptics say it did.
Applebury’s Comments
The Transfiguration Scripture
Luke 9:28-36 And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up into the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became white and dazzling. 30 And behold, there talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah; 31 who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. 33 And it came to pass, as they were parting from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what he said. 34 And while he said these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him. 36 And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of the things which they had seen.
*Comments
about eight days after.*Matthew and Mark say, And after six days-’ (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2). Luke says about eight days. If we count the day on which Jesus had been speaking plus an interval of six days and add the day on which the Transfiguration took place, it would make the eight days, that is, about a week as they counted time.
*he took with him Peter and John and James.*Peter gives his own version of the transfiguration in 2 Peter 2:16-18. This was not a cleverly fabricated tale, but the testimony of an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ. He heard the Voice that brought honor and glory to Jesus when the Father said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Hear ye Him. This is more reliable than the cunningly devised fables of the men who sought to deny the Master who bought them (2 Peter 2:1).
*and went into the mountain to pray.*Since Matthew says that they were in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, it is reasonable to assume that the mountain, although not named by any of the writers, was Mount Hermon which has an elevation of some 9100 feet. Luke alone says that He went into the mountain to pray and that He was praying when the transfiguration took place. This was an important example for the apostles, for they would need to keep in constant contact with the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ in their mission of spreading the gospel in all the world.
*the fashion of his countenance was altered.*The change of His face and the gleaming white garments are a fitting symbol of the honor and approval which He received from the Father (2 Peter 1:17).
there talked with him two men.How the disciples were able to recognize Moses and Elijah is not stated. They were in glory but had not lost their identity. They were talking about Jesus-’ decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem. He was soon to leave this earthly experience and return to the glory which He had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5). It is fitting that these two representatives of the Old Testament should be speaking to Christ about His death and the glories that were to follow since that is the message of the Law of Moses and the Prophets (1 Peter 1:10-12; Luke 24:44-47).
*Now Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep.*On another occasion these same men were found sleeping while the Master was undergoing the agony of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-44; Luke 22:45-46). Before condemning them too harshly, we might do well to examine our own lack of alertness at prayer meeting. But because they were asleep, they were not prepared for what they saw when they were fully awake. As Moses and Elijah were departing, Peter proposed that they make three booths or tents, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Apparently he didn-’t realize that Moses and Elijah were not remaining with them permanently or that Jesus was soon to be taken from them, although He had told them several times that He would be. The suggestion that Peter was placing Jesus on the level with Moses and Elijah in importance and honor does not seem to agree with the context. He really didn-’t know what he was proposing, but out of fear felt that he had to say something (Mark 9:6).
*And a voice came out of the cloud.*This was the voice from the Majestic Glory, the voice of God who said, This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him. God’s approval of His Son and the assurance to the apostles who heard Him speak form the two-fold purpose of the Transfiguration. When the Voice came, Jesus was found alone. In this dramatic way, God showed the men that they were to hear His Son.
*and told no man.*They obeyed the instruction Jesus gave them, but they did discuss the coming of Elijah (Matthew 17:9-13). This led Jesus to tell them how John fulfilled the prophecy about the coming of Elijah (Malachi 4:5).
Luke 9:37-45
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 5
Tenderness Amid Tragedy (Luke 9:37-45)**
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38And behold, a man from the crowd cried, Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son, for he is my only child; 39and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him till he foams, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. 41 Jesus answered, O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here. 42While he was coming, the demon tore him and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43And all were astonished -at the majesty of God.
But while they were all marveling at everything he did, he said to his disciples, 44Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men. 45But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
**Luke 9:37-43 Failing Faith: **The next day after the Transfiguration, Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James and John. There was a great crowd of people gathered around the other nine apostles (who had been left at the foot of the mountain during the Transfiguration). The crowd was involved in an argument with some Jewish scholars (scribes). Seeing Jesus approaching, the crowd ran to greet Him. Jesus asked the crowd what they were discussing with the scribes. The reader should study this incident from a harmony of the Gospels in order to get the full impact of it.
A man from the crowd came to Jesus kneeling (Matthew 17:14) and bellowed (Gr. eboesen, from boao which is the word used to describe John the Baptist’s crying loudly, or bellowing forth in the wilderness), Teacher, I plead with you, direct your attention to my son, because he is my only son and, see, a spirit takes him and suddenly he screams out as he is convulsed with spasms. Matthew records that the father of the boy said he was moonstruck (Gr, seleniazetai, translated, epileptic, Matthew 17:15). Doctor Luke uses the Greek word, sparassei, from which we get the English word, spastic. The boy was demon-possessed (Luke 9:42). The demon tortured the boy by causing him to fall into fires, into water, foaming at the mouth, grinding his teeth, dashing him down upon the ground and bruising (Gr. suntribo, to shatter, to smash, to crush, to break) him.
Then the boy’s father cast a lightening bolt into the situation. He said, I plead with your disciples to cast the demon out of my boy but they were not able. Jesus-’ immediate reaction was to accuse His own disciples of being part of a faithless and perverse generation and to ask exasperatedly, how long must I bear with you? Was Jesus justified in speaking so severely to these disciples? Indeed! Why should He be partial toward any person? Any display of unbelief, especially in people who have been given so many extra-ordinary opportunities to know the truth and such miraculous confirmations of it, deserves quick and firm correction. Jesus minced no words with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:25-27) for their unbelief. Jesus rather bluntly corrected His own mother (John 2:4; Luke 8:19-21).
Jesus cast out the demon commanding it, Come out of him, and never enter him again (Mark 9:25). He gave the boy back to his father and all the multitude was astonished at the very apparent demonstration of the majesty of Almighty God.
