CHAPTER 9

(A.D. 31)

THE TWELVE

¹Then He called His Twelve Disciples together (a Divine call), and gave them power and authority over all devils (demons), and to cure diseases (Spiritual Authority is never exercised over people, but always over the spirit world of darkness only [Lk. 10:19]).

²And He sent them to preach (the great business of the true man of God is preaching) the Kingdom of God (they were then to preach that the Kingdom was now available, because the King was present; the King, regrettably, was rejected; the Message now is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, which will ultimately usher in the Kingdom on Earth that will come about at the Second Coming [I Cor. 1:21, 23]), and to heal the sick (constituted a part of these missions, and continued all the days of the Early Church and unto the present; anyone under the New Covenant is allowed to pray for the sick and expect healing [Mk. 16:17]).

³And He said unto them, Take nothing for your journey (referring to the Call of Ministry), neither staves, nor scrip (a small bag for carrying things), neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece (instead of waiting until those things can be afforded, carry out the Work of the Lord, and trust the Lord to provide).

⁴And whatsoever house you enter into, there abide, and thence depart (dont be gadding about from house-to-house; the idea of your business is the Preaching of the Gospel, not socializing).

⁵And whosoever will not receive you (be it a single house, or the entirety of a city), when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them (the Gospel refused always heralds judgment in one form or another, whether for a single person or the entirety of an area).

⁶And they departed (the Twelve), and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel, and healing everywhere (anything less is not the True Gospel).

JOHN THE BAPTIST

⁷Now Herod the Tetrarch (Herod Antipas) heard of all that was done by Him (pertained to Jesus): and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead (presented a terrifying spectacle to the hurting conscience of Herod who had murdered John);

⁸And of some (some were saying), that Elijah had appeared (in other words that Jesus was Elijah); and of others, that one of the old Prophets was risen again (all of this portrayed a graphic ignorance of the Word).

⁹And Herod said, John have I beheaded (is not said of bravado or scorn, but rather of fear): but who is this, of whom I hear such things? (The such things brought great joy to many, but fear to Herod because of a guilty conscience.) And he desired to see Him (this desire would be gratified, but not at the present; he did see Him on the day of the Crucifixion when Pilate sent Christ to Herod for judgment).

FIVE THOUSAND FED

¹⁰And the Apostles, when they were returned (from their preaching mission of Verse 1), told Him all that they had done. And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida (this refers to Bethsaida, Julias situated on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee; it was only a short distance from Capernaum).

¹¹And the people, when they knew it (knew where He had gone), followed Him (went to where He was): and He received them, and spoke unto them of the Kingdom of God, and healed them who had need of healing.

¹²And when the day began to wear away, then came the Twelve, and said unto Him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals (food): for we are here in a desert place (the world is a desert place, but where Jesus is, the need can be met).

¹³But He said unto them, Give ye them to eat (proclaims that which within themselves they could not do). And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people (they were thinking in material terms, when He was thinking in spiritual terms; our thinking shouldnt be, What can we do?, but rather, What can He do?).

¹⁴For they were about five thousand men (counting the women and children, it could easily have been ten thousand or more). And He said to His Disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company (this way they could all be fed, whereas otherwise it would have been bedlam; God always functions from the position of order).

¹⁵And they did so, and made them all sit down.

¹⁶Then He took the five loaves and the two fishes (in their hands, it was nothing; in His Hands, they were everything), and looking up to Heaven (when will we learn that our help comes from above?), He blessed them (that which He takes, He blesses), and broke (unfortunately theres a lot of self-will left in all of us, which requires a breaking that is not pleasant, to say the least), and gave to the Disciples to set before the multitude (before we can properly be given to the multitude, we must first be blessed, then broken; far too many try to ignore the breaking, depending only on the blessing; such can never be honored by the Lord).

¹⁷And they did eat, and were all filled (that which the Lord provides always satisfies): and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets (what man does, subtracts; what God does, adds).

PETERS CONFESSION

¹⁸And it came to pass, as He was alone praying (some eight times Luke alludes to Jesus praying, which should serve as a lesson to us; while He definitely was God, and never ceased to be God, He functioned on this Earth as Man; as such, He had to pray), His Disciples were with Him: and He asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? (The answer to this question held grave consequences.)

¹⁹They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others say, that one of the old Prophets is risen again (the Bible does not teach reincarnation, neither does it teach transmigration of ones spirit to another).

²⁰He said unto them, But whom say you that I am? (He was looked at by the Disciples as the Master of Masters, and a Mystery over and above.) Peter answering said, The Christ of God (proclaims the correct answer; Christ is actually a title, and means anointed, or more perfectly, The Anointed, meaning Messiah).

HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION

²¹And He straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing (why? the religious leaders of Israel had already rejected Him, and for the Disciples to herald it far and wide Who He really was would have only brought about great problems);

²²Saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things (is mentioned apart from the glory that follows the sufferings), and be rejected of the Elders and Chief Priests and Scribes (concerned the entirety of the religious leadership of Israel), and be slain (refers to the Crucifixion of Christ; the religious leaders would be guilty of His Death), and be raised the third day (the Resurrection, which was never in doubt; the purpose of God becoming man was to go to the Cross because this is the only way sin could be addressed, and sin is the problem).

DISCIPLESHIP

²³And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me (the criteria for Discipleship), let him deny himself (not asceticism as many think, but rather that one denies ones own willpower, self-will, strength, and ability, depending totally on Christ), and take up his cross (the benefits of the Cross, looking exclusively to what Jesus did there to meet our every need) daily (this is so important, our looking to the Cross; that we must renew our Faith in what Christ has done for us, even on a daily basis, for Satan will ever try to move us away from the Cross as the Object of our Faith, which always spells disaster), and follow Me (Christ can be followed only by the Believer looking to the Cross, understanding what it accomplished, and by that means alone [Rom. 6:3-5, 11, 14; 8:1-2, 11; I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:2; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 2:14-15]).

²⁴For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (try to live ones life outside of Christ and the Cross): but whosoever will lose his life for My Sake, the same shall save it (when we place our Faith entirely in Christ and the Cross, looking exclusively to Him, we have just found more Abundant Life [Jn. 10:10]).

²⁵For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? (One cannot have both Christ and the world. One or the other must go. And if one gains the whole world and loses his soul, what has it profited him?)

²⁶For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me (ashamed of the Cross of Christ) and of My Words (a demand for the denial of self and the taking up of the Cross daily), of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed (a denial of Christ and the Cross is a denial of Salvation), when He shall come in His Own Glory (those who accept Christ and the Cross will be with Him when He comes, otherwise they will be cast away), and in his Fathers (the Glory of the Father), and of the Holy Angels (if one wants to be on the side of Christ, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Angels, one must accept Christ and the Cross, which automatically denies perfidious ways).

²⁷But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Kingdom of God (speaking of the transfiguration which would shortly take place).

THE TRANSFIGURATION

²⁸And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings (Mark says six days [Mk. 9:2]; there is no discrepancy; Marks statement is exclusive, which means all the days and time are not included in the statement; Lukes statement is inclusive), He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray (the first time these three were singled out was the raising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead).

²⁹And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered (means that it took on a glow that was obvious to all; as well, the Glory He was now experiencing did not come from without, but from within), and His raiment was white and glistering (this inward Glory turned those homespun, peasant garments into a thing of such beauty that it was absolutely indescribable).

³⁰And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elijah (Moses had been dead for about 1,500 years, and Elijah had been translated and, in fact, had never died, but had been in Heaven or Paradise for about 900 years; all of this puts to rest the erroneous doctrine of soul sleep, which teaches that the soul and the spirit sleep at death and will do so until the Resurrection):

³¹Who appeared in glory (their glory is that which came from without, actually from God the Father, while the Glory of Christ came from within Him because He is God, the Second Person of the Godhead), and spoke of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (the Cross was the topic of this conversation, and should be the topic of ours as well).

³²But Peter and they who were with Him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw His Glory, and the two men that stood with Him (this portrays to us how the Child of God will die, simply going to sleep in Jesus and awakening in Heaven in His Presence).

³³And it came to pass, as they departed from Him (pertains to Moses and Elijah disappearing from the scene), Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what He said (proclaims Peter placing these two on the same par with Christ, which was not looked at favorably by God).

³⁴While He thus spoke, there came a cloud (the same as that which accompanied the Lord leading the Children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings and, as well, that which rested over the Tabernacle, i.e., the Glory of God), and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud (Christ didnt fear, but rather the three Disciples).

³⁵And there came a voice out of the cloud (the Voice of God the Father), saying, This is My Beloved Son: hear Him (actually says, be constantly hearing Him, as well meaning that no mortal must be put on the same par with Christ; the Catholics should note that He didnt say, hear Mary, but rather, hear Him).

³⁶And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone (proclaims the fact that the Voice did not come from a physical body). And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen (meaning that they did not relate the account of this incident until after the Resurrection).

LESSONS

³⁷And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met Him (implies they were waiting for Him).

³⁸And, behold, a man of the company cried out (a man in the crowd), saying, Master, I beseech You, look upon my son: for he is mine only child (peculiar to Luke; he is the only one who mentions that this poor tormented boy was an only child).