**Luke 9:44-45 Fearful Forecast: **The proper relationship to Jesus does not consist in marveling over the miraculous but in faith in the face of the fearful. While this particular crowd stood around subjectively soaking up the great privilege they had enjoyed by their close proximity to a real miracle, Jesus turned to His disciples with a fearsome forecast of His messianic fate. Jesus took the twelve aside and resumed His journey south through Galilee (see Matthew 17:22; Mark 9:30) for He had something of utmost importance to say for their ears only. So He prefaced His remarks with this command, Let these words sink into your ears.. The Greek verb thesthe is in the imperative mood (a command) and is from tithemi which means, put in, deposit, establish. What Jesus is about to say to them is not just to make conversation. It is imperative that what He is about to say be deposited in their minds so that it may become a part of their thinking processes. And what were these all-important words? … The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men. Their Master, their Lord, the One they recently confessed to be the Holy One of God (John 6:69), is going to be killed and raised again after three days (cf. Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:31-32). It is important for them to believe this because it is the will of God for the Son of man (the Messiah). Jesus must emphasize it and stress it because of the worldly-minded view of the Messiah held by most of the Jews (see our comments on Luke 9:18-27).
But the disciples did not understand what Jesus said to them. How could grown men not understand a statement as straightforward, unmysterious, plain and brief as, The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise? The fact of death, even violent death at the hands of enemies is a common experience to mankind. Resurrection from the dead is not! This may be the reason they could not understand it. But Luke goes on to say that what Jesus said was concealed from them and they could not perceive it. The Greek word parakekalummenon means to cover with a veil. The Greek verb is in the perfect tense indicating that the veiling had taken place previous to this statement and was continuing to veil their thinking. This same Greek word is used in 2 Corinthians 3:12-18; 2 Corinthians 4:3 where it is talking about the veiled revelation concerning the messianic age in the Old Testament and that the devil uses this, along with man’s unbelief, to hide the gospel. It was not God who concealed from the minds of the apostles the understanding about the-Messiah’s death and resurrection, for the Prophets predicted it (Isaiah 53:1-12, etc.). It was not Jesus who concealed His death and resurrection from the Twelve, for He predicted it very plainly four times (Luke 9:22; Luke 9:44; Matthew 20:17-19; Matthew 26:1-2). It was the apostles themselves, choosing not to believe Jesus about His death, who were concealing the meaning of His teaching, (see Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33). What the Lord says is perceived only if man is willing to let His word find a place in his heart (cf. John 7:17; John 8:37; John 8:45, etc.). The parable of the soils illustrates this (see our comments on Luke 8:1 ff.). The disciples deliberately resisted any thinking about this subject (the death of the Messiah) because it distressed them (Matthew 17:23) and it was a subject about which they were afraid (Mark 9:32; Luke 9:45) to seek any more information. Let all followers of Jesus of all ages take warning from the spiritual failure of the Twelve here. It is a betrayal of Christian discipleship to reject any teaching of the New Testament with the a priori that it does not conform to human experience. What Jesus commands and promises is accepted by faith in Who He Is!
Applebury’s Comments
The Epileptic Boy Scripture
Luke 9:37-45 And it came to pass, on the next day, when they were come down from the mountain, a great multitude met him. 38 And behold, a man from the multitude cried, saying, Teacher, I beseech thee to look upon my son; for he is mine only child: 39 and behold, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth, and it hardly departeth from him, bruising him sorely. 40 And I besought thy disciples to cast it out; and they could not. 41 And Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and bear with you? bring hither thy son. 42 And as he was yet a coming, the demon dashed him down, and tare him grievously. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all astonished at the majesty of God.
But while all were marvelling at all the things which he did, he said unto his disciples, 44 Let these words sink into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered up into the hands of men. 45 But they understood not this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
*Comments
a great multitude met him.*Jesus and the three disciples had been in the mountain; the crowds were waiting for Him to return. Their anticipation was evidently heightened by the failure of the disciples to meet the request of the distressed father.
*Teacher, I beseech thee.*The father turned to Jesus for help, for his only son was demon-possessed and in desperate need of help. Luke calls the demon an unclean spirit. The symptoms were those of epilepsy, but Luke says it was demon-possession. The technique which Jesus used in dealing with the case shows that it was not the ordinary disease, but real demon-possession. He, of course, had power to cast out demons as well as heal diseases.
*I besought thy disciples.*Why couldn-’t they cast out the demon? Jesus, according to Mark, said that this kind came out only by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). He also said that it was because of their little faith (Matthew 17:20). If their faith had been as much as a grain of mustard seed, they could have removed mountains. This case clearly called for a miracle, and the least amount of faith that had to do with the power to perform miracles could have accomplished it, To assume that this refers to mountains of difficulty that can be removed by trust in Jesus is to overlook the meaning of Jesus-’ explanation. He had given them power over demons, but they lacked the faithnot faith like that of the woman in the crowdby which that power was made operative. Had they, in the absence of Jesus, attempted to cast out the demon without relying on Him? Without the faith that kept them in contact with the power they were utterly unable to perform the miracle. See Studies in First Corinthians, pages 224-25 and 238, for additional comment of faith to remove mountains.
*O faithless and perverse generation, how long.*Jesus had already given ample evidence of His deity, but many were looking at the cureunderstandably soand not at the evidential value of the miracle (John 20:30-31). Jesus was nearing the climax of His earthly ministry and knew that He would not be with them much longer. His complaint seems to be that they had not yet, even at this late date, grasped the truth about Him.
astonished at the majesty of God.Jesus cast the demon out and gave the boy back to the father. As usual, the crowds were astonished; but this time, at the majesty of God.
*But while they were marvelling.*They marvelled at the miracle, but Jesus reminded the disciples that He was soon to be delivered up into the hands of men to be crucified. That’s why He had asked, How long shall I be with you? It was important that they realize that His mission called for the cross by which He was to destroy the power of the devil (Hebrews 2:14). He said, Let these words sink into your ears. Don-’t let them go in one ear and out the other.
*But they understood not this saying.*There seemed to be no place in their thinking for the cross. They had their minds centered on the kind of kingdom that they wanted Him to establishan earthly kingdom. They were afraid to ask what He meant, lest it be the end of their dream. See Luke 24:21.
Luke 9:46-48
Applebury’s Comments
True Greatness Scripture
Luke 9:46-48 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, he took a little child, and set him by his side, 48 and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this little child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same is great.
*Comments
which of them was the greatest.*Peter’s prominence and avowed loyalty to Jesus may have given him some notion that he was of special importance. James and John who may have been relatives of Jesus were evidently hoping to be elevated to positions of importance in the kingdom when Jesus established it (Matthew 20:20-21).
*he took a little child.*Jesus took this an occasion to teach His disciples a much needed lesson on true greatness. He said, Whosoever shall receive this little child in my name receiveth me. Then He made the point, He that is least among you all is the one who is great. See also Mark 10:43-45 for Jesus-’ own example of true greatness.
Luke 9:46-62
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 6
Taming Temperaments (Luke 9:46-62)**
46 And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side, 48and said to them, Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great.
49 John answered, Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us. 50But Jesus said to him, Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you.
51 When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him; 53but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them? 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56And they went on to another village.
57 As they were going along the road, a man said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. 58And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. 59To another he said, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. 60But he said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. 61Another said, I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home. 62Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
**Luke 9:46-48 Ambition: **Jesus knew the Twelve had been having an argument (Gr. dialogismos, dialogue) as to which of them was the greatest. The transfiguration, the miracles, the warning about His impending confrontation with the political authorities and the explanation to Peter about His paying the Temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27) out of expediency only, convinced the Twelve that His kingdom was imminent. Since they still conceived of His kingdom as an earthly organization their first reaction was to begin jockeying for position. The temperament for ambition is, of course, a part of the nature created in man by his Maker. Otherwise, man would have no drive to subdue the world. and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28). But, that temperament for ambition must be held in check under the revealed will of its Creator. When human ambition is not under the direction of its Creator’s will, it perverts, exploits and destroys. Thinking about the coming kingdom of God, the disciples were allowing visions of human grandeur to dance in their heads. They were all envisioning themselves in positions of power and human influence and already counting the personal accolades and wealth that would come their way. The disciples persisted in their efforts to gain favored positions until near the very end of Jesus-’ earthly life (Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45; Luke 22:24-26). Apparently the materialistic concept of the new messianic kingdom was deeply ingrained in the Jewish mentality.
Jesus wanted-’ to make a vivid illustration of the true standard of greatness in God’s kingdom, so He called a child to His side. He said, Whoever receives this child. receives me. The Greek word dechomai means a warm, hospitable, embracing reception. The disciples thought in terms of ruling great masses of people. Jesus spoke of serving children. One’s political ambitions cannot be advanced by ministering to children. Hobbs puts it this way, Working with little children is a totally unselfish task. For it involves not what you can get from them, but what you can give to them.. It requires more grace and skill to guide a little child than to serve as chairman of the Board.. or, we might add, even as the ruler of a nation. The significance of all this is that Jesus seems to be saying that men may test their own spirituality and fitness for citizenship in His kingdom by their relation to children. The spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) that will serve a child is the spirit that will not cause anyone to stumble. To receive a child in Jesus-’ name is, in essence, to become like a child (cf. Matthew 18:1-22; Mark 9:33-50). Children are not concerned with human power and grandeur. Children know they are weak and gladly look to others for help and sustenance. Children are submissive and malleable. There are no false facades or veneers with them, they have to learn hypocrisy from adults. Most of all, children know how to love and be loved. They love to please others with actions of friendliness and loyalty. This is true greatness from God’s perspective. Most of the world would not see greatness in those terms. But Jesus said, … he who is least among you all is the one who is great. or, … whoever would be great among you must be your servant. (Matthew 20:26-27; Matthew 23:11; Luke 22:26; Jh. Luke 13:16; Luke 15:20).
**Luke 9:49-50 Arbitrariness: **Suffering embarrassment from this gentle but mistakable rebuke for their selfish ambition, the apostles became silent. Suddenly John remembered something he thought might please Jesus and put them back in His good graces. The apostles had observed a man casting out demons in the name of Jesus and they told him to stop because he was not one of the Twelve. Apparently, Jesus gave power to do miracles to other than the Twelve. Just three months after this He sends seventy disciples out two by two (Luke 10:1 ff.) to evangelize and do miracles. In the first place, it was blatant presumption on their part to forbid someone working miracles in the name of Jesus. Jesus had never given them the authority for such action. In the second place, it betrays an attitude of loveless, hypocritical sectarianism to assume that no one can do anything in Jesus-’ name unless he is one of the Twelve. This attitude, unchanged, would have forbidden John the Baptist, or Paul, or Silas, or Timothy from doing anything in the name of Jesus.
To do something in the name of Jesus is to acquiesce to Jesus-’ authority and word, to do it according to His purpose or revealed will, and to acclaim His glory. When this is done it is not only approved but welcomed by Jesus, no matter who does it or in what cultural setting. Jesus told them they were wrong. Jesus must tame this temper of arbitrariness in those He will send into all the world to preach His gospel. They must surrender to the truth that whoever does the Lord’s will is to be received and not hindered from continuing to do His will even though they may not be with us socially, ethnically, culturally and methodologically. No greater cultural and methodological difference ever faced the followers of Christ than that of the first century Jewish-Gentile confrontation. That these apostles needed preparation for that confrontation is evident from Peter’s later problems documented in Acts 10:1-48; Acts 11:1-30 and Galatians 1:1-24; Galatians 2:1-21. He who works in the name of Jesus cannot be an enemy of the Lord, and he who is truly great in the kingdom will recognize that and live by it.
**Luke 9:51-56 Anger: **Luke indicates that Jesus knew His major work in Galilee had come to an end. Jesus will return temporarily to the borders of Galilee for a brief ministry, but now the days are drawing near for Him to be received up (crucified and raised from the dead). He sets his face to go to Jerusalem. It is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth), one of the three major feasts of the Jews. For many months He has avoided Judea, the center of opposition to His messianic claims. The time has now arrived for Him to throw out the clear, unequivocal, absolute claim to Messiahship. There would be no better place or time than Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles. Apparently Jesus was giving so much intense concentration to His goal in Jerusalem it registered on His face and the Samaritans of the village where He wished to find lodging were offended by it. The Samaritans seemed to be hospitable to Jews traveling through their land from Judea to Galilee (cf. John 4:1-54), but they were offended when Jews seemed to be traveling through their land simply as a short-cut from Galilee to Jerusalem to observe Jewish holy days! John 7:2-9 notes that Jesus-’ unbelieving half-brothers had sarcastically suggested He should go with them to the feast and make a public play for support for His messiahship, if He was really what He claimed. Jesus refused, but went later as non-publicly as He could. The usual, public route to the Jewish feasts from Galilee to Jerusalem was down the eastern side of the Jordan river basin, crossing the Jordan at Jericho and up the Jericho road to Jerusalem. Jesus went, instead, on a more direct route, through Samaria. The hostility of Samaritans toward Jews and vice versa was centuries old, dating back to the days of Nehemiah or earlier. So any Jew, evidently hurrying through their land to a Jewish feast, was persona non grata.