³⁹And, lo, a spirit (evil spirit) takes him, and he suddenly cries out (speaks of the demon spirit taking control of the boy); and it tears him that he foams again, and bruising him hardly departing from him (constant occurrences).

⁴⁰And I besought Your Disciples to cast him out; and they could not (Mark says that Jesus said that the reason was the prayerlessness of the Disciples; in fact, the emphasis in the Greek Text is on their prayerlessness, rather than their lack of fasting [Mk. 9:29]).

⁴¹And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation (was spoken to the whole of Israel), how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? (This portrays a human exasperation on the part of Jesus.) Bring your son hither (indicates that the boy was being restrained a short distance away).

⁴²And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tore him (represents this demons last effort to hurt this child). And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father (Jesus cast the demon out, and healed that which the demon had damaged regarding the childs physical body).

⁴³And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, He said unto His Disciples (portrays the idea coming up once again, as recorded in the next Verse, of Him being the Triumphant Messiah and, therefore, being made King),

⁴⁴Let these sayings sink down into your ears (concerned that which they did not want to hear): for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men (presents that which He had already said to them, but which they did not understand).

⁴⁵But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not (it was not purposely hidden from them, but was rather hidden because of their unbelief): and they feared to ask Him of that saying (means that what He had said did not line up with their thinking).

⁴⁶Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest (the spirit of self-will, which was the cause of them not understanding).

⁴⁷And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart (refers to the Holy Spirit revealing to Him this which the Apostles were discussing), took a child, and set him by Him (is thought to be Peters child),

⁴⁸And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in My Name receives Me (carries the idea of service to others, which addresses the argument of the Disciples as to who will be the greatest; to bless a child, one must do so strictly out of Love, because a child cannot return the favor): and whosoever shall receive Me receives him Who sent Me (unless one comes as a little child, one cannot receive Christ; and when one receives Christ, one has received at the same time God the Father; everything is through Christ): for he who is least among you all, the same shall be great (the work for which Christs Gospel came into the world was no less than to put down the mighty from their seat, and to exalt the humble and the meek).

⁴⁹And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils (demons) in Your Name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us (this is the sin of sectarianism, which, in essence, means, the exclusion of all others, outside of a particular group).

⁵⁰And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he who is not against us is for us (forbids all sectarianism).

⁵¹And it came to pass, when the time was come that He should be received up (this particular time had been planned by the Godhead since before the foundation of the world [I Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8]), He stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem (this is where the terrible deed must be carried out),

⁵²And sent messengers before His face (referred to Disciples or others who went to make preparation for them to spend some time, at least one night, in this particular village): and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for Him (descendants of the pagans who settled in this particular part of Israel at the time of the captivities; they intermarried with a few Jews who remained in the land [II Ki. 17:24-34]).

⁵³And they did not receive Him (presents the greatest mistake they ever made, and regrettably the great mistake made by most), because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem (had to do with the ongoing argument between the Jews and the Samaritans; in other words, they allowed their religion to cause them to miss the greatest moment in their history, and their religion probably took them to Hell).

⁵⁴And when His Disciples James and John saw this (probably proclaims the two sent to the village by Jesus seeking accommodations), they said, Lord, will You that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? (Zeal without knowledge and failure to rightly divide the Word of Truth cause well-meaning men to greatly err.)

⁵⁵But He turned, and rebuked them (is the same Word used by Jesus when He rebuked evil spirits [Mat. 17:18]; the spirit of the Disciples at that time and demon spirits were all the same, hence, they were both rebuked accordingly), and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of (portrays them operating in the spirit of the Evil One; how many modern Christians do the same?).

⁵⁶For the Son of Man is not come to destroy mens lives, but to save them (proclaims the True mission of Christ). And they went to another village (constituted the greatest moment the other village would ever know).

DISCIPLESHIP

⁵⁷And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way (continuing the next morning their trip toward Jerusalem), a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow You whithersoever You go (proclaimed this man, according to Matthew, as being a Scribe [Mat. 8:19]).

⁵⁸And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head (the implication regarding the Scribe is that he had not counted the cost, and when revealed, did not desire to pay the price).

⁵⁹And He said unto another, Follow Me (to this man, Christ extends an invitation). But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father (proclaims the cares of this life robbing him of preeminence with Christ).

⁶⁰Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead (was not meant to show disrespect for the dead, or of shirking of responsibility; it wasnt the idea of burying his father, but rather of placing such things first; Christ must come first in all things): but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God (there were plenty of people to perform the other tasks, but precious few to preach the Word of God).

⁶¹And another also said, Lord, I will follow You; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house (the Holy Spirit is here portraying to us the single-minded purpose which must be paramount in the life of every Believer, that is, if they are to follow Christ as they should).

⁶²And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God (attachment to Christ and to His Service must be unconditional).