The Feast of Sukkoth (Tabernacles) takes place about mid-October, five days after Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). According to Jewish law and tradition all male Jews were to go to Jerusalem to observe this feast. The people were to dwell in temporary (lean-to) dwelling places made of olive, pine, myrtle or palm branches (no cloth). They must take their meals in these booths and sleep in them. The lean-to must have one open side, not be more than 20 cubits high (30 ft.) and be open to the stars at night. Every morning the high priest, followed by a procession of the multitudes of worshipers, went to fetch water in a golden pitcher from the Pool of Siloam. Then they returned, singing the great Hallel, to pour the water and a wine offering on the altar of burnt offering in the Temple court. More offerings and sacrifices were offered during this feast than any other except Passover. In addition to all the sacrifices the Jews made on their own behalf, seventy bulls were sacrificed for the seventy nations of the world, in token of the messianic ingathering of the nations at which time the Jews anticipated (traditionally) they would rule the world. As a matter of fact, Sukkoth probably was intended by God to symbolize the messianic ingathering of the nationsinto the spiritual kingdom (the church). Jesus indicates this in John 10:16. Every evening extraordinary festivities took place at the Court of Women in the Temple. The four great lampstands were lighted; Levite musicians with lutes and cymbals stood on the fifteen steps that led to the Court of Men of Israel. At the sound of the shophar (ram’s horn) a torch dance was begun and people sang and danced for hours. This is the most festive of all the celebrations of the Jewish year. It is the one at which the messianic fever would rise to its highest pitch. It is understandable why Samaritans would be offended at Jews using their country as a short-cut to attend such a festive gathering in Jerusalem.
The people of the village where Jesus wanted to stay overnight refused to accommodate Him. When James and John (Sons of Thunder) saw this, they were filled with anger and were ready to retaliate with fire from heaven to consume this village. They asked the Lord if that was what He wanted too. Jesus-’ reply was a rebuke! A few ancient Greek texts of Luke’s gospel (not the earliest texts), add, … and he said, You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy man’s lives but to save them. Whatever Jesus might have said, He displayed the spirit He wished to cultivate in the apostles, for He went on to another village in hopes of finding lodging. Jesus wants all His disciples to control their temperament to anger. There are times when controlled anger is needful (cf. Exodus 32:19; Numbers 16:15; 1 Samuel 11:6; 1 Samuel 20:34; Nehemiah 5:6; Psalms 97:10; Proverbs 8:13; Amos 5:15; Mark 3:1-5; Hebrews 1:9; Romans 12:9; Ephesians 4:26; Revelation 2:6). But the Lord has specifically prohibited the Christian from personal retaliation or vengeance against his enemies (cf. Romans 12:14-21; Matthew 5:38-42, etc.). That does not prohibit the Christian from calling upon properly constituted civil authority for protection and judgment against the lawless and wicked. However, the individual Christian or citizen is not to take the law into his own hands to act as judge, jury and enforcer. Our anger must be controlled within the revealed will of God.
**Luke 9:57-62 Audacity and Affrontery: **These verses are parallel to Matthew’s account (Matthew 8:18-22). Either Matthew or Luke (or perhaps both) recorded these conversations out of chronological order. Matthew 8:18-22 is considered by most harmonists as chronologically following Matthew 13:53. Matthew probably inserted the incident where he did (Luke 8:18-22) to provide a cumulative documentation of Jesus-’ teachings on discipleship. Luke may have inserted it where he did (Luke 9:57-62) because it fits into the teachings of Jesus on taming temperaments. If these discussions of Jesus with impulsive and irreverent volunteers should be placed immediately after the sermon in parables (Matthew 13:53), then Luke should have chronologically placed them right after the same sermon (Luke 8:18). Whatever the case, they are authentic words of Jesus and demand serious study and application to His divine revelation about true discipleship.
The first would-be disciple came to Jesus and said, I will follow you wherever you go. He was audacious, rash, hasty, over-confident and ignorant of the personal cost involved in discipleship to Jesus. Jesus never smooth-talked people into discipleship. He always insisted that those who wished to follow His way should count the cost (see Luke 14:25-35). Jesus never pressured, psyched, or politicked anyone into following Him. He preached the truth with compassion and persuasive logic, but He never manipulated people with emotionalism. The other two men answered His call to discipleship with excuses they deemed of higher priority than immediate and total commitment to Him. What they wished to do first seems innocent enough (go to a father’s funeral, and say farewell to family). Seeing to the burial of dead bodies is of second priority, at least, to the saving of souls. There are always plenty of people who show no interest in following Jesuslet them take care of secondary issues. Nothing and no one is to come before obedience to clear, implicit commands from the word of Christ. Clinging to human ties or earthly associations or looking back and longing for them until they become more important than immediate obedience to Jesus makes a man unfit for discipleship. Those who wish citizenship in the kingdom of God must count the cost of discipleship and learn to live with the fact of Jesus-’ Lordship (cf. Matthew 7:21; Luke 6:46). They must surrender allthoughts (2 Corinthians 10:3-5), bodies, families, possessionsto His command. Impulsive discipleship based on emotionalism is uncontrolled audacity. Putting anything or anyone on a higher priority than immediate obedience to Jesus is irreverence. Jesus will have none of it! Why? Because divided loyalty saves no man’s soul. Salvation is afforded only to those who trust completely in Christ.
God made man with these temperaments. They serve useful purposes (see our notes on Luke 4:1-13). But Jesus knows these temperaments must be under the control of the will of God or the devil will deceitfully seduce man into perverting them to his own self-destruction. Jesus knows that if these temperaments are tamed to conform to the will of God they will produce the image of God in manthey will produce perfected man. Jesus demonstrated Perfected Man controlling these temperaments within the will of God all through His life.
STUDY STIMULATORS:
Is the evangelistic tour of the Twelve apostles to be emulated by Christians today? In what way?
What effect did the kingdom fever have on the politicians of Jesus-’ day? Does real Christianity still antagonize human rulers? Why? Can there ever be unity of Christianity and State?
Why did Jesus have compassion on the multitudes? Should we have compassion on the worldly-minded today?
Why did Jesus feed the five thousand?
Why did Jesus want to know what the Twelve thought about Him?
Just how much did Peter believe about Jesus when he made the good confession?
What did Peter refuse to confess about Jesus? Do men still refuse?
How does man really find himselffind real identity?
What does the transfiguration of Jesus mean in your relationship to Him?
Do you believe it is possible to tame your temperament as Jesus indicated about ambition, anger, audacity and affrontery? How?
GIFTS, MIRACLES
By Paul T. ButlerOBC Convention, Feb. 1977 Introduction
I.
DEFINITION OF MIRACLE
A.
An event occurring in the natural world, observed by the senses, produced by divine power, without any adequate human or natural cause, the purpose of which is to reveal the will of God and do good to man. (McCartney, in Twelve Great Questions About Christ)
Hume once argued: there is more evidence for regularity in nature than for irregularity; therefore, regularity and not irregularity must be the truth of the matter.
Certainly there is more evidence for the regular occurrence of nature than for any supernatural occurrence. If there weren-’t we could not talk of miracles.
The argument of miracle rests on the regularity of nature generally.
Only if all the historical evidence available to man could show there is no being outside nature who can in any way alter it can there be an argument against the possibility of miracles. This evidence does not doindeed cannot do!
B.
In our text four different words are used:
semeiois = signs
terasin = wonders
dunamesin = powerful deeds
merismois = distributions (of the Holy Spirit)
Milligan (Hebrews) says these words classify miracles as:
a.
to their design (signs)
b.
to their nature (wonders)
c.
to their origin (supernatural power)
d.
to their Christian aspect (distributions of the Holy Spirit)
II.
THE FACT OF MIRACLES RESTS ON THE HISTORICITY OF OUR NEW TESTAMENT TEXT
A.
Were these writers eyewitnesses?
B.
Are they credible
C.
Are the documents authentic?
D.
This is another subjectbut it is the fundamental subject.
I.
PURPOSE OF MIRACLES
A.
As our text points out, the primary purpose of miracles was to bear witness that the message from Jesus and that Jesus Himself was from God. John 10:25; John 10:37-38; John 14:10-11; Matthew 9:1-8
The miracles do not prove Jesus to be the Son of Godmany men worked miraclesbut they prove Him to be a truthful messenger, and this truthful messenger says that He is God. Christ may have wrought miracles and not have been God; but He could not have wrought miracles and said that He was God without being God.
B.
To demonstrate the mercifulness of God in the case of individual men. Miracles illustrate and explain the teaching of Jesus on the love and mercy of God.
C.
To demonstrate God’s wrath upon sin and rebellious sinners Matthew 21:18-19 (cursed fig tree), Acts 13:11 (blinding of Elymas) Acts 5:5-10 (Ananias and Sapphira). Bible miracles taught not only God’s love and goodness but also His power and authority, and sometimes His righteous and fearful judgments.
D.
Miracles of the Bible demonstrate clearly that miracles were never intended to be universal:
In extent: for they were always limited to few and special cases. Never have they been used to relieve suffering or prolong life here for all of God’s people universally.
a.
Some received no miraculous deliverance here (Hebrews 11:35-40)
b.
John the Immerser, greatest born of women, worked no miracles, nor was he delivered miraculously (Matthew 11:7-11; John 10:41).
c.
Jesus could have healed all or raised all from dead but He didn-’t.
d.
Paul healed many, but did not heal Trophimus and Timothy (Il Tim. Luke 4:20; 1 Timothy 5:23).
In result: All who were delivered from sickness had at other times to suffer again and die. All who were raised from the dead had to die again. Peter was delivered twice, but not a third time (God was no less compassionate and Peter no less believing).
II.
PASSING OF MIRACLES (AS SUCH)
A.
It would take some convincing to persuade me that God does not work providentially in history today. I believe He answers when we pray (sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes without acting at all).
I teach Life of Christ, Old Testament Prophets and Revelation. You cannot study and teach those books and believe them for 20 years without believing God is active in the affairs of men and nations.
I do not deny that God could reinstitute an age of miracles such as we read in the Old Testament and New Testament if it suited His purpose.
It is just that I believe He will not because He has no further need of such miracles and signs. Here is why I believe that:
B.
When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 1 Corinthians 13:10.
The reason for the election of the Jews in Christ (Ephesians 1:1-23) was for a plan in the fulness of time, to unite all things in him.. (not for heaven, but for earth). Thus the plan was to unite both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, man and woman, into one body, the church. This is why the spiritual miraculous gifts were given in Ephesians 4:11 f., for this ministry of unifying. These miraculous gifts were to last until the teleios man was formed (Ephesians 4:13).
The identical context, outline, illustrations, and terminology in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 lead us to conclude that such is also the meaning of teleios there. to perfect both Jew and Gentile in the one body.
It is unquestionably apparent that the problem in both Ephesians and Corinthians was the immaturity and schismatic tendencies of the early church. In light of the frequent association of love with perfection (maturity)and in light of the fact that the entire epistle of I Cor. deals with the grand theme of divine love in the context of the childish immaturity of so many Christians at Corinth, it seems best to define the perfect in terms of the ultimate goal, aim, and end which Paul seeks to accomplish in bringing God’s people to the fulness of spiritual growth and maturity in Christ.
Paul’s description of the carnal immaturity of Christians at Corinth serves to underscore his emphasis on the ultimate goal which he sets for them in chapter 13. Chapter 13 must be read in the context of the whole book and may not be interpreted apart from his charge in Luke 14:1Make love your aim, and in Luke 14:20 Do not be children in your thinking; in malice be babes, but in thinking be perfect.
When the perfect comes, says Paul, the tongues, etc. would cease. These miraculous gifts were not proofs of spiritual maturity. Paul does not say that these will cease when Jesus comes again, nor when the Corinthians get to heaven. Rather, that in time, during their life on earth, the miraculous demonstrations will cease.
I do not think perfect means just the completed canon of New Testament books; it also has to do with a perfected church.
a.
The canon’s formation was by uninspired men (so far as we know). I believe every book in the New Testament is inspired and apostolic. But what if another scroll of antiquity is found with the same credentials as the books we now have? We would not have a perfectcomplete New Testament!
b.
The perfect law of liberty was already at work when James wrote of it in James 1:25. This perfect law was in action before the completion of our 27 books of the New Testament were formed in a New Testament. One could look into this law then and be blessed in obedience to it. It was the perfect law of freedom because it accomplished what the incomplete Law of Moses could not do. It is significant in this context that James also speaks of the children of God as being perfect and complete in the church (James 1:4-5).
C.
The end for which miracles were wrought, to attest to the veracity of Christ and His claims, to bring the church to maturity, and to bring about faith through which we may partake of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4)this is the ultimate goal of God’s work with US. MIRACLES CAN NEVER BE AN ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS INDWELLING (1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Peter 1:3-11; 1 John 1:5-8; 1 John 3:1-6; 1 Corinthians 12:31 to 1 Corinthians 14:1; 2 Corinthians 3:18). (See A Study of the Work of the Holy Spirit in Christians, by Seth Wilson, mimeo, OBC bookstore.)
Miracles are signs or works of the Holy Spirit, not the Holy Spirit Himself. They are the effects of which He is the cause. Miracles have been found where the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit did not occur. (Matthew 10:1-42; Luke 10:1-42, apostles and 70 disciples worked miracles months before Jesus said the Holy Spirit had not come yet, John 7:38). King Saul on his way to murder God’s anointed was made to prophesy by the Spirit of God (1 Samuel 19:18-24). Balaam’s ass (Numbers 22:25-30). Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48).
It is evident that some men whom Christ called workers of iniquity claimed to have worked many miracles in His name. If they speak that boldly to His face, at judgment, does it not appear that they will be sincerely convinced that they have actually wrought such mighty works by His power here?
It does not appear that miraculous demonstrations are necessary effects whenever or wherever the Holy Spirit dwells in men. 1 Corinthians 12:3 the man who honestly says Jesus is Lord manifests he has the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:29-30 shows that not all in the New Testament church had the gifts of miraculous works.
The word of God has the power to regenerate and to sanctify through faith which allows the Spirit of God to dwell in us Ephesians 3:16-19; 1 Timothy 1:5; Galatians 5:22-25; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Miraculous deeds did not guarantee a spiritual church, The Corinthian church came behind in no gift and was enriched in all utterance and in all knowledge (1 Corinthians 1:5-7); yet that church was notorious for errors in doctrine and evils in practice.
Are such wonders and signs always caused exclusively by the Holy Spirit? May some of the experience and utterances be caused by the workings of the subconscious mind, by something like hypnotic influences? (See The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues, by John P. Kildahl, Harper & Row.)
Scriptures warn of the possibility (at least in the first century) of lying wonders (Matthew 24:24; Matthew 7:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 John 4:1-6; Revelation 13:14; Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:20). Even the Old Testament warned against false prophets with signs (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:22; Isaiah 8:20).
Isolated wonders do not necessarily prove a divine revelation from God. Bible miracles were part of a coherent combination of many miracles and messages to which they were significantly related. The extent and quality of Bible miracles and revelations is different from the many alleged miracles and prophecies of today or any century since apostles. Philip’s miracles and those of Simon Magus were different. Even Pharaoh could see (or should have) the difference between Moses-’ miracles and those of his magicians. (Galatians 1:6-9) Even a gospel by angels, if different than Paul’s would be condemned.
1 John 4:6 says it is not the Holy Spirit if men show they do not hear (heed and keep) the word of the apostles.
James 3:13-18 shows that the Spirit of God does not cause men to be jealous and factiousdivisive.
WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY DENOMINATIONAL FACTIONS, ALLEGING TO HAVE THESE MIRACULOUS SIGNS AND WONDERS, YET STRIVING TO MAINTAIN THEIR DENOMINATIONAL DIFFERENCES EVEN IN THE FACE OF PLAIN SCRIPTURAL TEACHINGS?! What are we to conclude about their claims?
III.
FUNCTIONAL GIFTS (Romans 12:1-13)
A.
I believe all men and women have gifts from their Creator.
All may not have the same gifts or latent potentialities.
Some may have many more potentialities than others.
BUT THEY ARE ALL NEEDED AS FUNCTIONS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. This is the important point: No gifts, capacities, talents, abilities (all given by the grace of God) are more important FUNCTIONALLY, than others.
The whole context here indicates Paul is talking not about miraculous gifts given by God for the same purposes as those of 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40; but of functional gifts, one of which at least every member of the body has (… I bid every one among you..).
B.
I like the way Carl Ketcherside explains it in Mission Messenger, Vol. 36, No. 10, Oct. 1974, Functioning Gifts.
Any gift freely bestowed by God is a gift of the Spirit, regardless of how it is communicated to the recipient. That is why I object to designating any period of time a charismatic age. There is no such thing as a charismatic age, for the simple reason that there is no non-charismatic age. There has never been a time when the will of God was not enhanced and promoted by gifts of grace. A gift is not charismatic because of its nature, method of reception, or effect, but because of its origin. It is charismatic because it is a gift of charis, grace.
The man who has the enviable gift of understanding and relieving the needy is charismatic as surely as one who has the gift of prophecy. The one who can give cheerfully and freely as his contribution to the work of the saints is charismatic. In view of this, I am not turned on by such expressions as The Spirit is working again in our time. The Spirit has never ceased working.
The gifts of God are varied. Paul wrote to a congregation which came behind in no gift and told them that the ability to restrain sexual passion, making marriage unnecessary was a charisma of God. But he also implied that the gift of sexual need which could be gratified in marriage was a charisma. I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from Godone in one direction and one in another (1 Corinthians 7:7). It is quite evident that Paul’s gift was in a different direction than that of the majority.
C.
Ephesians 4:7 But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Do not the parables teach that men are given (how else, but by the grace of God) talents and pounds according to different measures, and each one is expected to use (none are nonfunctional) and be rewarded according, not to what he does not have, but according to how he uses what he does have?
Now if we will follow the leading of the Spirit in His revealed will and make sure instead of worrying about having the Spirit that the Spirit has all of us, we will use our praxin (function, or action) charismata (gifts) for the benefit of the one body. Actually, if we simply let ourselves be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:1-2) we will use our gifts of grace for the upbuilding of the body in love.
Even unconverted men and women have charismatic gifts! functional giftswhatever they have in potentialities they have by the grace of God but they are not allowing the Spirit to use them for the upbuilding of Christ’s body.
D.
Does all this mean that the special supernatural gifts should also be continued by the Holy Spirit in the church today? No.
They were for special needs. The functional gifts will always be needed.
I do not need to see a miracle performed by anyone else, nor have one performed upon me, to produce faith in the revealed Word of God.
The original envoys of Jesus who gave the message were thoroughly accredited and their message was confirmed by miracles, wonders and signs. There is no sense in having miracles to confirm miracles, and once truth is confirmed it never needs to be confirmed again.
The spectacular, supernatural, signs and wonders were to cease (there is no doubt about that), but the functional gifts through which every member of the body may love man and God will abide!
AFTER ALL, THE GRACE OF GOD HAS GIVEN EACH OF US GIFTS FOR FUNCTIONING IN THE CHURCH AND WE USE THEM ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF OUR FAITH.
The miraculous, supernatural gifts could be given and made to function regardless of the measure of the faith of the person.
CONCLUSION
Accepting the possibility of miracles is a matter of morality. C.S. Lewis wrote, … the question whether miracles occur can never be answered simply by experience. Every event which might claim to be a miracle is, in the last resort something presented to our senses, something seen, heard, touched,. etc. and our senses are not infallible. If anything extraordinary seems to have happened, we can always say that we have been the victims of an illusion. If we hold a philosophy that excludes the supernatural, this is what we shall always say. What we learn from experience depends on our philosophy of epistemology (theory of how one learns) and that ultimately rests on our moral honesty. Many people think one can decide whether a miracle occurred in the past by examining the evidence according to the ordinary rules of historical inquiry. But the ordinary rules cannot be worked until we have decided whether miracles are possible, and if so, how probable they are. So, we are back to whether we are being honest or not.
Man’s ability to think and reason gives evidence that something beyond nature exists. The Naturalist cannot deny the thinking-reasoning process without thinking and reasoning! It is obvious that the thinking process is not just a natural event composed of cells, electric impulses, etc. Therefore, something other than nature exists. Morality is another undeniable evidence of the possibility of that which is beyond nature. Even the great determinist Karl Marx held there was good behavior and bad behavior and subjected what he determined to be bad behavior to withering moral scorn. He could justify this only with the presupposition that there is a moral responsibilitysomething beyond natural reflex. Why does liberal theology exclude miracles? Because it excludes the living God of Christianity and believes instead in a kind of God who obviously would not do miracles, or indeed anything else outside of nature. Men are reluctant to face up to the fact of a living God. They much prefer an abstract Idea to a Person. An idea does nothing, demands nothing. It is there for a person to change, manipulate or obliterate as the whim calls for. But a living, supernatural, all-sovereign Person is something else! It is shocking to discover there is a Person, a feeling, thinking, moral Person who is Creator and Sustainer of life, alive and active in our everyday affairs. It is even more alarming to think this Person has the right to demand mental and moral control of our lives. C.S. Lewis puts it thus: You have had a shock like that before, in connection with smaller matterswhen the fishing line pulls at your hand, when something breathes beside you in the darkness. So here; the shock comes at the precise moment when the thrill of life is communicated to us along the clue we have been following. It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. -Look out,-’ we cry, -it’s alive!-'
An impersonal Godwell and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own headsbetter still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tapbest of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband, that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at cops and robbers hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (called, man’s search for God) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? Supposing He has worked miracles over and above and outside the natural order of things? We never meant it to come to than!Worse still, supposing He has found us?
Luke 9:49-50
Applebury’s Comments
The Unknown Miracle Worker Scripture
Luke 9:49-50 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. 50 But Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against you is for you.
*Comments
one casting out demons in thy name.*They had just gone through the experience that taught them that no man could cast out demons except in relation to Jesus. This one whom they had forbidden was casting out a demon in His name. It, therefore, was not pretense as in the case of certain Jewish exorcists (Acts 19:13).
*we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.*Their pride was offended. It was not a question of relieving the demon-possessed person; it was simply that he did not follow with these disciples.
*Jesus said unto him, forbid him not.*Since he was doing the work in the name of Christ, he was not to be forbidden. This is the real basis for unity of action, each one acting in the name of Christ, And to act in the name of Christ is to act by His authority. He that is not against you is for you. Even the one who does such a lowly task as giving a cup of cold water because he belongs to Christ shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41).
Luke 9:51-55
Applebury’s Comments
The Inhospitable Samaritans Scripture
Luke 9:51-55 And it came to pass, when the days were well-nigh come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before his face; and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he were going to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them.
*Comments
that he should be received up.*That is, the closing days of His ministry that led to the ascension (Acts 1:9). But the incident of sending the seventy shows that the ascension, while approaching, was still several months away. According to John’s record, Jesus went first to the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1-2) and later to the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22). Why did Luke include this section which is not given by Matthew and Mark? It was to give Theophilus information which Luke considered important as he reassured him of the things in which he had been instructed.
*entered into a village of the Samaritans.*This was not the first time that Jesus had been in Samaria. See John 4:1-4. See 2 Kings 17:24-28 for the origin of the Samaritans. The old controversy over the correct place to worship continued from the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity until the days of Jesus (John 4:20-24). The Samaritans held to the Pentateuch as their sacred scriptures, disregarding the other portions of the Old Testament which mention Jerusalem and the place or worship.
And they did not receive him.The fact that He was going to Jerusalemprobably to the feast of Tabernaclesstirred the old prejudice and led them to refuse lodging to Jesus and His disciples. But see John 4:39-42 for their reaction to the invitation of the woman at the well, and Acts 8:5-40 for the account of Philip’s ministry in Samaria.
*bid fire come down from heaven.*James and John were not nicknamed sons of thunder without cause (Mark 3:17). Their rash proposal was met with prompt rebuke by Jesus. There were other villages in which to spend the night. Violence seldom serves to abolish prejudice. By contrast, Luke shows the power of preaching Christ to bring joy to the lives of the people in the city of Samaria (Acts 8:4-8).
Luke 9:57-62
Applebury’s Comments
Dedication Demanded Scripture
Luke 9:57-62 And as they went on the way, a certain man said unto him, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 But he said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, I will follow thee, Lord; but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house. 62 But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
*Comments
I will follow thee.*Jesus had already said that whoever would come after Him would have to deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Him. Later, He challenged them with the necessity of counting the cost of discipleship, for anything short of complete dedication would not do (Luke 14:25-35). This volunteer failed to realize the necessity of following Him unselfishly.
*And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes.*Foxes have dens, birds have roosts, but the Son of Man did not have a place to lay His head. The Samaritans had just refused Him lodging; His own home town, much earlier, had rejected Him; before Him loomed the cross. *And he said to another, Follow me.*The first man had volunteered, but Jesus challenged this one to follow Him, He wanted first to go bury his father. If the father was actually dead, why wasn-’t he attending to the arrangements for the funeral? He said Let me go bury my father. In all probability the father was old and the dutiful son wanted to be present when death came so that he might properly care for his burial. He put this first, but the followers of Christ must do so unconditionally.
Leave the dead to bury the dead.Those who were spiritually dead could take care of the physically dead. The greater task was to publish abroad the kingdom of God. This will raise the dead in trespasses and sin to a new life in Christ. See Ephesians 2:5-6; Romans 6:4-5.
*I will follow thee, but.*Another volunteer; he wanted time to say goodbye to those at his house. But those who follow Christ must do so unintermittently.
*No man, having put his hand to the plow.*The plow in that day was a forked stick and difficult to handle at best. Undivided attention was necessary to do a good job. The one with the hand to the plow who looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.
The three casestwo volunteers and one who was invitedmay be summarized as follows: To the first one, Jesus is saying, Think it through first; to the second, Let nothing interfere with your following Me; and to the third, Stay with it to the end.
Summary
The incidents recorded in this chapter may be gathered up under two general headings: (1) Those things which Jesus did to extend the influence of His ministry, and (2) what He did to prepare His disciples for their work after His ascension. The importance of this preparation is seen in the fact that He was depending on them to take His gospel into all the world. The mission of the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel was a training experience to prepare them for their worldwide mission. Rumors of Jesus-’ miracles reached the ears of Herod the tetrarch. An aroused conscience asked, Who is this? Herod answered, John the Baptist whom I beheaded. His only thought was, Kill him too. A little later, the Pharisees warned Jesus to leave the district, for, they said, Herod wants to kill you. People by the thousands were following Jesus wherever He went. In a lonely place where no food was to be found except a boy’s lunch, He fed the five thousand on the loaves and fish. Even though He had worked such a miracle, He reminded the disciples that there was a cross to be borne, a cross for Him and a cross that meant self-denial for all who would follow Him. The Twelve were completely dependent on Him. In the Transfiguration they were taught the necessity of obeying Him. In the cure of the epileptic boy they learned the meaning of faith in Him who had given them power to perform miracles. He taught them the meaning of true greatness, and stopped their wrangling over which one was to have first place among them. He rebuked their rashness that would have destroyed the Samaritan village and left the door open for the preaching of the gospel by Philip the evangelist. Jesus dramatically demonstrated what His demand for complete dedication meant. He rejected the volunteer who offered to follow Him but who had not counted the cost. He rejected another whom He had invited to follow Him when he said, Yes, but first let me bury my father. A third one volunteered, but Jesus demanded full-time service, for, He said, the one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.
Questions
How did Jesus extend the effectiveness of His ministry?
How did He train His disciples for the task of carrying the gospel into all the world?
What made the difference between the power of the disciples to cast out demons and the attempts of the Jewish exorcists to do so?
What were the disciples to preach on their first mission?
Why take nothing for the journey?
What did they mean by shaking the dust off their feet?
What did Jesus say He would do before they finished the task he gave them on this first mission?
Why did Herod think that Jesus was John the Baptist?
What can cleanse an evil conscience?
How does the feeding of the five thousand show the influence of Jesus-’ ministry?
Where did it take place?
What lesson did Jesus teach the people after it was over?
Why did Jesus tell the apostles to give the crowd something to eat?
How did Jesus demonstrate the necessity of organization in carrying out His work?
Why gather up the broken pieces?
What was Jesus doing just before Peter made the good confession?
Why did He ask, Who do men say that I am?
Why would some say John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the old prophets?
What does Thou art the Christ mean?
What does Son of God mean?
On what was the church built?
Why did Jesus mention the gates of Hades? What is Hades?
Why did Jesus restrain them from telling others that He is the Christ?
Why was the cross necessary for Jesus?
What does the cross mean in the life of His followers?
How did He explain self-denial?
What of the one who is ashamed of Jesus and His words?
How was it possible for some to see the kingdom of God before they died?
Whom did Jesus take with Him into the mountain where He was transfigured?
What is the name of the mountain?
What did Peter write about his experience in that mountain?
Why had Jesus gone into the mountain?
What was the meaning of the Transfiguration to Christ? to the apostles?
Why were Moses and Elijah permitted to appear with Jesus?
What did they talk about?
Why did Peter want to build the three tabernacles?
What is the significance of the message of the Voice that came out of the cloud?
What explanation did Jesus make about the disciples-’ question concerning the coming of Elijah?
What had the disciples tried to do while Jesus was in the mountain?
Why did they fail?
What is the difference between the faith of the woman in the crowd and the faith which the apostles lacked?
Why did Jesus refer to the faithless generation?
Why didn-’t the disciples understand Jesus-’ prediction of His crucifixion?
Why did the disciples discuss the issue of greatness?
How did Jesus answer their problem?
Why did Jesus tell them not to forbid the unknown miracle worker?
Why did the Samaritans refuse lodging for Jesus and the disciples?
What did James and John propose that justifies their nickname, Sons of thunder?
How did Jesus-’ attitude affect the Samaritan situation later?
Why did Jesus reject the man who volunteered to follow Him?
What does this mean: Let the dead bury the dead?
Why did putting the hand to the plow and looking back make one unfit for the kingdom of God?